Austria

Sunday, July 18, 2010 Day 18
First panic of the day – we got up early so I could catch the local bus and get to my train. We arrived at the bus stop at the end of our street, and the bus isn’t running! Ack! It’s Sunday, and it didn’t occur to us that the buses don’t start running until something like 7:45 on Sundays. So we set out at a brisk pace for the train station. It was almost a 30-minute walk. But I had built in some extra time, and I wasn’t too worried – “too” being the operative word here. I had planned on a 10-15 minute bus ride to a corner, then a 5-minute walk after that to get to the train station, so I felt I wouldn’t be too far behind times. Fortunately, the train runs every seven minutes or so, but not every train is an “E” train, which is what I need to get to the airport. As we walked, a couple of taxis passed us and Roger suggested taking a taxi, but I vetoed it and we carried on. We arrived at the train station and I pulled out my ticket I bought last week, shot it through the slot, and – second panic of the day – it doesn’t work! Or at least, it didn’t open the gate. Damn! Fortunately, a woman behind me swiped her pass across the reader for me and that opened the gate. I really don’t know why she did it – she wasn’t coming through the gate. I am really grateful to her – I hope Roger tipped her a Euro or two. I rushed through the gate, forgetting to even give Roger a kiss, as there was a train just pulling in! I tried to read the number on the train to see if it was an “E” train, but I wasn’t able to check it, I just hopped on. I was able to verify with another English-speaking passenger that the train was airport-bound. So I settled in and started working on my third panic of the day – am I going to be able to get through the gate at the airport? I don’t want to jump the gate again!!!! Not in broad daylight. And I don’t have time for the delay! While my ticket was stamped with the proper boarding station, it hadn’t actually opened the gate at the station, and maybe, just maybe, it won’t work to open the gate at the airport. Damn! Fortunately, when we arrived at the airport and took the escalator up to the gate, it was open for all arriving passengers without a check of the ticket.

I got checked in, then grabbed a chocolate croissant as I headed for my gate. When we boarded and the flight service began, what are they serving? Chocolate croissants! So I had another one with a cup of coffee. The flight to Munich was uneventful, and I located the train station without a problem. I got my ticket to Innsbruck and boarded a train for the main Munich train station and the transfer to the intercity lines. I had a half-hour wait so I grabbed lunch before catching the train. The first 30 minutes of my train trip were spent sitting on my suitcase in the aisle along with several other passengers, but after the second stop, several seats were vacated and all of us in our car got seats; however, that did not mean that those boarding also got seats. On the train I called Charlotte to tell her that I was arriving early in Innsbruck, and she told me she hoped I brought a good book, because they hadn’t left yet and it would be at least a 4-hour drive. Upon arrival in Innsbruck, I walked around the station and located the lockers. I wanted to stow my luggage and walk around a bit since I had three or four hours to kill. But there were no lockers available. Fine, not a problem. I looked around for a good place to settle in and blog and read a book or whatever. Nothing. The train stations in Austria have almost not seating area. There are great halls, but empty of benches or chairs. There was a very small waiting room, but it seated only 12 people and was full. On the one hand, I understand the desire of the Austrian authorities to discourage homeless people from taking up residence in the stations. On the other hand, it makes it difficult for travelers who must wait in the station. Some of you may recall that I beefed about this last fall in Frankfort when we had a layover of a couple of hours and there, too, the station was almost empty of benches or chairs, except for a small waiting room which was open-air and quite cool that time of year.

I finally got a seat in the waiting room and sat down with my computer. No power source there, but I had a good deal of charge. As I sat there typing, there was a German-speaking guy who tried hitting on me. His main problem was that I wasn’t interested, and his next biggest problem was the language barrier. He finally left. Once he did, I decided I would make my escape the other direction and I headed out of the station. I went to a restaurant across the plaza from the train station and ordered a cup of tea. I was astonished – I was able to sit in the chair in that restaurant for about four and a half hours without being ousted or eyed with any sort of hostility. This must me what those weary travelers do for seating while waiting for a connection or their party to arrive. I had a first cup of tea, then two hours later I ordered some tomato soup and another cup of tea. The waitress was very kind and kept an eye on me without seeming to expect me to move on. After about three and a half hours, Charlotte called and said she hoped I wasn’t in any hurry because they were still about an hour out. So I chilled some more and was quite surprised when I looked up an hour later and Charlotte was standing there. The rest of my sisters were still in the car, and they then parked, came in and we all had dinner at the restaurant. Then we started our adventure getting to our guesthouse.

When we left Innsbruck with Jane driving, we started out by getting on the wrong road. We suddenly found ourselves headed for Italy! We were headed for a toll road, and there was no turn-around area, so we were stuck. We entered the toll booth and Charlotte took over and explained to the cashier our dilemma. Instead of charging us the full 8€ fee, she said she would charge us only 5€. We were to proceed to the next exit, turn around and, when we came to the exit toll booth, to give the receipt, which she initialed, to the cashier there. This all worked as planned, and they made a tidy sum on us for that turnaround. Once we got on the right road, it took us about an hour on the freeway, then another 20 minutes of hairpin turns to get to our destination. It was around 9:00 by the time we arrived. The guesthouse is perfect for our needs except for the stairs! We have the top floor of the guesthouse, which consists of three bedrooms, three bathrooms and a small furnished kitchen with a nice-sized dining table for the five of us.

We were travel-weary, so we settled on rooms and planned to go to bed. Instead, we gathered around the table and talked, as we are all wont to do. Such an evening!