On Friday we took a day trip to Innsbruck, Austria. Less than 2.5 hours away and at the cost of only 8 euros per person one way with the FlixBus, this little adventure was totally worth it. The second hour of the bus ride was incredibly beautiful. Dwayne and I got to sit in the front seat of the second floor of the bus where we were basically surrounded by windows. We rode through a number of mountain villages in Germany and Austria on our way to Innsbruck and the panoramas were something like this:
We spent about 10 hours in Innsbruck and we decided not to plan too much for this trip. We figured we would do something like walk the Old Town, check out the market, take the gondola up one of the mountains, and make several stops for food and coffee. The narrow back streets of the Old Town was what I enjoyed the most in that part of the city as, unlike the main square, they were tourist-free:
The building of the restaurant–Ottoburg–has been around since 1100s!:
The famous Golden Roof (sans the roof, in this shot!) after a wedding ceremony:
My favourite part of the day was when we crossed the river and went on to explore the neighbourhoods in the foothills of the Nordkette mountains. We were met with beautiful private gardens, colourful homes with elaborate woodwork, and, as we climbed higher into the hills, incredible views of Innsbruck! The streets were also extremely quiet and with no tour groups and buses: 
We then made our way to the Hungerburg Funicular (7.90 euros per person for a return trip on the entire line). From the last stop at the top (Hungerburg at 858 m), we took the Seegrube gondola to the height of 1905 m, and then the Hafelekar gondola to the height of 2256 m. The round trip on both of these gondolas cost 25.90 euros per person. The very beginning of the gondola ride offered some cool aerial vies of the city, but, unfortunately, the day was extremely foggy and for about two thirds of the way up, it was impossible to see anything. There was about a foot of snow at both points on the mountain. It was snowing very hard so it was almost impossible to see the cross on the summit of the mountain: 
Gardens and homes in the foothills of the Nordkette mountains:
Alpine pasture over Innsbruck:
It cleared out a bit towards the end of the day and we were able to catch a glimpse of the mountain over the Old Town: 
Innsbruck was a lot of fun despite the fact that it rained almost the entire time we were there. The colourful buildings of the city helped to brighten up the gloomy day. We enjoyed exploring this old city and the wonderful wilderness nearby. With the extremely cheap bus ride (the total came to 32 euros for two people both ways), the trip was a steal and definitely worth it.
