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Trapped like a rat on a train car OR These politzie are making me thirsty posted Monday, December 31, 2007
DEC 28:
We're on our way to Innsbruck, Austria. The Austrian Politzie are in our train car. These guys are big and scary. They have guns and are speaking German I don't understand. Ok, from what I can see they want passports to be shown. Crap! I knew I should have brought that with me! Should I try to run? No, they're smart they have an officer on the each end of the car, I'd never get away. "Reispass" I hear from behind my shoulder. Crap, I thought I had more time to think up an excuse! I was watching the other officer... At this point in time all I can do is desperately fake that I thought I had it when I boarded! I reach into my pocket, digging around as I look at the officers outstretched hand, not daring to look into his eyes... Ah, there it is... fortunately today I remembered to bring it.
I've promised Schnu I wouldn't use my French anymore. People are giving us dirty looks. We are doing better in the East areas with English and broken German. Don't get me wrong. The Swiss love French and speak it fluently but are also proud that they can speak English and seem to love to use it. The Germans and the Austrians don't like French apparently… or is it that they don't like "the" French?
We get into Innsbruck and the whole town is in between tearing down the Christmas market stalls and setting up big Sylvester (New Year's Eve) stages. Innsbruck is another of the only three cities to ever have held the Olympics twice. Since they were held here in 1964 and 1976 the facilities were a little more modern than we saw in St Moritz. Visible from most of the town is the ski jump embedded in the mountain side. Lying a little further down the valley is the speed skating rink. Aside from that we're here to size up the skiing, I'm here for the churches and Schnu is here for the shopping.
We first notice the high incidence of Tyrolean shops. Let me tell you how tempting it was to pick up a nice Austrian hat. We decided to divide and conquer for a bit because of our short time in this fantastic town. Innsbruck has a huge river that runs through the middle. We're talking 50m deep gorge. I make the church tour and Schnu hits the Rathaus galleria which is a giant mall. Anyways, Innsbruck is a beautiful town that blends the old and the new amazingly and Austria in general was my second favourite train ride for scenery with the Glacier Express being the best. We're back to Zurich tomorrow, we get in late and then we catch our flight home the next morning. Hope to see you all soon!
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