6 nights in Innsbruck
We spent our next 6 nights at the AC Marriott in Innsbruck. I had credit card points so this was free for us. Well, expect for the $1079 they tried to charge us for laundry when we checked out. 😊 Great location—close to the train and old town.
Innsbruck was cold and crowded. I was glad we packed our puffer coats. Our first meal of chicken Caesar salad gave us both food poisoning. It can happen anywhere, so I won’t mention the restaurant. And I’ll spare everyone the details other than to say my sister was in pretty bad shape for 2 days. Mine was pretty mild. It was difficult finding bland food in a foreign country when all we wanted was Saltines and toast. While my sister stayed in the room, I explored Innsbruck on my own and one afternoon went to Hall in Tyrol, which I really enjoyed. I was afraid to venture too far away from my sister. And we were both a little nervous about eating after this.
Luckily, my sister recovered in time to make our reservation for the Swarovski Crystal Garden. My sister has been a huge fan of Swarovski for as long as I can remember. She said this was like her Disney World. 😊 She had a great time and has the pictures and jewelry to prove it.
We also did a day trip to Brixen, Italy to see the cathedral and impressive cloisters. And to eat pizza and gelato of course.
Misc. Notes: Do pedestrians not have the right of way in Austria? I can’t count the number of times we were almost run over while walking in the crosswalk. Bikes and electric scooters don’t seem to stop. And cars wanted to turn into us, even though we had the right of way.
3 nights in St. Gallen, Switzerland
We were thrilled to be returning to Switzerland for our final nights. Everything is just so easy in Switzerland. I can’t explain it, but I love it so much!! 😊
We stayed at the Hotel Metropol right across from the train station. It was a basic hotel, good location. I really wanted to see the Abbey and library, which was really impressive. We really enjoyed the old town too. A great place to walk around without crowds. And we were happy to be eating our favorite avocado sandwich from the Brezelkönig.
We spent one day at the new Lindt chocolate museum. Yes, it’s touristy, but we’re tourists, so it worked out great. 😊
For our final day, we went to Konstanz, Germany. My sister was running out of steam, so we didn’t stay too long.
Misc. Notes: I mentioned earlier how we love the Zweifel paprika chips. Well, the Manor Dept. store had a limited edition truffle flavor. I’m not a fan, but my sister was super excited and bought 6 bags to take home. More on that later. Also, passports were checked along with our train tickets.
Flight from Zurich to Chicago: In Zurich I was flagged for the Secondary Security Screening Selection (SSSS). This actually went pretty quick. When the women opened my carry on and saw all my sister’s potato chips, she just sent me on my way. I don’t think she wanted to know what was going on with all the chips. 😊 And back at O’Hare our gate was also in the new part of terminal 5. According to my phone, we walked 2,000 steps from the gate to passport control. It was really unbelievable!!
NEXT UP: Italy in March 2023 (with 2 nights in Lugano, Switzerland) with my sister and brother-in-law. Edinburgh and York solo (unless my sister tries to come along) in May 2023. Belgium and the Netherlands solo in Sept./Oct. 2023.
Finally: I will be taking a break from posting on the forum, but will check back for the next week or so in case anyone has any questions about the trip.
Happy Travels!!
