After our meeting was over, a group of us walked towards the Swarovski store in old town Innsbruck. On the way there, we passed by this little gelato place that looked amazing. Even though it was about 10:30am, we just had to have some! It was so cheap as well! One scoop was only 1,10 Euro!! That’s even cheaper than some places in the States! The flavor that I ordered was called ‘Manner.’ Apparently, it’s a mixture of hazelnut and chocolate with pieces of a cookie that is authentically Austrian. IT WAS DELICIOUS! I don’t even know if I can express just how much I loved this ice cream. If it were back in the States, Manner would be all that I would ever by. Laura and I loved it so much we ended up going back there and getting another scoop later in the day!
After our amazing ice cream, we happened to run into a store which sold .55 Euro cokes! This day was just getting better and better! We finally found the Swarovski store that we were searching for. We had heard that there were better prices here than at the Swarovski World store that we will visit tomorrow during our company presentation. Also, Mrs. Mac gave us all a gift certificate for a free gift with any purchase there. It’s a little pin for a lapel. It’s not much, but its free and I definitely love anything free on this trip! Everything in the store was cheaper than I was expecting for the most part! This turned out to be a good and bad thing. It was good because I was able to buy more things than I was expecting, but bad as well because I spent way more money on multiple cheaper items, haha. I bought a few things for myself and a few gifts as well. I definitely made a significant dent in my amount spent on European purchases! But at least some good news is that I get 19 Euros back from the Customs agents because of taxes. Woo!
After we dropped off our purchases back in our hotel room (I put mine in the safe!) and ate my Ziploc baggy lunch I had made at breakfast, we walked (and then HIKED) up to the top of the ski jump that was used in the 1964 and 1976 Olympics. We had the observation deck to ourselves for the most part, and it gave us a great view of the city. Granted the weather wasn’t superb, just rainy and cloudy like it has been every other day that we’ve been in Innsbruck, but we still managed to see the mountains in the distance. I had been up to the top of another Olympic ski jump before in Calgary, but it was still nice to see this city from a whole different perspective.
Laura and I then broke off on our own and walked around town for a bit. We were just casually shopping for souvenirs. I managed to find a t-shirt for myself that says Austria that I really like! Laura and I seem to have the same taste in stuff like that because that is about the 3rd or 4th thing that we have bought exactly identical on this trip so far! It was starting to rain more and our feet were tired of walking, so we decided to come back to the hotel at about 4:30 to rest up until dinner at 7. I ended up taking an hour nap, and it couldn’t have been more amazing! That was the first nap I’ve had during the day (besides on the bus) so far on this trip. I know my body is getting worn down and people are starting to get sick, so I’m trying to get as much sleep as possible on this last leg of the trip. Getting sick is the absolute last thing I want right now being so far away from home (knock on wood).
Our whole study abroad group left at 7pm from the hotel lobby and drove about 20 minutes to a nearby Austrian village for our traditional festive Austrian dinner. It was SO MUCH FUN! The food was amazing! We had a garlic cream soup for our appetizer, and I loved it! It tasted just like garlic bread in my mouth! For my entrée I chose the schnitzel and spritzed a little lemon juice on top to pull out the flavor of the pork. It was delectable! I would have it again in a heartbeat. The dessert was apple strudel with vanilla ice cream. YUMMY!
The best part of the night however was our entertainment that came and played traditional Austrian music that we learned dances to! I got chosen to dance in the Grand March which is performed at most all Austrian weddings. It was fun but so exhausting! I was out of breath by the end of the song. We danced, yodeled, sang, clapped, laughed, and had a great time.
After dinner and dancing were over, we went out for a short lantern hike through the countryside. It was lightly raining, but that didn’t dampen our spirits. We had such a great night so far that nothing was going to spoil it. As we were driving back to the hotel, I began to realize how much fun I had tonight. I think it’s safe to say that tonight was my favorite night of the trip thus far. That’s saying a lot because of the cities that we have already visited such as London, Paris, and Nice. I was already loving Innsbruck so much because of the scenery and the laid back small town atmosphere, but now I was in love with the Austrian culture as well. It’s too bad we have don’t have much free time left here in Innsbruck, because tomorrow we have business visits all day. Night!
