Austria, Italy, Germany

July 6

Today we thought we take a stroll down into Italy. Why? Because we can 😉 What a beautiful drive along a nice river through small towns as we headed downhill for about 75 miles. Along the way we saw some very old castles and enjoyed seeing the vast number of vineyards. We drove up a very steep driveway and found a small family run winery. The owner did not know any English so a kind family translated for us.

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We took a short stop in a beautiful old town before cruising back home on the Autobahn. This highway is basically a bridge for miles. Amazing! Little pricey though, 9,5+ euro toll to drive on it.

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July 7

Woke up early today and headed to Salzburg, Austria. In hopes of checking out Sound of Music and Mozart stuff, we found ourselves in a torrential downpour all the way there and while we were there. After a trip to the police station and law-breaking (Elizabeth) 🙂 we found a place to park and started our touring. Because of the weather we were not able to see to much. We did see a cool free-style biking competition, ate some great street food, saw Mozart’s birthplace and walked around Mirabell Gardens from the Sound of Music.

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The highlight of the day was finding a beer place in Germany on the way home and running into some witnesses who had just come from their convention in Salzburg. We translated through google, hugged and told them we’ll see them in paradise.

July 8

Into Germany today in quest for Neuschwanstein Castle (Disney’s castle) Again the weather was poor at best, so it made the view of the castle not so great. We made the best out of it though. We were able to walk through parts of the gigantic place. No pictures were allowed so we will have to dig into the memory banks for this one. Compared to most castles out here, this one is very new. Built in the mid- 1800’s by Ludwig and Ludwig the II. State of the art technology for their day was used.

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The way home found us a sweet Alpine coaster in the ski resort town of Imst. Grabbed a beer and some food before heading back to Innsbruck.

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July 9 – Today is going to be a rest day, which shall include one more run through Old town Innsbruck, Schnitzel and beer. I have learned that in most places here they carry 4 options: Bier, Radler, Dunkel and Wiezen.

Bier- Typically draft beer much like Coors or Bud.

Radler – Very sweet like mikes hard lemonade mixed with Corona

Dunkel- Dark Beer but not strong

Weizen – Wheat beer

Off to Prague tomorrow…