{"id":17128,"date":"2017-11-02T11:39:45","date_gmt":"2017-11-02T11:39:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/?p=17128"},"modified":"2018-02-28T13:58:15","modified_gmt":"2018-02-28T13:58:15","slug":"innsbruck-intermission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/innsbruck-intermission\/","title":{"rendered":"An Innsbruck Intermission"},"content":{"rendered":"

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We spent the last week in both Austria and Bavaria, dividing our time between the mountains of Mittersill<\/a> and our old home of Munich for the remainder, in what was probably our favourite trip of 2017 (so far!)…<\/p>\n

Leaving behind a grey Gatwick, and buffeted on our way by reasonably gentle Hurricane Brian (who names these things?!), it wasn’t long before we were above the snowy peaks of one of our favourite parts of the world…<\/p>\n

I love a small airport when they are well run (as this one is!) – there’s no having to lug bags (and a heavy toddler) for miles at Innsbruck – it’s straight off the plane and through passport control almost as soon as you are off the tarmac (although I imagine things might be slightly different in ski season).\u00a0 Bags collected, we had time to deliberate (and exercise our rusty Deutsch) over something familiar and delicious in the bakery for lunch before picking up our car for the week…<\/p>\n

A word of advice on this front, always double-check what you have pre-booked.\u00a0 \u00a0Our car had an empty tank when we picked it up when we had paid for a full tank\u00a0 – cue a slightly surreal trip to the nearest petrol station a few miles up the road for the children, myself, and a member of car hire staff, whilst Mr R waited back at the airport (made all the more surreal by the Toddler repeating “My Daddy, My Daddy, My Daddy” to the poor man for the duration)…<\/p>\n

You should also take into account that between October and typically the end of March, it is mandatory for every single vehicle (both in Austria and Germany) at least to have snow tyres.\u00a0 \u00a0DO NOT PAY EXTRA FOR THIS when you book the car – it needs to have them anyway whether you rent it or not.\u00a0 \u00a0Also, remember to let the company know if you plan to leave the country at any point.\u00a0 \u00a0This might sound odd for those of us currently sitting on a relatively small island, but Germany is literally up the road as is Italy and beyond, and you should tell them for insurance purposes. (Talking of insurance<\/a> – if you do this kind of trip regularly, it’s worth taking out special hire car insurance to cover any accidental damage and any surprise costs you might have to deal with from these companies.\u00a0 You will be surprised at what a few of them try to get away with…).<\/p>\n

Anyway, fully loaded with petrol and the correct Daddy at the wheel, we finally set off from the airport Mittersill bound.<\/p>\n

I am a great believer in things happening for a reason, which is how I think we came to find this place, not just because we were lost.\u00a0 It obviously just wanted us to see it, and I am so glad it did…<\/p>\n

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A few hairpin bends later, a period of no network coverage, and a slight sense of impending panic as the light began to fade, like a beacon in the darkness our hotel managed to get through to us and navigated us to them (whilst probably wondering what kind of idiots would be staying with them for the next few days!)…<\/p>\n

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The Wild Kogel\u00a0Bramberg Resort<\/a>\u00a0sits in the middle of an area of astounding natural beauty, with plenty of interesting things surrounding it (should you choose to leave the resort!).\u00a0 Whilst packed in the height of summer, and booked solid typically in the Winter, October is a super relaxed time to visit.\u00a0 And, if you are lucky with the weather, one of the most beautiful times too (look how lucky Trish from Mum’s Gone to<\/a> was – she was in Austria the week before us!) – perfect for hiking!<\/p>\n

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Taken on our last morning. If you look closely, someone isn’t happy about leaving. I would have been happy to stay for a few more days too!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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If you are here just to relax though, you will find plenty to help you unwind, from the beautiful pool and spa, to taking it easy in your apartment.\u00a0 Personally, I would have been happy to move in to our beautiful two bedroom apartment – we had plenty of room, two bathrooms, and a huge balcony to appreciate those mountain views from.<\/p>\n

\"alpine<\/a><\/p>\n

We weren’t all that lucky with the weather for the first couple of days – which, after a hectic term at school, I think the children (and I) were secretly quite pleased about.\u00a0 After a day or so of reading, eating, shopping and a visit to the National Park Welt Museum at Mittersill (more on that soon) plus a trek to pay homage to the rather gorgeous Hoch Krimmel Waterfalls (the biggest in Austria<\/a>, and fifth largest in the world) in the snow (it was so nice to see both that and some glorious Alpine scenery – we don’t get much of that in Cambridge!) we were rested and ready for\u00a0 Tuesday, which was sunny and enticing – all ready for our 5 hour hike along the Smaragd Weg (or Emerald Way) – an old emerald mining route, and probably one of the most beautiful hikes we have ever done.<\/p>\n

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Hoch Krimmel Waterfalls<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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And to hear all about that then you will have to wait a day or so for me to sift through around 55,000 pictures as it really was that beautiful… Back soon.<\/p>\n

*collaborative post\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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