I visit Innsbruck in my wheelchair to buy gnomes

I love Innsbruck, Austria so much; I came in 2019 and again in 2022.

Where I stayed

Both in 2019 and 2022, I stayed at the AC Hotel. This hotel is in a perfect

location, there’s a reason why we booked this a second time. This time, the

room we were given had 2 twin beds, which doesn’t work for 3 people.

The hotel allowed us to switch to the wheelchair accessible, ADA, (I know we’re in

Europe), with a queen bed and an adjoining room with 2 double beds. This

was much better. My bathroom had a bar on the wall AND a pull-down grab bar

on the other side. I needed this in Puerto Rico; and a roll in shower with a fold

down chair. I also had a TV, but I didn’t plan on using it.

It’s Christmas time, so white twinkling lights were everywhere. There was a big

tree in the lobby with white fake candles. Less is more!!!!

We saw the city in 2019, I’ll add more about that trip later.

This time, the mountain and shopping were our main priorities. It was the first

Christmas market since Covid, so to say it was huge is an understatement.

Dog toys

There was one vendor that I had visited before during my 2019 trip, I had even

contacted him on Instagram to see if I could place an order and have it

shipped to me, but was unable to due to US customs. Can you guess the toy?

If you said a furry, hoofed deer leg for my dog, you would be correct. Schnuffi

Und Keksi. He also had huge furry rabbit ears and other animal parts as treats,

so yes I snuck that back for my dog.

They had everything there, but I already swore that I wouldn’t buy more

gnomes. So, my dog was the only one I was shopping for.

For dinner

We went to Vapiano. They had Vegan options on the menu and I chose to try their

vegan pizza, but was skeptical about the cheese. I’ve never enjoyed vegan

cheese, but I’m so glad I took the risk because SPOILER ALERT, I loved their

vegan cheese!! The pizza was ORGASMIC, and I also ordered the regular

risotto. On our last day, we came back and I ended up ordering the vegan

risotto, and it was unbelievable.

For the most part, we just walked around, visited the Christmas markets and

just took in all the holiday lights. They even had huge chandeliers that hung

over the streets! You fancy Innsbruck!

The church

My mom and I toured The Cathedral of St James because they are beautifully designed in Europe with marbles and golds. Usually, important people are in the tombs.

Nutella

They had Nutella everywhere. There was even a Dunkin' Donuts that featured a

Nutella donut! Step up your game America!

Breakfast

Breakfast was included in our hotel stay and it had a great spread. They

served eggs, cooked any way you desired, fruit salad, whole fruit, chopped

fruit salad, dried fruit, fresh fruit juice, fruit jelly, grilled veggies, deli meats,

sausage, granola, nuts and seeds, yogurt, kefir, every kind of bread

imaginable and a variation of coffee and expresso drinks.

Alps

If there is one thing I recommend, it’s this: take a cable car ride to the top of Nordkette mountain and take the train up to the road that has Hungerburg Christmas market at night.

Then hop on gondola #1 that leads to gondola #2. As you travel

upwards, your gondola will break through puff of clouds, the view is better

on sunny days. When you exit the gondola, you step into a little building with

multiple doors. Out one door, you can see beautiful views of the Austrian Alps.

It was sunnier when I visited in 2019, and the Alps were absolutely stunning.

Alps for dayz! Then, out the other door, which they didn’t have in 2019, they

had tables, music, French fries, snow, views and so many people.

We decided to eat in the Seegrube restaurant. I got a soup which was really just a clear broth with spaghetti noodles and what looked like cut up hot dog pieces. As temping as it sounds, you weren’t missing much. We shared a table with two female

travelers from Dubai! If you saw us, we just looked like old friends catching up

and it felt that way too!

When we took the gondolas back down, we walked to a different section of the

market. We crossed the Inn River and took in a view of the mountains and all the

rainbow-colored houses. The next day we drove 20 minutes to Seefeld.