The Grand Vistas of Innsbruck

So we spend the morning driving out of Switzerland, which takes us through Zurich. We'd thought about going to Zurich, but then thought why, when we hadn't really heard anyone rave about it, why not go to Lucerne which we'd heard is nice and the rest is as they say, history. Skirting Zurich we didn't regret our decision. And after road works sent us off the motorway and through some diversions on clogged up city streets, we couldn't wait for the traffic to clear and get out of Zurich. Finally we were nearly out of Switzerland. Given how close we were, we ducked off the motorway and crossed a river into Lichtenstein.

We found some free parking in Lichtenstein (they probably have to do all they can to encourage people to stop there!) and walked a couple hundred metres to the main street. There wasn't much to look at, and about as many shops to look in. We hunted down a Christmas decoration (I want one from every country on our trip) and then left. Lichtenstein tick.

The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, cutting through tunnel after tunnel as we cut through the mountains to Innsbruck. Then we turned up where once there used to be a camping ground, and there sadly was no longer. So we turned to the list of campgrounds that Ruth (sat nav) had and came up with Plan B. We turned up at Plan B after just sneaking through a tunnel 3m high. It turns out Betty is less than 3m high. Just. Plan B was expensive for what was a tiny, muddy, crappy little campground. So we came up with Plan C. Plan C lead us on a drive up, up and up, and we thought we were headed for some tiny village halfway up the mountains. Then the road turned left and narrowed into one lane before heading down through a forest and emerging at a campground on a lake just out of the tiny village of Nattersea. The campground looked expensive but we were pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't going to top €30 a night, so we stayed. We must have been a wee way up in the mountains, as it was pretty cold by the time we'd set up camp and had dinner and crawled into bed, using our duvet for the first time in months!

The next morning the sun was out so we walked down through the country lanes from camp, through the local village to the tram station. On our walk we passed fields and fields of corn, so decided to pick a couple of ears on our way back to camp at the end of the day. We got the tram into town and spent a few hours exploring the medieval old town of Innsbruck which was very nice. The mountains surrounding the town to all sides were a stunning backdrop. We saw the famous Golden roof built by an Emperor as a display of wealth. With 2657 gilded roof tiles it certainly achieves its purpose! We climbed the city tower for a couple of euro and had some great views of the town and mountains. We wandered the streets for a bit, trying on mafia style hats and eating gelato. We caught the tram home, after finally finding a stop where the tram we wanted would stop at. We passed by some of the ski jump facilities from the Winter Olympics which have been held in Innsbruck several times.

We walk back through the village and country lanes to camp, coming across a small table that a couple had been having a picnic on earlier in the morning. Ryan stealthily folds up the table and puts in under his wing, continuing on his way nonchalant as. Further up the road we pick ourselves a couple of cobs of corn and head back to camp. By 'borrowing' the table and corn, Ryan has added to his list of 'long term borrows' started in Munich.

Back in camp I have an afternoon nap to recharge the batteries (ah bliss!) while Ryan watches some Only Fools and Horses on the laptop. Then we rotate, and Ryan has a nap while I catch up on keep notes for my blogs. We have a late dinner and watch the sunset from camp, getting ready to hit Italy the next day.