Into the Mountains of Innsbruck & Zurich

Out of all the places I’ve been so far, I have to say Innsbruck has been my favourite. I stepped out of the train station and immediately went yep, this feels like home. Tall, snowy mountains banking a river with a cute old town and a hint of modernity in its infrastructure. It reminded me so much of Queenstown that I couldn’t keep a smile off my face walking to the hostel.

That day I’d taken three trains instead of one. Immediately from Budapest the train was directed to Vienna and cut short due to flooding. I was honestly more annoyed at having to double back rather than being delayed.

From there I jumped on a train to Salzburg, and then was able to get on another to Innsbruck. If I’ve learnt anything while travelling, it’s to leave lots of time. Do nothing in a hurry and you won’t get stressed.

The hostel was a bit weird, styled like a hotel room but alas, sharing with two guys. I was on the bottom bunk, there was a super chatty friendly guy above me, and one poor lad who barely spoke English and looked like he couldn’t relax on the bed across from me. Safe to say I spent as much time out of it as I could. Not that I had a problem with that.

I got sucked into my tenth tourist trap on the pursuit of a pin. Mission successful. We don’t talk about prices here, it’s worth it for the memento.

The three guys I tagged along with in Budapest had a love for a grocery store called Spar. The love has passed on to me. You can find everything there, but it’s not huge or much of an eyesore. Incredible. I did stop in for a few groceries on the way through – it wasn’t exactly cheap in Austria either.

A Day in Innsbruck

The next morning I STRUGGLED to find somewhere for breakfast. The stores were either closed (to be fair it was a Sunday) or were simply sweet bakeries. I don’t always feel like a double chocolate croissant for brekkie, okay.

I’d had time to talk to mum and dad which was nice before heading out for a big day of walking. I crossed the river and headed up into the hills, following some of the exit trails for mountain biking that also doubled as pedestrian trails. It was also the first time I’d had my camera out since Iceland. I just haven’t been able to justify taking it around with me when I have my phone, but I was glad to be taking some creative photos too.

While I was walking, I managed to captured a pair of images that perfectly paired with each other, one of a glider, and one of a paraglider.

I took the morning train out of Innsbruck today 🙁 sad! There were so many ski jumps in the hills!! Like the big ones, not jus tlittle ski parks! It was a single transfer train ride to Zurich. It wasn’t far to be fair, but it was long enough for me to leave my kobo on the train and not remember about it until half an hour later – kobo & train well and truly riding off into the sunset. I was so upset I wrote a short story about it to console my feelings.

Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

THE KOBO – A short story to console my feelings

I was confused as to why she left me here. Stood up in a hurry, everyone else had gone. She takes me everywhere, tucked into that little brown bag of hers. I’m tall so most of the time so I get to peek out the top at where we’re going. We’ve been to a lot of places together, I’ve seen lots of mountains, some rivers, a few lakes and lots and lots of cities.

I’m home to her favorite books, you see? I’m the compromise between travelling and a good bookshelf, all skinny enough to fit in her bag. She’s only a third into the prequel of the hunger games, trying to reignite some love for the teenage dystopia genre.

She’s even writing her own story did you know? I’m helping her edit it. I give her a place to focus and she can even write notes! I guess they’re all gone now, I didn’t even get to tell her my opinion.

The train is quiet without her. No one walks past, the beep of the doors closing that I once found exciting, now sound ominous.

I’m alone now. I’m scared. What’s going to happen? Where will I go? Will I be thrown out? Melted down and turned into a crunchy old waterbottle? Please don’t turn me into a waterbottle. I’ll share my stories with you?

Fresh off the press ladies and gentlemen! We have Cormac McCarthys ‘All The Pretty Horses’! How about a good read of ‘Daisy Jones & The Six?’

Feel like a cry? I have ‘Me Before You’ too.

Please, just don’t leave me alone.

The train starts again. My battery is running low, I don’t know how long I have. At least I can see out the window. She left me in Switzerland. The train and I are surrounded by snowy mountains and green fields. I’m happy even to see a few cows about. The joy doesn’t last long.

The next rush of people filter through the car as we pull to a stop, and I can’t help but search for her in the crowd. Did she come back for me? She didn’t leave me here on purpose did she?

I close my sensor; I don’t want to know. I don’t want anyone.

There’s a shuffling next to me as someone sits down. There’s a soft gasp.

“Mummy look. Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Maybe you don’t have to buy it for my birthday anymore. Can I keep it? Can I? Pleaseeeee.”

I open half of my sensor. There’s a young girl in the seat in front of me, glasses too big for her face and hair pulled tightly back into a ponytail.

I’m lifted out of the seat pocket and brought close to her mother’s face. She looks tired. There are dark circles below her eyes and the wrinkles seem more creased around her forehead for a woman of her age. I hold my breath.

Indeed, on my screen, lit up is the front cover of Suzanne Collin’s book.

“Have you been doing your English homework?”

“Yes yes yes!” The little girl jumps up and down in her seat.

Her Mum’s eyes sparkle cheekily for a second, and the tiredness seems to depart her for a moment. She leans over to her daughter.

“Me and you, we strike a deal. You can have this special electronic book. But! You have to keep it in English. No German.”

“Okay! Okay I promise!!”

The little girl takes me into her soft hands and I’m powered to life. Her Mum passes her a cord and I feel my energy returning.

“You’re the best, Mum. I love you!”

There’s so much love and attention in her eyes that I can’t help but smile. I’d lost one girl, and gained another. Everything would be okay.

Arriving in Zurich

Two of the things I noticed first about Zurich was that it had the clearest water in Europe so far, and it was in fact not a skyscraper city. I don’t know what I had in mind when I pictured it. To be met with beautiful canal side clock towers and lovely bridges was not expected. Budapest, Vienna and Prague all had at least on area with larger, more modern buildings, but Zurich didn’t.

I checked into my hostel down near where the canal and Lake Zurich meet, and went on my almost traditional city walk before it got dark. Two days is not a lot of time in a city. Walking around before exploring further the next day is a habit I’ve really appreciated getting into.

It wasn’t long before I was slapped in the face with a sign that read – 9.50 euros for a hot dog! What. Excuse me? Keep in mind conversion rates here. For my US friends, that’s a ten dollar dawg. Unfortunately, New Zealanders, that’s going to cost you $17.

In that moment I realised that no, people weren’t joking at how expensive Switzerland is, and I would in fact be living on noodles for the next two days. Did I listen to my plan though? No.

I managed to back myself into a corner, paying 15 euros for a hot chocolate and a slice of lemon cake at a waterfront cafe. They had no menu, and no prices, just a lady who walked around outside taking orders. Halfway through this cake sent from heaven, she explains to the man next to me that it’s cash only. Stomach dropped. Who carries cash nowadays? I was lucky to have just enough for her, but it was a kick in the gut.

One of the roughest parts of travelling and travelling so fast through places is that I feel like my brain has entered a sort of survival mode. Like I’m trying to get through everything smoothly, but in doing so I’m neglecting being able to slow down and go hey, I’m in Switzerland. This is what I’ve always dreamed of as a kid. Exploring new places and being able to go wherever the heck I want. That evening I forced myself to sit on a bench next to the waterfront for half an hour. I didn’t allow myself to go on my phone and scroll, or think about anything to do with the next couple of days. It was really refreshing, and I’ve been making an effort to do that in each place since.

A Day in Zurich

Today was unfortunately raining. I was able to get a free breakfast of toast from the hostel I was staying at, which was good considering the prices of things. The first thing I did was head straight to a Lindt store, the chocolate brand, which was complete with a chocolate waterfall that ran underneath the glass stairs.

I bought a box of chocolates for my parents but I’d be surprised if it lasts the two months until I’m home. Update: yeah, it really will be a miracle now that the box is open.

From here, I basically walked from one end of Zurich to the other. There were some really nice walkways along the different canals, and I enjoyed a small botanical garden for a little while too. I got lost at another park at the other end before doubling back towards the library to book some more legs of my journey. I managed to book all of the rest of the transport for my rail trip which was a huge weight off my shoulders.

The evening was spent packing for the early train out to England the next day. I did get chatting to the guy at the reception, who gave me two CDs from his friends. The music reminded me a lot of some of the stuff I listened to in uni, so I was pretty happy to have those tucked away in my bag.