Innsbruck, Austria - 47.26828N 11.39181E

Two days ago I found myself wishing for a grand adventure. Something extraordinary and fascinating to "write home about." We had visited Innsbruck that day and were astounded at the beauty - but really only accomplished lunch and hair cuts for me and the girls (for a whopping 20Euro). Feeling a little bummed out on the walk home (with the Alps as my background, boo-hoo...), I realized that adventure is ours for the making and is really more about how we choose to see the experience, than the experience itself.

With renewed energy, I spent the evening on the web, reading up on the tourist hits around town (trust me, they are plentiful). Amazingly, we had seen several on the way to and from lunch - just needed the context.

Dan and I decided to purchase the Innsbruck Card to navigate the city and knock off a few tourist attractions. The card was 24 Euro per adult (kids under 6 are free) and includes use of the city's transportation network in addition to admission to a huge host of tourist attractions. It was a calculated risk - with kids in tow, we really don't normally have the ability to knock off more than 1 or 2 major attractions a day.

Lunch and snacks packed, we headed out. Only, the "Sightseer" bus was a little hard to find from the Hauptbahnhof and each city's transportation is a little different. In this case, there are plenty of street trams and busses going to our destination, but unlike Munich, the routes were not well documented. We got on a tram, but due to road construction, it dropped us off downhill of our destination, Bergisel.

We finally made it up hill to the world class ski jump, Bergisel. Visit the "Galerie" link on their site for some truly phenomonal photographs. We saved our legs the 770 steps and took the tram to the top. Dan and I attempted to explain how ski jumping works to Megan. Somehow the viewpoint of the platform doesn't look as intimidating when you're standing above it, behind a plate of glass and without the snow and crowd below cheering you on. I can only imaging the adrenaline rush the jumpers must experience. Surprisingly, the jump is home to two annual exhibitions - the Four Hills tour in January and the summer ski jumping Grand Prix (the surprise being the dry jumping in summer).

1: Looking down the ski jump, to the area below.

2: The view from the terrace.

3: Sunlight glowing through a flower in the restuarant at Bergsiel.

4: Dan and Megan returning from visiting the Olympic torches.

Next destination was set as NordPark, in search of fantasitc views and possibly the rope bridge. We jumped on the Sightseer bus, and the driver recommended we get off in the middle of the city and catch the "J" bus to NordPark. However, our tourist map showed the Alpenzoo as being in the same area as NordPark. Disregarding the bus driver's advice, and not understanding the route (after Schloss Ambras, the route loop included AlpenZoo), we disembarked at Schloss Ambras to wait the 15 minutes for the Sightseer bus to Alpenzoo. We decided to spend those 15 minutes in the castle and wound up staying more than an hour.

Visiting was well worth our time. We were awestruck at the fantastic collection of armor, swords and early rifles. Equally impressive were the wood ceilings and the detailed wall paintings. This stop alone could have easily taken two or more hours. Tying in to Megan's social studies work, we explored the exotic treasures that early explorers brought back to the castle from their travels (ivory, coral, sharks, samurai suits, even a puffer fish!). In the inner courtyard of the castle remains what they report as one of the best preserved examples of fresco painting. And, don't miss the chaple - it's behind an unobtrusive door but also has a viewing gallery upstairs.

1: Schloss Amras

2: The very first exhibit you see when walking in.

3: Armor, even for the little tykes - cool!

4: The gazebo between the stables, garden and castle.

5: Glimpse through the doorway, into the courtyard, filled with freso painting.

Tired, we jumped on the next Sightseer bus with an end destination of Alpen Zoo. Hey, it was the same driver as who had recommended we disembark in the city center and take the "J" bus to NordPark. Somehow, it still seemed like a good idea to ignore his advice and continue to the zoo. Which we did.

The bus dropped us off "downhill" of the zoo. After conferring with a local, we learn that our route is "doable" but there is no bus to take us from the zoo to NordPark. The zoo, about a 20 minute walk uphill, was supposedly the "halfway" mark. We made it to the zoo ... the woman at the zoo insisted there was no train or cable car to take us up the mountain. Huh. I knew I had read that there is a cable car or gondola to the top. Tired, hungry, thirsty, we decide to push on. Checking in with a cyclist, we learned we were on the right path, but he doubted our shoes (Megan and I were in tennis shoes). Upward for about another 40+ minutes with Sophia being carried on our shoulders, and we reached a residential area. We finally surfaced on the street and saw it - the gondola.

Given the lateness of the day, we would have about 15 minutes at the top. However, since we'd already invested in the Innsbruck Card and a very long walk uphill, we went for it (plus, the weather is supposed to change tomorrow). The gondola from the bottom left at 4:30; we were at the middle station approximately 2 or 3 minutes later. We went straight to the next gondola and to the summit - I think it was about 3 minutes total.

With the weather largely on our side (there was some haze in the valley), we walked to the area behind the station and were met with simply an astounding view. Stunning does not even begin to capture the sentiment of the experience. Here we were, standing at the top of the Alps (TNABers, I know, we didn't "earn" it ... but we did at least get 2 mini hikes in during our experiences today).

1: Us at the top.

2: The gondola shadow on the mountain below.

3 & 4: Picture of the ski routes + the perils of skiing in this region.

Needless to say, we found the bus back to the city (even though it was 20-minutes late) and happily climbed aboard. A quick dinner near the Hauptbahnhof and then a 30-minute wait for the train to Hall. We encountered a mother and two children enroute from school and the boy (not much older than Megan) was prepping for his first English test the next day. He and his sister were so excited to meet people who spoke English! This was probably the most gregarious family we've encountered so far and we had fun bantering back and forth to our stop.

The crescent moon was out with a glow around it. I got my adventure today - a beautiful day of sights and some exercise. Life is truly good.

Our path: