Innsbruck, Austria

I arrived in Innsbruck very late at night, with no plans for a place to stay. I knew that I needed to find shelter for some time during the night and I decided to walk around through the town that was obviously sleeping to find a pub that would be open all night, I figured if I found one I could just sit down in the back and maybe catch a small nap. Walking through the town I didn’t find anything too promising. One of the towns squares was under construction, while walking through I was making sure to avoid any rubbish and debris from the construction site and almost stepped on a young man about my age laying down next to a make shift fence. He was laying on his back, half in the closed pedestrian street, and half on the sidewalk. Upon realizing that there was a person laying in the dark, I may have freaked out a bit. It certainly surprised me.

Being a bit spooked I decided that the train station would be the best place for me. I decided to go out to the platforms trying to find one that did not have any arriving trains for a few hours. I found an enclosed waiting area on the platform and rested on the ground. Later in the middle of my sleep I was awoken by some jerk who came and sat down next to me and started eating loudly. He had a loud crinkly bag and some loud snacks. Annoyed, I got up and headed back into the main building. I spotted a bench in the distance that I started to head for, but right before I got there another homeless person took it. It was at that point I realized that I was starting to act like a hobo. Disappointed I laid against a wall on the ground and caught another 20 minutes or so of rest and then looked for another location to rest. Downstairs I found an enclosed waiting room that was warm! I was so happy. I sat down and slept for the rest of the night. Waking up only to find two security guards asking to see our train tickets, making sure that we were in fact waiting for our train, luckily having a Eurail pass I was able to keep resting.

Early in the morning I started exploring Innsbruck, more than I had done the night before. The town is very nice, it is surrounded with huge mountains and has several pretty gates and buildings. During my sightseeing I was on a mission to buy a Bivy Sack for my upcoming stay in Seewalchen and in Switzerland near the Matterhorn. For those of you who don’t know what a Bivy Sack is, let me explain. A Bivy Sack is a protective waterproof “shell” that you can put your sleeping bag into in lieu of a tent. It keeps you warm enough for the night, with of course the sleeping bag, and a pad. I figured, oh its summer it will be warm enough. So while walking around I kept my eye out for stores that might carry such a product. Finding several I went ahead and shopped around and got one.  Pleased and excited about my purchase I headed back to the train station.

Store I bought the Bivy Sack from

Following my fathers suggestion I headed to a small town called Seewalchen. He raved about how pretty it was, so I figured I would check it out.