October 18, 2016February 3, 2022 by findingbackroads

5 Reasons to visit Innsbruck, Austria

Europe, Travels
Austria, Europe, Innsbruck, solo travel, Travels
12 Comments

A while back, Timehop app reminded me that it’s been a year since my solo travel to Austria. I wrote about how I spent one week in Austria but barely touching on Innsbruck, which is probably my favorite Austrian city as of the moment (I’ve only been to Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck as of this writing).

Here’s a list of reasons why you should include Innsbruck in your next travel.

1. Innsbruck is a charming small town

Yes, it is a city but with only 130,000 inhabitants, Innsbruck is considerably small. I have lived in the big city of Tokyo and now living in Dubai, I long for a more chill vibe. And the Austrian alps as backdrop? I instantly fell in love with this place the moment I stepped out of the train.

However, despite not looking like a big, glitzy city, there are loads of cool places to hang out – parks, cafes, co-working spaces, bars and restaurants and WiFi is everywhere.

Did I say charming?

You can wander through narrow alleys, marvel at noble squares and be amazed at the ornate Baroque architecture. Literally, every corner is beautiful.

2. Innsbruck is eye candy

The rows of houses at Maria Hilf street along the Inn river is a sight to behold against the picturesque Austrian Alps. I could stare at it for a long time.

3. If you love the mountains, Innsbruck is for you.

The unique thing about Innsbruck is its spectacular location hemmed in by the Austria Alps. Take the Patscherkofel cable car to the top of the Patscherkof Mountain at 2246 metres or get aboard the underground train from the city center to Hungerburg and from there take the cable car Hungerburgbahn up to Hafelekar mountain station. The Nordkette cable railway stations designed by the brilliantly talented, recently deceased architect, Zaha Hadid, are the futuristic gateway to these majestic mountains.

TIP: Don’t forget to get your Innsbruck card to avail of these cable car rides for free, along with other discounts on other attractions.

In history, the Tyrol region is referred to as the wilderness by the Austrians mainly because, 85 per cent of the region is mountainous. If you love climbing mountains, you will love the unforgettable sight above, unless it’s cloudy of course, in which case, you just need to come back.

…or wait till the weather clears.

By the way, there’s no need to be a certified mountain climber, you can get on a cable car to take you to the top of famous ski landmarks and enjoy the view from there.

4. Small villages straight out of a fairy tale book!

Innsbruck is surrounded by small holiday villages with pastoral landscapes, wooden chalets with sloping roofs bedecked with flowers, and wrap around porches.

5. It’s close to nature

Innsbruck is a beautiful combination of urban and natural playgrounds. Tyroleans love the outdoor life and hiking in the summer or skiing in the winter is a normal weekend routine. The day after I arrived at Innsbruck with feet still dead from roaming around Vienna and Salzburg, I went out with my friend and her family to climb a “little” mountain. We started halfway and reached 2,000+ meters in a few hours with me pondering on how unfit I am!

Mountain climbing/hiking in Innsbruck is a beautiful way to keep fit to be able to eat the schnitzels, strudels and sausages while on vacation!

HOW TO REACH INNSBRUCK

via its own airport
2 hours by car from Munich (or shorter if by train)
4 hours by train from Vienna (several airlines from Dubai flies to Vienna non-stop) and 2 hours from Salzburg

When you think of travelling to Austria, the first place that comes to mind is often Vienna. However, I hope these photos helped you decide that Innsbruck is a city not to overlook!

January 31, 2016 by findingbackroads

Getting a bite of the World’s Most Famous Cake

Europe, Travels
Austria, cake, Europe, solo travel, Travels, vacation, Vienna
3 Comments

Photo by Wien Tourismus | www.peterrigaud.com

Photo by Wien Tourismus | Peter Rigaud

Having a sweet tooth, I probably first knew about the Sachertorte before learning any name of a single popular, historical building in Vienna.

Vienna is home to the Original Sachertorte, two layers of dense, not overly sweet chocolate cake with a thin layer of apricot jam in between the layers and dark chocolate frosting on the top and sides. It is known as the world’s most famous chocolate cake.

And there are two famous, rival places to go for the cake in Vienna – Hotel Sacher or the Demel cafe.

I had my Sachertorte at Hotel Sacher.

When I was in Vienna just a couple of months ago, I was kind of obsessed to try and taste the world’s most popular cake but I didn’t know much about it until the Filipino (surprise! He’s lived in Vienna for 30 years) waiter who served me at the Hotel Sacher cafe shared to me a story that in Vienna, they take chocolate cake so seriously that the city’s two main producers once fought a nine-year legal battle about it.

The cake in question is of course, the Sachertorte.

The legal battle, which ran from 1954 to 1963, was centred on which had the right to call its Sachertorte the “original”.

A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY

The first Sachertorte was created for Prince Metternich in 1832 by Franz Sacher, a 16-year-old pastry apprentice in the royal bakery. He was decades ahead of his time as the chocolate industry only began developing in the mid-1800s, and it wasn’t until the late 19th century that chocolate cakes became common. Sacher’s son Eduard, who served as an apprentice at the Demel pastry shop, refined his father’s recipe and took it with him when he opened the ornate Hotel Sacher in 1867.

Because of this, the Sachertorte was the subject of a lengthy legal battle between Hotel Sacher and Demel. In 1955, the Commercial Court ruled Hotel Sacher’s version closest to Franz’s pioneering recipe and granted the hotel the exclusive right to identify its cake as the “Original Sacher-Torte.”

The first day that I was in Vienna, I headed to Cafe Sacher to order a slice of Original Sacher-Torte with a generous dollop of unsweetened whipped cream and a cup of Wien Melange. I won’t lie, the weighing scale tells me not too many sweets on this trip but I am eager to blow as many calories on the chocolatey indulgent dessert because of the history. Perfect excuse, no?

TIP WHEN TRYING OUT THE SACHERTORTE IN VIENNA

1. Go there early.

Photo by Wien Tourismus | Karl Thomas

Whether you decide to try out the Sachertorte at Hotel Sacher or at Demel, head out early so you can enjoy the peace and quiet and ponder over the fact that your tongue is going on an adventure to taste a world famous food. Both cafes can get congested later in the day (especially the Cafe Sacher), sometimes with a long waiting time.

2. Don’t rush through it!

Photo by Wien Tourismus | Peter Rigaud

The Sachertorte takes days to make and an afternoon (or morning) to savor. Eating Sachertorte in Vienna is an unhurried ritual, can even be a sweet, romantic date. Put down your phone, while you’re at it, too. This deserves your undivided attention.

* The Original Sacher Torte is still made almost entirely by hand using Franz Sacher’s recipe and is a closely guarded secret.

3. Keep an open mind

Even if this is reputed to be the “the most popular chocolate cake in the world”, it can’t please everyone. Some like it, some don’t. I’d be curious what you think of it!

So, after my rendezvous with the Original Sachertorte, I wanted to walk around. Vienna’s Ringstrasse, a grand boulevard that encircles the historic city center in a 3-mile loop was just around the corner so I went there for a post-torte power walk. Learn more about Vienna.

Are you going to visit Vienna soon or is it in your travel plan? Would you include ‘eating the Sachertorte’ on your to do list if you’re there?

January 25, 2016February 3, 2022 by findingbackroads

Hiking in the alps at Innsbruck, Austria

Europe, Travels
Alps, Austria, Europe, Innsbruck, mountain, solo travel, Travels
4 Comments

After spending 24 hours in Salzburg, I moved on to the west of Austria, to Innsbruck to visit a friend I haven’t seen since 2008 and of course to see and explore the Tyrolean capital city.

Where is Innsbruck?

Innsbruck, is the capital city of the federal state of Tyrol (Tirol) in western Austria. It lies about half way between Munich (Germany) and Verona (Italy). Innsbruck is located in the broad valley between high mountains, the so-called North Chain in the Karwendel Alps (Hafelekarspitze, 2,334 metres or 7,657 feet – I’ve reached the peak of this! More in another post.) to the north, and the Patscherkofel (2,246 m or 7,369 ft – I’ve been to the peak of this too!) and Serles (2,718 m or 8,917 ft) to the south.

I took the train to Innsbruck from Salzburg and the travel time was a little bit over two hours. Travelling by train around Austria or within Europe for the matter can be an inexpensive travel option IF you book tickets way ahead of time and if your schedule is fixed. Check out the SparSchiene Österreich type ticket on my other post: Austria on a budget.

I would assume the view outside would have been beautiful but I was travelling at night, leaving Salzburg at 7 pm so there was nothing I could see but darkness. Interestingly, my phone’s cellular network changes from Austrian to German, meaning, there were parts of the route that was really close to the Austrian/German border. The next time I visit, it will be a longer stretch so I can hop on a train and go to Germany too.

I arrived at Innsbruck’s main station past nine pm already. My friend who lives a few minutes away from the main station has two kids both below the age of 2 and it was late for her or her husband to go out and pick me up at the station. They didn’t have to too, I was bent on challenging myself to get to to their apartment with 2 G’s: Google maps and my guts. She already told me which bus number to take and which bus stop to go down. After the short bus ride, I needed to walk for a few minutes to reach their place. It was already late, dark and cold but thankfully, Innsbruck is a very safe place. The silence on the roads made me a little anxious though, this was by far so different from the always vibrant Dubai.

The route to my friend’s house from the bus station was pretty simple, as per Google maps but me and my sense of direction…I made a couple of wrong turns and ended up circling their block dragging a heavy luggage – the sound of the wheels of my luggage on the cobblestone sidewalk was so loud with the eerie silence of the early winter night.

Long story short, I finally rang their door bell. My friend’s kids and her husband was already asleep so we had to contain our giggles! We were so happy to see each other again. We hugged and spent so much time talking, catching up that we even forgot to take a selfie before her baby roused from sleep, wanting to nurse again. I can’t believe I am already here! Weren’t we just fantasizing about this trip years before?

GOOD MORNING, INNSBRUCK!

We slept late but me and my body clock – I always wake up early. The above photo is what’s in front of my friend’s apartment. I was there late September and I think that’s already the start of winter. There were some snow on the mountain tops.

MOUNTAIN CLIMBING IN INNSBRUCK

My friend and her husband are avid mountain hikers/climbers. I was excited of the idea when her husband said we will climb a “little” mountain today but I won’t lie, I was terrified. Living in flat Dubai for nine years, I don’t think my feet are made to climb inclined terrains. Much more, my feet were already dying/dead from all the walking around Vienna and Salzburg for the past two days.

But no, not now, I should do this! My feet can die later.

The “little” mountain was 1,840 meters high. We started about halfway where we park the car and started our hike. I was only using my Nike Free shoes and I wasn’t sure how it’ll hold up with the inclined terrain but like, I had other shoes…

It was cold in the mountain at around 3 or 4 degrees celcius and lower as we got higher.

The estimated hike time to the peak at Birgitzer Alm (a small log cabin inn/restaurant) at 1,840 meters was around two hours. However, we had to take breaks, multiple breaks! This was the part where I realized how unfit I am despite doing regular cardio and strength training exercises 5-6 days a week.

Cez, my friend’s husband didn’t require any rest but had to stop because of me {thank you for understanding!} and his wife, my friend needed some break too. There’s nothing compared to the energy and endurance you have to spend when hiking an elevated terrain! He and their little girl is used to hiking on weekends.

We passed by a spring water, free flowing from the source. Mountain hikers/climbers stop by to drink water and refill their bottles here. The water was delicious!

My friend and I as we almost reached the peak.

The view of Innsbruck and the little villages from where we stood was beautiful. And look, we’re above the clouds! One more thing that made us feel we were on Cloud 9? Me, that I was able to survive our hike up. Lack of proper sleep and semi-dead feet yet I’ve never felt more alive than ever.

But forget about me, look at this woman beside me (and that cute little baby head peeking out!). I want you to do a silent applause for my friend. She has just given birth six weeks before when this picture was taken and now, she is mountain climbing carrying her infant! My shivering thighs were so embarrassed. She has not hiked for a long time due to pregnancy and child birth yet here she is, sharing this achievement with me, with her baby boy nestled in her chest while I only had my own body to carry!

The alm or mountain lodge/cabin offering rest and refuge for hikers was getting so near. My friend’s husband suggested we take the shortcut instead of the winding route, there’s a direct one but with steeper slope. (Yes, he’s carrying their other child, a two year old girl. This family rocks at this activity!)

I want my agony to end soon at the same time, want to take up on the challenge so I said yes. Plus I was already very hungry and they said there’s good food at the alm. Mmmmm.

Here we are!! We all still looked alive! Or not…

Thinking what to order…everything on the menu was in German language.

Truth be told, I wanted a cold beer but decided I would still prefer to go down the mountain on my feet, using my two legs instead of rolling downhill so…

Why I’m smiling in this picture? Because we’ve conquered the tough part (climbing up) and now it’s easy peasy going down…or so I thought!! Going down was definitely NOT easy at all. You need traction, balance and lots of strength in your knees and legs.

By the time we reached our starting point, all of my legs were shaking. Golly, this was just my first day in Innsbruck and I have lots and lots of walking planned to do in the next couple of days and I didn’t pack any spare legs in my luggage!

WILL I DO IT AGAIN?

I won’t lie, it was exhausting but YES! And if I lived there, I would do this often. Maybe. Just maybe.

*****

I want to thank my friend Melba and her husband for accommodating me in Innsbruck. I had such lovely time with them and I don’t think I could have survived climbing that mountain without them as inspiration.

October 18, 2015February 3, 2022 by findingbackroads

24 hours in Salzburg

Europe
Austria, holiday, Salzburg, solo travel, Travels, vacation
1 Comment

Salzburg is a charming place in Austria. No, scratch that, I’d say it’s a magical place. I already fell in love with Austria after spending 24 hours in Vienna but when I arrived in Salzburg, I feel that love intensify.

This post is about how I spent my 24 hours in Salzburg (in actuality, it’s less than 24 hours!) and I will tell you now at the beginning of this post: Do NOT spend 24 hours in Salzburg because…the city deserves MORE! But if you do not have any choice and only have a day, well, read on.

Unless you are travelling on a tour package, the first you must do once you arrive in Salzburg and especially if you have limited time to explore the city is to go to the Salzburg Info Center located at Mozartplatz at the Old Town.

The staff are very friendly, speaks English and willing to help you plan out your itinerary for the day. Pick up a free map and purchase the Salzburg card. this pass gets you access to most of the city’s main attractions for 24 hours and free access to public transport.

Reference: Why you should use the city cards in Austria

After I picked up my Salzburg card and map from the tourism office, I just crossed the street and found myself at the Old Town. The Old Town was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1997. Its blast-from-the-past cobbled streets and narrow alleyways, lined with houses painted in bright, beautiful colors, elegant shops and restaurants, combine with an unhurried pace of life to make it an ideal destination for a relaxing city break at any time of year.

I bet the Old Town looks better on normal days but when I was there, it was Oktoberfest and there were tables and tents and umbrella shades for this annual festival.

I headed to Salzburg Cathedral. I am truly amazed by the architecture and design inside the church, never mind the feels that it gave me.

This Roman Catholic church still contains the baptismal font that was used to baptize Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was baptized here and the interior offers fine baroque architecture. My next stop was the Salzburg Fortress, known to locals as Festung Hohensalzburg.

This is the largest and best-preserved fortress in Central Europe and is quite an impressive sight. From Old Town, take the cable railway to the top of the hill. (The cable railway ascent and descent which is normally 11.30 Euros is free with your Salzburg Card). More about this fortress in a separate post!

I spent so much time at the fortress because I participated in a guided tour and took a lot of photos. Who can ever get enough being up there, looking at Salzburg from up, and those beautiful mountains over the horizon? In short, it was already lunch time when I descended from the fortress. Oh, and by the way I know you want to ask – YES, in Salzburg, the hills are truly alive!

And the Oktoberfest was in full swing.

Since I am traveling on a budget but didn’t want to deprive myself some “cultural immersion”, (AHEM), I sat down and chose the cheapest from the menu. The small glass of beer and plate of food cost 13 Euros. It was quite weird to sit down in an Oktoberfest alone but what to do…and I was really hungry already. {The beer was amazing!}

After lunch, I roamed around Old Town, from the main plaza to the little corners.

I love that the whole town was so vibrant and everyone was holding a drink, even nuns…and I think that’s *not* juice hee hee.

Right in the Old Town is the house where Salzburg’s most famous son was born, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It’s a bit unfortunate that some of the people I spoke to didn’t know who Mozart was…I was so proud to tell them, “I’ve been to the house where one of the world’s greatest composer in the Classical era!”

Mozart’s family lived in that YELLOW building and that was where he was born. I learned something from that tour – Mozart didn’t have any descendants! Neither of his sons were married and all died childless.

My feet have not recovered from all the walking that I did the day before in Vienna but there was no time to rest, except for a few hours the night before…only a few hours because I wasn’t able to sleep well, excited for the things I’m going to see in Salzburg!

Having a very rushed itinerary wasn’t a joke – my feet’s about to give up already but I have to see the Mirabell Palace and Gardens. A more detailed post later but if you’ve seen the movie, The Sound of Music, you’ll know the significance of this place!

After Mirabell Palace and Gardens, I went back to the hotel to pick up my luggage and headed to the station to catch my 7 pm train to Innsbruck – capital of Austria’s western state of Tyrol, a city in the Alps that’s long been a destination for winter sports. I have a friend who lives there and I planned to stay for 3.5 days.

Final word: if I could go back to Austria again, I will definitely visit Salzburg again and stay for at least 2 days – I need to go on that Sound of Music tour (don’t judge). Then probably, I will do a side trip to Hallstatt, too. It’s only about an hour and a half from Salzburg! LOOK!

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Isn’t Austria magical? It looks straight out of a fairy tale book!

September 15, 2015February 3, 2022 by findingbackroads

I’m going to Austria!

Europe, Travels
Austria, budget travel, Europe, holiday, me time, solo travel, Travels
5 Comments

In a few days, I will be travelling, alone.

The last time travelled alone was before I got married. That’s like, more than 12 years ago! Sure I’ve travelled alone without the husband or any of my children when I participated in a bloggers trip to Thailand in 2011 and to Turkey in 2013 but I was in a group that time. I was not totally, alone-alone.

This time I will be leaving on a jet plane, alone-alone. Roaming in Vienna and Salzburg alone.

Why am I doing this?

Because there’s a long-ish weekend coming up and while window surfing for airfares (like I always do when there’s a longish weekend, you know, daydreaming and all), I found something I can pay for. Also, I saw this in the internet staring at my face while I was thinking of the crazy possibility to just fly out.

I am going to do it because I want to do it! Because I know in my heart I really want to do this. You know those moments when you start to think about something and then you cannot stop thinking about it that your heart shouts, “Just do it!” in this case, it’s a silent shout that says “Just go!”

The long-ish weekend is from the 23rd to 26th September for Eid Al Adha. The plane ticket fares I found was fairly reasonable via Emirates Airlines (US$633 round trip) which flies from Dubai direct to Vienna (in 5 hours and 45 minutes).

I will be spending a short time in Vienna. Short as in probably 24 hours, God help me.

Photo credit

And then to Salzburg which is a couple of hours away from Vienna. Cue the songs from The Sound of Music.

…and then off to Innsbruck, which is a couple of hours away from Salzburg to visit my long time friend and her family who lives in that very charming part of the world!

Excited and terrified at the same time, have you felt like that?

It’s not like this is my first time to travel alone. I did it before. What’s the difference between the past and now? For one, I did not have my beautiful children yet who by the way are wonderful travel companions. It took me a while to make my final decision because I will be missing them so much but the husband had been very supportive because he knows about my crazy dream of doing a railway trip around Europe since the day we met. I am not going around all of Europe this time, only within Austria but I’ll take it.

Oh and huge thanks to my baby sister who helped me make this crazy dream of mine possible. I get the reward from washing her dirty cloth diapers during my teen years. Cough, cough.

I’ll be (of course) blogging about my trip and you can find updates while I’m on the road on Twitter, Instagram.

I may also add that this is an ultimate budget trip, like the poorest trip I’ve ever been! I might be the only person going to Europe and coming back lighter! The purpose here is to fill the eyes and my camera memory cards, not my tummy!

Finding Backroads

Get out of the tourist trail

Tag / solo travel