Innsbruck

8:20 pm

Hey everyone! Took me a while on the Innsbruck update - no internet at our hostel there. What a week we've had so far! We left on Sunday for Innsbruck, but little did we know... it would take us 12 hours to get there. 4 trains, 1 bus, and 2 cabs. Yikes. Turns out there was a strike within one of the German or Czech train companies - we never did quite figure that one out. We were barely able to figure out there was a strike at all. When we got to the Prague train station and reached our platform, the sign did not say Munich. Not good. When we asked the nearest worker, all he could say was "Munich, no! Munich no!" Helpful. We found another lady who kindly showed us to our coach, but failed to mention that the train was not going to go all the way to Munich. Again, helpful. Naturally, there are no announcements or mention of the fact that our train would not go to Munich. Luckily, we sat next to this really nice Czech woman and her son, who now live in the US. She told us about the strike, and that they were planning to take us to the border of the Czech Republic where we were to get on a bus to another train station. A few hours on that train and 2 hours on the bus later, we are at a tiny train station in the German countryside. Oh wait, there's still a strike and no train to Munich. We had to get on another train for 30 minutes, get off that train and on another, and finally reach Munich. Except we still had a problem. We were trying to get to Innsbruck. We had missed our connecting train by 2 hours, so we hopped on another one that was luckily leaving soon after we got to the train station. 12 hours later, hello Innsbruck. After one long day and weeks of travels, Innsbruck was the perfect place for us to be! A littler smaller and slower paced, we were able to explore the city at our leisure. Getting to see the beautiful Alps, the ice blue river full of glacier water, and the quaint architecture of the city, we definitely loved being there! We also got to see a bunch of people from both USC and UGA that are studying in Innsbruck! It was so nice to be around some familiar faces for a change! Our time in Innsbruck was a much needed break from the big cities we had been used to. Now, we are back in the city, and glad to be here! We've been on a bike tour around the city and to see the concentration camp Dachau - what an amazing experience! We're headed to Hofbrau House soon, and tomorrow to Neuschwenstein, the famous castle outside the city! Will upload pictures when I have a sec! See all of you in 5 short days! Love ya'll!

Corinne