Innsbruck - Day 3

So today we had another free day in Innsbruck. In the morning though we had an orientation meeting and group presentations from Swarovski, Riedel Glass, and Audi. I really liked the presentations and found them very informative and interesting. After the orientation meeting, Taylor, Jay, Amanda, Kinsie, CJ, and I decided to walk around the town and look at the shops. Alot of shops are on Maria Theresien street which is named after a woman who lived here. There is an arch called Arch de Trioumph which she built and is located in the middle of the street at an interesection. Its right by our hotel so its always a good marker to tell when we are close. We first went to Swarovski which was probably not a good idea because there was alot of cute stuff there. It was not as expensive as I expected it to be, so needless to say, us girls did some damage. From there, we just walked around and did window shopping. We also saw the Golden Roof which was built in something like 1493. Its really small on the side of a building, but still really neat since it was made so long ago.

After we ate lunch, John and Ryan joined us and we went up to Bergisel, the top of the ski jump from a previous olympic games. It was quite a walk, but well worth it. The view from the top was amazing! It seriously looked like a postcard and there really are no words that would give it justice. We tooks tons of pictures and just soaked up the beautiful landscape for awhile. We also saw where the skiiers initially took off and man it was steep. I dont think people really how steep it is on tv, but I could never do that. From there, we walked back to the shopping area and Amanda and I broke off to do some more shopping. I got some postcards and looked for a large duffle (because I dont think mine is big enough) for the plane ride back. I was unsuccessful so we just cam back to the hotel and relaxed until our dinner.

For dinner the whole group was bused to a restaurant for an authentic Austrian dinner. I really didnt know what to expect, but it exceed all expectations. We first were offered either salad or garlic cream soup which is what I got and it was so good. I didnt think I would like it, but I inhaled it. After that, the waitresses brought ribs, schnizel, pork, bread, and french fries :) It is the best meal I have had so far and I ate way to much! Then there was also an Austrian band that yoodled and played polka type music for us. We learned different dances and we even got the chaperones to get up and do partner dancing. The night was just so fun and I had a blast! Its nice now because everyone knows everyone and people are just more comfortable so it allows us to relax and have a better time. After the band played, we got an apple struttle desert which I didnt eat, but heard it was good. Then we were led on a latern hike on a trail around the restaurant which was really fun. We all just goofed around and sang silly songs which I loved. The night was definitely a success and one of the best thus far. I cant wait to see what the rest of our trip brings!