Day 28 Innsbruck beauty to IBIS icky…

Day 28…November 1st- This day is a huge holiday in Europe…so lots of things are closed.  One of the things that was not closed was the train and gondola to the mountain right above the city.  I know that my words cannot do justice to this amazing trip…but it was so incredible!  You start the trip in the old city on what appears to be a subway train…it soon appears outside and starts to climb up the mountainside.  The subway car changes into levels (I can’t begin to explain) as you make you way up the mountain.  You stop midway and then have to transfer to a cable car.  Now actually this was not too bad (considering I am scared of heights…because I was staring at the mountain in front of us as we climbed…it was when I turned around to see how high up we were that I almost fainted!).  Once we reached the end of the trip we were almost to the top of the mountain.  There was snow and ski hills at this point…and they had sleds and other fun ski equipment you could use for free!  Russ, Reid, and I went sledding (so much fun!!) the only problem was that it actually got too warm!  The sun was out and shining down on us…and we actually got hot!  The best part was when Reid took a snow bike down the hill!  Imagine a bike with skis for tires…and there you go!  He had a blast going up and down the hill!

When we tired out from that, we took the final stage of the gondola up to the top of the mountain!  Well, it really was not the top of the mountain…we had to hike up another 200 feet or so to get to the tippy top!  It was insane!  You could see the entire valley below…and the alps filled with snow!  Of course all Reid cared about was a snowball fight!  Even though I have a fear of heights…it was still such an incredible expereince!

Well let’s just say that we went from almost heaven in Innsbruck…to close to hell in Belfort.  We debated about where to go for our next stop….we were heading to the chateau north of Paris to meet with it’s owner and find out more about our stay in December… We were originally going to stop in Baden Baden, Germany…but since there was a holiday…and we were in a hurry….we decided to just make a pit stop along the way…

Oh boy…the choice by Russ was the IBIS Budget hotel…and they mean it!  This was like a dorm room with a porta-potty in it.  The first room we got was actually not even clean…one of the beds not made…so I felt really comfortable…not!  When we got to our second dorm room…I had to give myself a pep talk “This is better than sleeping in the car”…over and over.  And no, for your information, we did not shower the next day…it is hard to feel clean when you are in a bathroom that smells like a horse stall.  So let’s just say we slept (not too well because someone tried to open our door in the middle of the night…) and got up and headed on our way!!!