Innsbruck, Austria

July 5

What happened to July 4 you ask? Long travel day We arrived to a perfect little condo about 10 minutes out of Innsbruck and had an excellent night sleep. That’s about all for July 4.

July 5 – Was an awesome day! We are in the heart of the mountains and we enjoyed them inside and out today.

The day began with a home made breakfast followed be sweet mine tour. 30 Minutes from Innsbruck is a mining town called Schwaz. Here they mined 85% of the worlds silver back in 15th-18th centuries. The tour takes you by a single track train cart deep into the mountain. I’m not sure how far, I’m sure they said it but I don’t speak German very well, actually at all. It was 7 minutes going probably 10 MPH. You can do the math. We learned a lot about the miners back then and the creativity in mining way back then. All these men/ boys did from the time they 5 years old until they died around 35 years old was mine. The cold, dark caves, not to mention the difficult work, only allowed a short life-span. In one part of the mine was a giant water wheel that they invented to haul water out of the mine. They diverted the water over the mountain and into the cave to pull water out. Not many pics of this adventure because it was very dark.

The next part of the day took us to the very top of Innsbruck. From the city center a Funicular took us to a cable car to the very top of the Mountains. I do believe the elevation was around 10,500′. What amazing views from up here!