Cloud 9

From Ellmau I moved on to Innsbruck, one of Austria’s bigger towns.  With about 100,000 people it’s a bit bigger and busier than Ellmau, but still a nice little place surrounded by mountains in all directions.  This whole mountains in all directions deal is a pain in the bum.  At one stage I walked out a laundromat (yay for clean clothes!) keen to head back to the hostel.  I saw the mountains and was like, oh yeah, if they just stay on my left I’ll be back to the hostel in no time.  Der, wrong mountains and I ended up half way across the wrong end of town before I realised!

Innsbruck has a really lovely little tourist strip of old buildings, winding alleys and a place called the Golden Roof.  The roof is made of over 1000 gold tiles and was built in the 1500’s.  One thing I noticed in Innsbruck is that there are a lot of beggars.  Clean, well-dressed beggars.  And a lot of women too.  I really don't understand begging in first world places, especially when it's not drunks and drug-fucked dicks who have done it to themselves.

Not sure what these shifty buggars are up to, but one is holding a beer so it must be a super plan they're scheming

      

 

One of the touristy things you can do in Innsbruck is go to the mountain-top via cable cars.  It actually takes 3 separate cable cars to get you to the very top, but it's well worth it, the view is spectacular.  At the top of the second cable car is a ski, a bar and some deck chairs.  There wasn't much snow, but enough for some tricky-dicky's to be doing some jumps and stuff which was cool.

 

Another thing I did was go out to Krystalweltten.  For some reason, I think maybe because a lonely planet guide said take a jumper, I thought the place was like an ice sculpture place.  It wasn't, it's the Swarkovski crystal museum, still pretty cool if not a little bizarre and had the most expensive gift shop ever.  12,000 euro crystal dragon anyone?

 

How now Ellmau

I went to Austria with the intention of getting a couple of snowboarding lessons and becoming the next Torah Bright.  There seemed to be a few flaws in this plan:

1.       No lessons; as it was the last week of the ski season in Ellmau all the ski schools were shut.

2.       I lack any form of natural agility or co-ordination; therefore it takes me a long long time to get less bad at anything that involves physical activity.

As there were no lessons I figured I would stick to what I know and just ski for a few days.  That plan seemed to be flawed too by the fact that I had forgotten I am the worst skier ever.  On the first day I could remember how to stop.  That was handy.  So I snow-ploughed my way down a few runs.  For some reason I was having trouble turning, but in true Zoolander style was only having trouble turning in one direction. 

But glad to say I did get better.  By the last day I was getting down the mountains without losing my shit and skidding down the run on my arse.  I was also starting to get some speed up and turning - In Both Directions.  Champion!

 
Ellmau, the town I was staying in, is a really cute, little, postcard-perfect, ski town.  I bet it’s pumping during the ski season, but when I was there it was pretty quiet.  Literally, I had the entire hostel to myself the last couple of nights.  So of course I entertained myself with nudie runs up and down the stairs.  The town has this little church right in the middle and surrounding the church is a cemetery.  And it’s just so lovely.  It’s like a garden.  All the plots have flowers planted and it’s all very pretty.

On my last day in Ellmau I went for a bit of a hike up into the mountains.  The mountains are spectacular.  When skiing you could see out over the valley and the mountains.  The valley was all wide open fields of green grasses.  The town, like tiny toy buildings wound their way down the centre of the valley.  The fields fade off into a darker green of the forests which lead up to immense steely peaks, jutting out against the bright blue skies.  The air was so crisp and clear you could see every crack and crevice in the mountains. 

However on the day I had my camera it was overcast and grey so the contrast between the mountains and the sky wasn’t quite the same.  It didn’t have that look as though the mountains are so close you can almost touch them.  Still impressive though. 

Hiking up into the mountains is great.  The forests are like fairy tale woods.  Tall trees with little undergrowth.  And quiet.  So so quiet.  At one spot I saw a fallen tree trunk, and upon the trunk someone had laid out small piles of stones.  Suddenly the lovely Hansel and Gretel forest became a creepy Blair witch forest.  The tranquil silence became an eerie silence and the pretty dappled sunlight on the forest floor changed to wavering shadows at every step.  I was like, uggh don’t get me witch!

Big fat bumbly bee

Hansel and Gretel forest

Sure, I totally know where I am

 

Apple strudel and a mountain view

 

 

PS. The nudie runs was a lie.  Just checking if you’re paying attention ;)

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