The next day, December 23rd, we decided to buy Innsbruck cards so that we could do some sight-seeing. We got the 72 hour ones, which let us use all the transportation and see as many sites as we wanted. After buying them, we sought some more Internet at a cafe called The Breakfast Club. It was a cute local place with lots of character. I went adventurous and ordered some random plate (listed in German). It ended up being breads with cheeses, spreads, cucumbers, and tomatoes. It was a little different, but yummy!
After breakfast we headed to a new mountain to get an awesome view by taking the cable car all the way to the top. It took a little tram and two cable cars, but it was soooo cool to see! That alone was probably worth the whole trip. It is impossible to comprehend the height, the majesty of those mountains. Unfortunately it was also very windy, blowing snow everywhere, so we didn't stay long because we weren't dressed for the snow. Next we headed over to the Olympic ski jump, though on the way we took a detour to the Innsbruck panorama museum. It was about a war/battle between the Tyroleans and the Bavarians, in which the Tyroleans were eventually victorious. The panorama was really neat to see. Then on to the original plan. The ski jump was really cool to see. I can't imagine leaping off of that, hoping that the landing goes well and then having to go straight down that huge steep hill! Katie and I enjoyed checking out the Olympic Rings. There is just something so hopeful, powerful, inspiring about that symbol :)We had left Mags and jenny at the hotel for the day since Mags still wasn't feeling well, but we had to get back because we had signed up for a "Tyrolean evening" for dinner that night. The dinner was a actually good, including a soup, salad, chicken with potatoes, and an apple strudel dessert. Afterwards the show consisted of performances of traditional Austrian dances and songs, using traditional instruments. It also included yodeling, which was pretty awesome, but I liked the traditional dances the best.
Christmas Eve day we decided to go skiing again, this time at a different area. Mom stayed back at the hotel with Jenny to run errands. This was Bobby's first day on the slopes, so it seems that he was feeling a little rusty too. The first slope we went on was really groomed and icy, making it not so fun. we were beginning to question our choice of mountains, when we found another area in the sun that had more powder and was much more fun to ski. we spent most of our time there. By this time, it was apparent that poor Mags was really sick, so our almost doctor(Bobby) took a look and figured that she has mono, poor thing. Though probably not a good idea, she wanted to ski one more day. She was too tired to do full days, so I was her buddy and we left around 1.
For me, the most important of this trip was the opportunity to spend time with everyone in my family, so that afternoon Mom and I talked Jenny into coming with us to the Alpine Zoo while Mags napped. It was definitely an ALPINE zoo; it had all the required animals. It was cute to see Jenny identify the animals based on which movie they were in: the brown bear and the elk (Brother bear), the wolves (Narnia), the lynx (simba from Lion King), fish (finding Nemo). Not completely unexpected, I liked the farm animal exhibit the best, but I thought the otter was pretty cute too. Jenny didn't want to get very close to any of them , but I think she had fun and she made me laugh :)
One of the unfortunate/good things about Europe is it seems that everything closes for holidays. In a lot of ways that is good. Holidays should be for family, and everyone should get to celebrate, but it does make it tough for traveling. Even by Christmas Eve everything was closed. Luckily we found a little pizza place where I got a delicious ham, artichoke, mushroom, and olive pizza! YUMMMM!! And I ate every bit :). It didn't really feel like Christmas Eve, but that's okay. It was about family and that is what holidays should be about!
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