Venice to Innsbruck
Saturday  17 December

After an early morning walk to take some photos of lights on the Grand Canal, we left our hotel with our porter at 5.15am to catch a train to Verona. It was amazing how well the porter’s trolley carried our cases up and down the steps on our way to the station.

We arrived at Verona at 6.50am and had to wait an hour before the left luggage office opened. After depositing our cases, we set out to walk to the Roman Arena. Unfortunately we must have missed a turning somewhere because, after walking for about half an hour, we discovered we were on the wrong road and had to turn back. At 11am we caught the train to Innsbruck and enjoyed the scenery on the way: lots of vineyards, alpine villages and rugged mountains, some capped with snow.

We arrived in Innsbruck at around 2.30pm and made our way to the Hotel Weisses Kreuz in the centre of town, just a few doors from the famous Golden Dachl. After checking in, we took a funicular followed by a cable car to Hungerburg and then to Seegrube where we had terrific views back across the town to the mountains.

At Hungerburg there was a small Christmas market where I bought a small Santa ornament. We also enjoyed a bratwurst sausage with mustard while listening to a brass band.

Back in the city we had a quick look at the vibrant Christmas market which is very close to our hotel, bought some chocolate nougat gingerbread and chocolate apple gingerbread, and listened to another brass band, this time playing on the balcony of the Golden Dachl, before returning to the hotel.