Innsbruck

On our last evening in Verona we had a nice dinner in a local café and got back to our room just before another vicious thunderstorm hit. When we got up yesterday morning, it was in the low 20s, sunny and fresher than we’d experienced in the past few weeks.
We got on the regional train to Bennero which is the most northerly town in Italy in this area, right at the border with Austria. We had to stand up in the crowded train for the first hour and a quarter but then got seats as the train emptied out at each little town for the rest of the 3 hour trip. Standing was okay because the AC worked and we weren’t hot. When we got off in Bennero it was raining and only about 12 C. We had checked the weather report so we were prepared for the cold but it was still a bit of a shock. We got on an Austrian train for the 40 minute trip to Innsbruck. The ride through the mountains, even though it was light rain and not great visibility, was really pretty. High mountains, winding train tracks and roads and lots of tunnels. Sometimes the highway was high above us on big bridges or clinging to the opposite side of the valley we were going down. The Austrian engineers couldn’t have been drunk every day in university - they’ve done some fantastic work.

It was still light rain and maybe 15C when we arrived here but we had no problem finding our hotel only 300m from the station. We checked in and then went for a stroll up to the old part of the city. Then we had a great dinner of pork schnitzel with potato salad and goulash with dumplings and a side order of sauerkraut. Great food and quite different from Italy.

This morning we walked around a bit more and it started to clear up a bit and warm up to about 20 or so. We happened on a big church in the old town where there was a great choir singing. Anita went in to the end of Mass and communion while I stayed outside. They had speakers set up outside so everyone could hear the choir. After that we walked around some more until we heard music coming from a stage setup in a parking lot by the river. It turned out to be the last show of the Innsbruck New Orleans Music Festival. We learned that the church choir had been part of this too. The whole thing is free.
There were a few hundred people in the audience, the sun came out and for about 2 hours straight we were right near the front listening to “Vasti Jackson and Band” from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. They are a New Orleans jazz/blues band and they were doing a mostly gospel show for Sunday morning to close the festival. According to Vasti Jackson, "There ain't nothin' wrong with gettin' your groove on for Jesus". Everyone was really into it, clapping, dancing and singing. It was fantastic to be part of this crowd with a smoking band and looking around at the beauty of Innsbruck and the mountains all around us. The band played a long time, did several encores and were obviously as into it as everyone else. It was another one of those great experiences that just happen if you’re in the right place at the right time. Anita and I both had a very spiritual day, in our own ways. If the name “Vasti Jackson” ever appears for some blues festival in Ontario, be there.

We strolled around a bit more this afternoon and will soon go out for dinner - probably to the same brew pub we were in last night - good site brewed beer and good food. What’s not to like? (Oliver, if you’re reading this, you would approve.)

Tomorrow morning after our continental breakfast included with our hotel room here at the “Golden Krone”, we’re catching a regional train to Garmisch-Partneshomethingorother just over the border into Germany. The next day we’re off to Fuessen by way of Munich. Innsbruck has been wonderful.