It is currently day 131 of quarantine. Tbh when I googled “Days Calculator” I expected 400 something days. Then I realized that 1 year equals 365 days. Heh. The past 131 days do feel like 4 times longer. Odd times, don’t you think? A couple of days ago, an idea sprung to mind. I asked some of my friends a series of questions about the quarantine, focusing on personal feelings and relationships. I might -caps lock on the word MIGHT- make this into a series of quarantine posts, maybe the next one we’ll talk about the future or economy or something else. We’ll see. We’ll see. Anyhow, I curated their answers and I present this to you all. I sincerely hope reading these frank answers will shed light on some of your own feelings and struggles, as they did with me. "How are you feeling during the first few weeks of quarantine on a scale of 1-10?” 8, soalnya aku introvert dan ga gitu suka pergi-pergi jadi it's okay malah seneng bisa pulang kampung :D 10, seneng...
Innsbruck, also known as The City of Alps, is a small town located near the mountains. Its main charm is the pastel-colored old town with a beautiful backdrop of the alps. In fact, it is enlisted as a UNESCO Heritage Site. I was not intrigued by this town at first, as Salzburg was the reason why I came to Austria. I just googled what city should I stop by other than the infamous Hallstatt and Innsbruck popped out on my research.
We arrived in Innsbruck quite late on the afternoon and immediately checked in into our apartment. It's located very strategically in the heart of old town, with The Golden Roof only a few metres away. The apartment itself is not equipped by a front desk but we assumed that the guy (I think he is the manager) in the downstairs cafe was in charge as he handled our check in and out. He was very friendly and helpful. We requested an extra key and he immediately processed our inquiry and it was finished a couple of hours later. My tip on staying here would be informing him or emailing the apartment the time you're going to arrive and leave because we almost missed him during those times but we got so lucky!
Check in time:14.00-20.00
Check out time:10.00
#Day 1
Our first stop was the Watch Tower/Stadtturm next door. Here you get to see the stunning views of the town after having to climb a circular staircase. Not gonna lie, after almost 24 hours of flying and hopping to trains, I had to stop a few times to make sure my vision was still clear, lol. Something to consider if you're traveling with your grandpa or grandma.
P.S Not to be confused with Innsbruck Information centre nearby where you could purchase the Innsbruck Card, since google referred the tower as "Innsbruck Information". You can't buy the card here, trust me I tried. We opt to buy the card since the next day we'll be going to the Nordkette Cable Car. Calculate all of your entrance fees first before buying the card and they have several options (24/48/72 hours).
Opening hours: 10.00-17.00
Price: €4.50/person, free with the Innsbruck Card
After a short taxi ride from the tower, we arrived at Ambras Castle. My family are not culture and historical people so we didn't stay very long. But the highlights were the Spanish Hall and the backyard of the castle.
Opening hours: 10.00-17.00
Price: €12/person, free with the Innsbruck Card
Naturally, I went to the top-rated restaurant in TripAdvisor and Lonely Planet for our first dinner here. The name is die Wilderin, located across our apartment. It did not disappoint. We went there on a Tuesday and it was fully booked! We finally managed to get a table for only 1 and a half hour. The place is quite small, although most restaurants in Innsbruck are. It has 2 floors and could easily hold 10 tables of 2-4 people on the second floor. Service was terrific! She had to translate the whole main course and dessert menu to us (skipped appetizer cos..not our thing?) because it was written in German and they changes the menu everyday so they don't bother to have the English version. We ordered 3 mains and 2 desserts. The beef's sauce was kinda foreign to our taste buds but the rest were delicious.
Opening hours: 17.00-00.00, closed on Mondays
Price: around €20 for mains and €7-8 for desserts. Free flow water.
#Day 2
I made a reservation for brunch at 10.00 in the Seegrube Restaurant. We left the hotel at around 8.30 and were starving. The Nordkette Cable Car station is only 10 minutes walk from the apartment. We hopped on the train and transferred to the cable car in the Hungerberg station. The ride to Seegrube was approx. 20 minutes. Curiously, I felt that we were the only international tourists. The car was PACKED with little kids and parents for their ski lesson.
After arriving at the restaurant, I was a little confused because no one was around. I finally met with someone from the kitchen and she said to wait for 20 mins as they set up our table and can only serve breakfast because lunch will start at 11. I said ok and we went outside to take in (read: take a gazzilion of photos) the amazing views.
Address: Seegrube, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Opening hours: 09.15-17.100 (reservation is recommended)
Price: €20/person for breakfast if not mistaken
To be honest, when she said breakfast I did not imagine this. I thought we'll be given the breakfast menu instead, lol. Each portion is way too much for us but I suppose it's normal for Austrians?
After a very fulfilling breakfast/brunch, we hopped back in to the cable car to go to Hafelekar, the top of Nordkette. Hafelekar was really windy and slippery as the road is made out of cobblestones so it might be wise to hold on to something while you're here.
Address: Rennweg 3, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Opening hours: 09.00-17.00 (Make sure to check the website beforehand to check opening hours as it may varies through the seasons.)
Price: €38 per adult, round trip Innsbruck-Hafelekar cable car only.
Semi-exhausted from our freezing trip to the top, we decided to take a lazy stroll down the river (only 10 mins away from the station) to check the iconic colorful buildings of Innsbruck.
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We had some pre-dinner desserts across our apartment (yes, everything is nearby don't get confused) in Cafe Katzung because the place looked packed last night when we walked past it. The cakes were quite good but they don't serve mains so we had to move to get some dinner.
I had looked Altstadtbeisl up when researching and I was instantly drooling over their Tyrolean Gröstl (at a glance it looks like mini pasta with sunny side up and lots of bacons :p, turns out it's potatoes!) Aside from the gröstl, we ordered some kind of steak with pasta on the side. I personally prefer the steak sauce here than the one in Die Wilderin but that's just my tastebuds. Overall, the food were really satisfying, service is great, and the place is also quite spacious with split level style building. It was a pleasant dinner to wrap up our stay in Innsbruck.
Opening hours: 11.00-23.00
Price: €12.80 for Gröstl and around €20 for the steak
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ReplyDeleteKath, you write your experiences in a detail and attractive way without tarnishing your style and your culture. Keep inspiring through your talents Kath. I do hope that this pandemic situation will pass soon and I use your writings as a reference to go abroad with my family. Btw I have finished reading all of your writings this morning haha. Godblessyou Kath!
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