Another whoa. I was not expecting the airplane that we are taking to Innsbruck. I started to get the feeling it might be a smaller plane by gauging the number of people waiting to go there. But I did not explain a 30-seater with twin props run by Air A!lps (correct weird spelling). Even when I went to St. Lucia from Puerto Rico, the plane was bigger than this. In fact, it is so small they had to check our carry-on suitcase because they had no overhead compartment space. The plane is apparently a Dornier 328. When we got on the plane, Ahu made a beeline for the front-most two seats. At first glance this appeared to be a good idea. By takeoff I was thinking it was crazy. Turns out, those first two seats have exit doors on both sides of the plane. Ahu was sitting next to one door, I was sitting next to the other. Apparently it happens where one or the other door blows open and the cabin loses pressure. To avoid the unfortunate loss of the two front-row passengers, those passengers where special seat belts which go over the should and across the lap. Not really dissimilar from a ride at Six Flags Great America. There was slight compensation in the additional leg room and the fact that I had a great view of the cockpit until they closed the door for takeoff. I even got some pretty good pictures. Take off was pretty cool because smaller planes gain altitude faster. We went right into the clouds and then right out of them into a brilliant sunshine.
The flight to Innsbruck was 1 hour, 23 minutes long. About twenty minutes out you could see peaks in the Alps sticking out above the clouds. Every thing below us was overcast. It looked like an infinite field of snow drifts (clouds) with these little mountain peaks sticking out, very much like icebergs sticking out of the ocean water with the massive buck hidden below. As we made our descent, I realized we were landing in a narrow valley between two fields of towering mountains and yet you couldn't see anything below you except clouds. Then, all of a sudden, there were the mountains and the towns below. Not a lot of room for pilot error but we landed without incident. It was, in fact, one of the most stable landings I've been one, a fact due mostly to the lack of crosswinds (blocked by the mountains).
Innsbruck's airport is a throwback to the airports of the 70's. The plane taxis to an easy stop. The door opens and you walk out, grab your luggage, and walk into the airport. Down the runway, two hot air balloons were getting ready to lift off. At the terminal, people were standing outside on a balcony waving at incoming passengers. Everything felt laid back, safe, and friendly.
We took the F bus to the Alstadt, or Old Town, part of Innsbruck. Since it was overcast and I could not tell north from south, and because I was functioning on no sleep, I proceeded to get us lost immediately. We eventually rectified this and found our hotel, the simply named Hotel Innsbruck, shortly thereafter. After checking in, we decided we needed to have lunch before we retired for a nap. We referred to our Frommer's guide and chose Jörgele. We were getting pretty sleepy at this point. Ahu ordered spaetzl and I ordered a strip steak garnished with onions and bacon and served with roasted potatos. This was, of course, accompanied by beer. Spaetzl turns out to be a sort of macaroni and cheese-like dish except that the macaronis are little cheese-filled dumplings. Both meals were very filling and Ahu did not finish hers. When the server came to clear the tables, she admonished Ahu for not eating all of her lunch. I guess the Clean Plate Club is pretty populate over here. Needless to say, with the heavy lunch and beer, we were lucky to make it back to the hotel without falling asleep in the street.
After napping for several hours we found we were again hungry and it was dinner time so we went back out on the town. Before dinner, though, we decided to go find Ahu's conference center and go through early check-in. The Congress center turned out to be a 5 minute walk from the hotel and the lounge area had free high-speed Internet connections. After signing in, we went looking for dinner.
We ended up at the Gasthaus Hapt. We ordered beer again. Ahu got a Zipfer klein (small Zipfer) and I got a Radler klein. Ahu's beer wax quite good but mine was like a Sprite with a little beer added for coloring. Very weird. So I guzzled it (so as not to waste it) and order a Zipfer groß (large). Something a little bigger than a pint came back and then we ordered. Ahu had a mixed grill with beef and veal, pork, and a mystery meat which was served with French fries and vegetables. I ordered the Tyrolean version of beef stroganoff and got a surprise dish. Unlike the Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper version back home, this beef stroganoff came with several cutlets of veal, a sauce, and a pile of peppers, onions, and other things cut into tiny strips and piled on the meat. There were pomme frites on the side. The stroganoff was not like anything I had ever had before so it is now clear to me why “crock” is a part of that particular American brand.
We walked around a little longer after dinner, took some nice night shots, and went to sleep.