April 7, 2017 (Innsbruck, Austria)

Just before Easter, I had a friend visiting from Germany, we’ll call her J, and while she was here we decided to play tourist and take her along to the things we wanted to see around town. If you find yourself in Innsbruck and are interested in at least a few museums, or sightseeing attractions, it’s worth your while to purchase an Innsbruck card. These vary in duration (and price) between one day and several days. What this card allows you to do is gain entry into pretty much all of the museums, buses, and sightseeing places within the allotted time frame. This is definitely worth it if you want to see at least a few things on the list of attractions.

We talked J into getting a 24-hour card with us and we were off on afternoon museum adventures. We saved the best for the evening. Grant had planned out for us to take a funicular up to Hungerberg, a town halfway up Nordkette mountain and then take a cable car up to the top. With the Innsbruck card, you get a round trip on these modes of transportation included with the price. On Friday nights during the winter, there is a club open and the cable car runs until 11 pm at night. The club on Nordkette is called Cloud 9 and is in an igloo. We were excited since none of us had actually been in an igloo before, especially one turned into a dance club.

We felt we needed sustenance before our night of drinks so we decided to check out the “oldest brewery in Innsbruck”, Theresienbraü. Contrary to what this restaurant is known for (beer), we were good and only ordered food. Well… Grant succumbed and ordered a dark ale. They specialize in Austrian cuisine.

The funicular stops running at about 7 pm and because we got to the station at precisely 7:45, we were forced to take a bus to Hungerberg to get to the cable car. Frustrated, but still relieved we didn’t miss our Friday night clubbing experience, we walked a quarter of a mile to the bus stop.

I always get really nervous on cable cars. This was no exception. But the view when we got to Nordkette was stunning and totally worth it. The mountain overlooks the city and between the part where Cloud 9 sits and the edge of the mountain where there is a complete drop, there is no wall except for a 1-foot high rock structure. I’m surprised no one has “drunkenly” fallen off the edge.

When we entered the igloo, we saw the ceiling was open and the night sky was exposed; and the area where the roof of the igloo bar remained was slowly dripping. This was due to the recent warmer weather. I turned to Grant and excitedly said, “This is the first time I’ve been in an igloo!”. To which he responded, with his architect’s precision, “This is the first HALF-an-igloo you’ve been in”. Touche!

The music was a mix of techno and remixed 80’s pop music. Everyone was dancing and swaying to the beat. There was a bar inside the igloo and one on the outside and they both served different types of drinks.

At one point someone lit a firework off the edge of the mountain. And later someone else lit a bonfire, which was a nice source of heat outside of the igloo.

Because Innsbruck, located in a valley, was warm that day, I forgot to remind J to bring a jacket. So I think she was a little cold. Thankfully, they sold Glühwein, which is served warm, and kept her hands nice and toasty. I had worn my winter jacket and had enough cold endurance to start with a cocktail. By the way, I did switch to Glühwein, after my cold tolerance ran out as there was plenty of snow on the ground and the igloo is good at keeping the wind at bay, but it is still a building made of ice.

We caught the last cable car down the mountain, at 11 pm sharp. Everyone else had the same idea so we were packed with drunken people and singing Austrian youth on the way down. This provided unnecessary rocking.

All in all, we had a great time.

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