5/26/12 Italy, May I Never Forget You

                Early rise to catch the bus, just as well since the breakfast was still completely unimpressive.

View from the "long bus ride"

               The bus ride is long, but the scenery is fantastic.  Driving into the Alps, we passed from terracotta roof tiles to the more slanted, red pine roofs of the German style houses.  We make the typical truck stops en route to Innsbruck.

                We arrived in Innsbruck in the afternoon.  We all wander around for a few hours getting a feel for the town.  The cities in Italy are crowded, busy, congested with frantic traffic.  Innsbruck is quiet, settled in the Alps, less frantic, but not as laid back by any means.

                The dinner is at the hotel, and on the way to it we ran into another choir we were to be singing with.  They hailed from Jackson, and were made of mostly older singers.

DAS BIER!!

                The dinner was made of three courses, like usual (and I’m still feeling really pampered).  The soup was what I think of us affectionately called “pancake soup.”  It was delicious, with some type of flatbread noodles that greatly resembled pancake strips.  Next came the region’s food of fame- the Weineschnitzel.  That was basically just breaded, thin sliced chicken; it was ok.  The dessert was Sachretorte-a chocolate cake with marmalade to cement the layers.  It wasn’t my favorite dessert, but I’m not a big cake fan.  The beer though was a locally brewed pilsner.  It was delicious beer, fresh, and wheaty.

Karate Chop Pillows!

                The room I have is great.  Small, cozy, but with a great bathroom.  I head to bed and crash.

                The day was mostly spent admiring the alps, a sight beyond words.  I also spent a lot of time observing the changes from Italy to Austria.  The architecture slowly moved from Italian to German, but the language also became a cross between the two languages as well.