Cappuccinos, Snowballs and Cataracts
The family and I have come to the conclusion that the city of Bolzano was happy to see us go. Our big car and booming American ways were a little too disruptive for their world tucked away in the mountains.
We missed the Autobahn, I'm still a little curious about that one. I must say though, driving through the mountain range passing through the towns was definitely worth the extra time spent and 3 Euros saved by not taking the toll road. Around noon we stopped in another little Italian town for cappuccinos, the name of the place is escaping me. Soon enough we were back on the road (this time on the Autobahn) and on our way to Innsbruck, Austria right there in the Alps. I slept for most of the drive, but what I did see was gorgeous in its entirety.
Innsbruck has probably been the easiest city to find parking that we have been to. We swooped right into the structure and had no problems finding a spot which was quite a relief. We walked about a block to the Congress train station our first mode of transportation up the mountains.
For those of you that know me, you might remember that I am definitely not a fan of heights and my anxiety tends to shoot through the roof. I was not particularly excited about the upcoming gondola ride up the Alps. The train was no problem, the we got on gondola number 1. My heart started racing, but I was doing pretty well. I found a spot on the floor and just stared at it trying not to have a freak attack in front of about 20 people I didn't know. This worked, until people started moving around to see the scenery, suddenly my spot was no where to be found and I could feel my eyes swelling with water. Luckily, I've gotten pretty good at calming myself in these situations; I just kept thinking that it was going to be worth it when I got to the top.
I thought I was good, until I saw the SECOND gondola. It got a little bit harder to keep my cool. I got a seat on this ride and my uncle started to try and calm me. The worst part of my fear is that once someone acknowledges it, calming myself is almost impossible. This time, the tears came, but so did the people so *sniff sniff* and they were gone. Once again, my composure was back, but then the gondola started jerking and weird noises started going off. The operator looked nervous, not a good way for me to start the ride. It all turned out okay though and we eventually made it up to the top at Haffelekar.
As soon as I saw the view from the lookout point my fear vanished. How could I be afraid of something so beautiful and breathtaking? On a clear day you can see four countries; Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. It was pretty cloudy since it's been stormy, but we could still see Austria, Germany and Italy which is not bad at all! We hiked up to the top of the mountain and had a little snow ball fight on the way up. Did I mention Dave and I were in flip flops?
Downfall of the trip...deer poop on my Haviannas.
The trip down the mountain was a no brainer and we walked around Innsbruck in search for some food. Since it was around 430 not many of the kitchens were open for dinner so we got small sandwiches at a little store and ate them in the main square.
Then it was back in the car to and unknown destination, sleeping once again. We're now in Oberammergau, world famous for it's Passion plays every 10 years. We're staying at Ferienhaus Fux and it's absolutely lovely, I wish we were staying here longer (which seems to be the trend on this trip)! We walked down the street to a hotel/restaurant for dinner. Salad with turkey "stripes" sounded pretty good to me and it was delicious! None of us were very hungry but for some reason we all felt that we needed to eat dinner. We're getting the hang of this European meal time, good food, good company and good conversation; schnitzel/salad and beer, family and a lesson about Cataracts/anatomy of the eye.
We are THE Liebigs.
Well, I'm settled in for the night and my bed and book are looking pretty appetizing but first, here are some pictures!

