Day 1 - Boston to Zurich to Innsbruck

Dec 13th - After many weeks of planning (OK, I have to give hats off to Rob as he did most of the research and planning), excitement, carefully packing everything to carry on our backs, and a wee bit of nervousness that we would not receiving our EuRail passes in time (we did!), the day finally arrived...26 days of adventure! Off to Boston to catch a night flight to Zurich.

Dec 14th - We made it! Landed in Zurich, Switzerland at 10:00 AM after an uneventful flight, and with no time to waste we were at the Bahnhoff (train station) to make our way to Innsbruck, Austria - no exploration of Switzerland on this end of the trip. I wasn't sure how difficult travelling via train was going to be, but after a 4 leg trip on various trains (and one bus), I'm loving the train travel (but talk to me in 26 days and maybe I'll have a differing opinion). And the extra money spent on 1st class passes was comletely worth it, very comfortable riding. Through Switzerland, the scenery was beautiful - travelling past countless cute small towns with lots of houses with chalet style roof tops, always one church steeple amongst them in the town, with the backdrop of amazing mountains. It seemed as soon as we hit Austria, that the scenery was much the same, but the ground & surroundings went from greenery to completely snow covered - even more beautiful! By the time we made it to Innsbruck, the snow had disappeared again.

We arrived in Innsbruck around 5:00, and found the local bus to take us close to our B&B - a short walk from the historic part of town. From the bus stop, was a straight walk UP! Then when we got to the B&B, more UP to the top floor, but it's a gorgeous view. After a quick re-charge, we trekked back into town to check out our first Christkindlmarkt (Christmas market). I'm going to like these - very cute markets, lots of lights, happy people...I refrained from shopping tonight though...there will be many more chances! Who would have though the gal who hates winter & cold wants to spend time outside shopping in December? :) There is something to be said for ambiance I suppose, and I have to admit it isn't too cold out, very comfortable. There were tons of people enjoying some hot drinks...not sure if it's mulled cider or wine, will have to check it out at another market. I was also oogling some yummy looking baked goods, a Schaumrollen looked yummy, will need to find out what it is & try to find a smaller one to try out!

Found a place to eat that Rob had searched out - Elfenhaus. I enjoyed my first ever Wiener Schnitzel - not sure how this one compares to others since I've never had it before, but was very thin pork, with a delightful deep fried coating, perfect crispness. I'll have to try a few more on this trip for comparison. After our bite to eat & a couple of beers, time for bed. It's early, but we're exhausted!

Beers for the day (oh, c'mon, you knew this was coming!): Paulaner Wiessbier, Franziskaner Wiessbier, Mohren Bockbier, Kaiser Doppel Malz