When we woke up this morning we had come to appreciate the almost 7 hours that we had slept - almost 2 times as much as the previous night. We all were excited about the trip to Austria today - And many of us would be going white water rafting as well!
As we boarded the cog railway and decended Mt. Pilatus, I couldn't help reflect on the sheer beauty of Switzerland and the Alps. I had dreamed of seeing this part of the world for years, and it hardly seemed possible that I was finally here. The cog railway decends the mountain very slowly because the pitch approaches 50 degees in spots. The views from this train's windows are nothing short of spectacular.
When we made it to the bottom, we saw Dave and the coach waiting for us. Funny, it did'nt seem like 2 whole days away from our coach! We boarded the coach and began the trip to Austria. As it turned out, the crossing into Austria was the only country where we had our passports stamped. Many of the countries that we passed into had barriers with guards, but most did not require us to surrender our passports. Most just had us hold them up so they could pass down the aisle of the coach and look at them. This was a bit dissapointing to me, as I had hoped to have 10 stamps in my passport by the end of this trip. Daren informed us that many of the borders didn't even require us to stop any more. With the coming of the new European Union, things are becoming more like passing through a state here in america.
Before we made it to Austria we made a brief stop in Liechtenstein. It is hard to believe that this place is a seperate country - it was tiny! We made a lunch stop in Vaduz, the capital city of Liechtenstein. It is a small city in the shadows of a beautiful castle - home to the royal family of Liechtenstein. Daren recommended a small grocery store with a deli counter where we bought sandwiches and chocolates!
After lunch, we were back on the road and cruising through Austria. We arrived at the rafting shack around 2:00 PM and were instructed to form a line and receive all of our equipment. We had wetsuits, spray vests, boots and helmets. There was a small shack with a changing room where we all crammed in and changed. Decked out in our slimy, cool (and strangely pungent) outfits we all signed our lives away and prepared to enter the water!
We paired off in teams of six. Our group included Jamie and Me, Allison, Brant, Elisa, Eric, Tony and Molly. Our guide gave us some brief instruction and after posing for a group photo we were off! Shortly after we started, we were informed that if our partner (the person directly accross the boat from us) fell into the water, it was our job to pull them back into the boat. The guide also informed us that we would all have to jump out of the boat in the beginning of the ride (prior to the rapids) and practice bringing in our partner! He also informed us that the water was a balmy 41 degrees fareignheight! Lets just say that that was the coldest water I have EVER been in! The color of this river was also strange - it was a steel gray. The water was so clear that all you could see was the rocky bottom.
When this wild ride was over (and we had been in the water a few times!) we were all sort of stunned. I have been rafting before, and have definitely experienced bigger rapids, but for overall experience, it's hard to beat Feelfree River Rafting in Austria!
We exited the river and met up with our fellow travelers. We changed out of our wetsuits, showered and changed in enough time to check out the group photos and Feelfree merchandise. After making a few purchases, we gathered all of our goodies and headed to the coach for the brief trip into Innsbruck. It was at this point that Daren informed us about the bar at the hotel. Aparantly they are known for Schnapps and we would find out later how famous they really were!
We did have an authentic Austrian Weinerschnitzel for dinner and after a short nap and shower we were ready for the evenings activities! Jamie and I met up with a good portion of our group in the beergarden behind the hotel. It was the calm before the storm, as we sat outside with a slight breeze drinking Austrian Weissebier. I think it was arounnd 9PM when the "Schnappy Hour" began. Daren had told us that every 1/2 hour there would be an announced Schnapps Special! The first one was Peach, the second was Peppermint, the third was Yagermeister. By now everyone was feeling pretty good and ready for the next shot - something that Daren had been talking up all night. It was called "The Mongrel" and it was one of the WORST tasting shots I have ever done. This should have been our clue that Daren was messing with us - and most people caught on. The last special was a shot called a "Cocaine" and it involved a small heated spoon full of sugar and coffee beans and some really nasty schnapps. The only two fools that were willing to try it were Jamie and me.(see photo below!)
When this was all over, I still managed to get my hands on a 2 Liter beer mug that one of the locals had been holding all night.(see photo below!) This night was easilly one of the rowdiest as a rivalry broke out between the Aussies and the Americans. The Aussies have this chant, you see. Everywhere you go you hear an Aussie shouting AUSSIE! AUSSIE! AUSSIE! and some of us Americans decided that we needed to show them that we too have our pride! One of the bartenders played the Bruce Springsteen Song "Born in the USA" and I have never seen a group of Americans come together so loudly! I must admit, it was not one of my favorite songs, but it definitely showed those Aussies that we have at least as much pride as they do!
When the bar was ready to close, there were four of us still standing. It was becoming a tradition with us - we closed a bar in every town that we were in. When they finally kicked us out and we were drifting off to sleep I realized that tommorow we were beginning a part of the trip I had dreamed about - The "Eating" part of the trip - Tommorow we were going to Italy!
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| Daren and Dave with Jamie and Sarah! Did someone say PARTY! |
  Jamie and I do a shot called the COCAINE!
| Jamie, Katy and Laura live it up Austrian Style!
|   I really like the BIG Austrian Beer!
| The Golden Roof in town.
|   Whitewater rafting on the River Inn! That water is COLD! |
The Innsbruck Olympic Flame.
|   The Royal Family of Liechtenstein. |
Vaduz Castle - Home of the Royal Family.
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© 1998-2000 Geoffrey S. Cable
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