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Walking along the Via Romea Germanica from Stade, near Hamburg, in Germany south through Austria and Italy to Rome.

Thursday 24 May 2018

Austria – Seefeld in Tirol, Innsbruck, & Ellbögen – Day 55, 56 /7, 58 on the way.

I am nearly across Austria.  I have mostly walked it, but I am afraid I have had to get on a train a couple of times.  Partly because I was looking after my ankle, partly because I knew that I would not arrive till after the tourist office was closed, and then on the advice of a passing cyclist.

Anyway – back to the path.  It was a delight leaving Mittenwald.  The sun was shining and the path passed through some beautiful high alpine forest, stunted trees, presumably because of the extreme condition in the winter.  I had the company of the fast flowing Isar River which makes its way to Munich.  I remember when Joan and I walked from Munich we followed the Isar for the first day, and passed strange looking rafts which all hosted a beer drinking party on board.  But, traditionally, these rafts were a special way for the logs to be moved downriver, and a real way of life for the timbermen.   I was reminded of that in Mittenwald when I happened to see what I think was a model of the rafts.

The River Isar

     
Just a little of the path
River Isar
Scharnitz - my first Austrian town

I needed to get to Seefeld in Tirol before the tourist office closed to get their assistance in finding a room.  There were only VERY expensive ones left on Booking.com and I was hoping that they would be able to get something cheaper.  Unfortunately this tourist office was not very helpful and so I used the free Wi-Fi available in the plaza outside the church and booked a room cheaper than they could do it for me.  Seefeld is very much a tourist town, summer and winter, and as I was walking past a restaurant later in the afternoon, I heard someone make some comment about a pilgrim (me!).  I stopped and had a chat to the two women who were very interested in what I was doing.  I bumped into them in the church a little while later, and they explained that it was Whitsunday and that both the Sunday and Monday were holidays (which I had forgotten about).  They were from Innsbruck, and said that there were many people from Switzerland in town – they could tell by their accents!  I sang for them in the church, before we went out separate ways.  One of the key things about Seefeld is that it is a winter sports town, and seeing the infrastructure there I can well believe that there is a massive influx of people in the winter months.
                         
St Oswald's Church in Seefeld in Tirol,
The flowers were prolific and colour coded.

Leaving Seefeld (above and below

The path meandered across meadows and through pine forests, with wonderful views of the mountains. 


The next day, I set off from Seefeld, enjoying the views of the mountains in the sunshine, the path winding through a delightful pine forest, past a golf course, and through moorland.  I had intended to save my foot and catch the train form the outskirts of Innsbruck, but I changed my mind after a passing cyclist stopped and chatted.  He had just been down to the start of the road I was headed for, only to find that it was closed for cyclists.  It was very steep, with little or no verge and he suggested it would be unwise for me to go on it – he considered it very dangerous.  He was looking for an alternative route, checking out the information that I had, and looking at my maps.  I decided that I would catch the train earlier than planned.  It was an interesting train journey down the hill to Innsbruck, with magnificent views across the valley, but sadly I couldn’t take any photos!

The owner of this shed must have been a collector! On the outskirts of Auland.
The view from Reith bei Seefeld
      
The beautiful little church in Reith bei Seefeld ......
...... and the view of it later, on the path.
     
Heading into Leithen

My room was in a hostel was on the outskirts of town, and so I had a long walk from the station to it.  I had booked two nights, and so I was able to spend a day looking around Innsbruck without having to rush.
In Innsbruck two rivers meet - the Inn on the left, and the Sill River, on the right - note the difference in colour.
I loved the colour on the buildigs.
This building is now a Great Western Hotel.  On a stone plaque in the front of it is a list of names from as long ago as the 1300's of famous people that have stayed here, including Paganini, Mozart, Jean-Paul Sartre, Goethe, Royalty of all ranks, and even Maria von Trapp!
                          
Goldenes Dachl (right) the 16th Century gold roof built by Emporer Maximillian 1 to show of his vast wealth.  It consists of 2,657 copper roof tiles gilded.  

     
In Innsbruck the Dom St Jakob was shrouded in hessian, with massive restoration work being conducted.  I went looking for a statue of St James (St Jakob), and after about 30 mins. eventually found him.  He was beautifully hidden in full view, at the front, on the right pedestal, by the altar!
                       
Inside the Hofkirche (Court Church), which I lashed out and paid to visit, I was astonished at the magnificent oversized statues lining both sides of the Church.  
The movement in these figures was extraordinary - I even studied the folds of the "fabrics" at the back. The figures were of Kings and Queens from over the centuries - incuding one of King Arthur.
Coloured buildings along the Inn

Leaving Innsbruck this morning I had a steep climb out of the town – having to regain all the metres that I descended two days ago!  I have at last struck a very helpful Austrian tourist officer – in the village of Igls.  He managed to find a cheaper Gasthaus for me, but about 6 kilometres short of where I had planned to go.  Rather than pay almost double I decided that I would take the room, but that means I will have to revise where I will go tomorrow.  The views have been wonderful today, though as each kilometre passed the noise from the big motorway, which is heading to the same place as me, has been getting closer and therefore louder.  At one point the path went through a pine forest, crossing a fast flowing stream.  I had to kept my eyes focussed on the path because to my right was a very steep drop!  Nearing the end of the day I had to sprint for shelter to some farm buildings in a very strong head wind.  I could see the rain ahead, and hoped that I would be able to get there before the rain so that I could organise my rain gear.  A farmers wife, Brigitte, came out and seemed quite concerned that I was walking in the storm – typical mountain weather.  She decided that she would drive me to the Gasthaus that had been booked, so I had a couple of kilometres less to walk, and didn’t have to get rigged up in rain gear – the brolly would not have worked in the storm – the wind was too strong.
I didn't realise it, but I was to follow the Sill river for the next two days.
Looking back over Innsbruck and down the valley of the Inn.
The path, thankfully , was nice and shady.
Another view of Innsbruck, as the path goes higher.
Igls Pfarrkirche Church, St Aegidius (left), and tourist office.
                          
Several chuches up this valey had lovely embrodered alter drapes.  I am guessing that the flowers depicted in the cloe up on the right are Edelweiss.
Heading up the valley.
      
The path was a delight.

I only have another day and half to walk in Austria, before reaching Italy.  I am pleased that my feet are at last back to normal.  Today they felt really good – both going up and down hill.  Italy here I come!

3 comments:

  1. You’ll see lots of those old tools displayed on the side of sheds . Look out for an incredible one with hundreds of tools in Italy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wir haben schon so einige Urlaube im 4 Sterne Hotel Seefeld gemacht und lieben diese Gegend einfach nur. Wirklich schön.

    ReplyDelete