I think anybody coming to Innsbruck could not fail to like this town. I mean, when you get views like this at the end of every street you could not fail to be impressed.
We started the day with a walking tour of the very well preserved old part of town. Here is a shot of the front of Emperor Maximilian I Palace with its famous golden veranda. It is made of copper coated with two and half kilograms of gold.
Innsbruck having hosted three Winter Olympics, our next stop was at their Ski Jumping ramp. We went right to the top and out onto the platform where the skiers launch from. You can see the little wooden bench that they sit on just before they launch down the ramp. The sight that got me was the cemetery just beyond their landing area.
There are great views over Innsbruck from up here.
We then boarded our bus for a five hour drive to Bern. Our route into Switzerland took us through the little principality of Lichtenstein. Nothing really of note is located there, just houses and factories. Here is a shot of an upper bit of the Rhine river which forms the border between Lichtenstein and Switzerland. It’s got a lot of growing to do before it will be able to float our river boat.
Our lunch stop was at a roadhouse on the six lane highway we were traveling. It was nothing like Australian ones. Spotlessly neat, the furnished and decorated pedestrian subway tunnel under the highway led across to a restaurant teaming with fresh salads and all manner of foods.
The town of Bern was named after a bear that the founder of the city killed here. Traditionally the town has always kept some bears in an enclosure on the edge of the city. Napoleon took them after he captured the city but they replaced them. Originally kept in a pit which you can still see, the bears’ home now is on a large fenced off section of river bank. The one I managed to photograph looked pretty happy.
Our hotel here was originally a palace and is located right next door to the Swiss Parliament building. It is very elegant with its public rooms decorated with large displays of flowers.
Hardys’ Travels 