Ulm
After a filling breakfast buffet in Boppard, Germany at the same place we had dinner the night before, we were off to Ulm, Germany for lunch. I had not even heard of Ulm before we got here, so it was fun to visit a place I had no preconceived notions about, and I was surprised when we were sitting down in the main square for lunch at how it felt like I could have easily been in a historic city in the US if it weren’t for all of the people speaking German around me.
We grabbed lunch at a little place called Pano, where I learned that ‘brat’ just means “sandwich’, and does not necessarily mean that there will be meat on that sandwich. Apparently, I neglected to ask for the ‘wurst’, because I ordered the first brat I saw on the menu and it was just cheese, tomato, and pesto. To my surprise though, it was incredibly delicious, and I was happy I accidentally ordered it.
After lunch, I walked around the square with a couple of the girls from my tour group, and we found Hussel Confiserie, where I was able to restrain myself and only get a couple of chocolates and a bag of tiny, delicious little cookies.
On the way back to the bus, we stopped at Rossmann pharmacy, and I happened to spray on the best-smelling rose perfume I’ve ever smelled in my life! Silly me left without buying it, since most perfumes smell strange on me after I’ve worn them a while, but this one just kept smelling better the longer I wore it. If anyone happens to be in Ulm in the near future… bring me that perfume!!
Innsbruck
We made better-than-expected time on the bus ride to Innsbruck, so we were able to sneak in a quick stop in the Tyrol mountains for a break to stretch our legs and get some photos.
Once in Innsbruck, we had some time to walk along Inn River and do some sightseeing and shopping. The architecture was beautiful and extremely European. The artistic detail on a very large scale on some of these buildings was amazing! A stop at the Swarovski store is a definite must as well… if you love sparkly things.
It started to rain not long into the visit, so a few of us ducked into the first cafe we saw – Marktbar – to grab a snack and wait out the rain. The “snack” that the three of us ordered turned out to be a charcuterie plate that nearly took up the whole table. Along with the pitcher of sangria we ordered to share, we completely ruined our appetite for dinner later, but it was worth it.
Hotel Ramada Innsbruck Tivoli was our hotel for the night, and also our spot for dinner. And when I say it was amazing… it was AMAZING! After the spartan digs of the previous night, a super-modern hotel with spacious rooms was a welcome change. After getting our room cards, we had a little free time before dinner, which I spent mainly trying to sort through photos and videos on my phone — after three days of non-stop sightseeing, my storage space was nearly full. I was in no hurry to get to dinner anyway after having eaten a dinner-sized meal less than an hour before.
Dinner was on the roof, which was a fun surprise! I seriously did not expect any kind of rooftop dining experiences in our itinerary, and it was nice to have a dining experience that felt like a celebration of our trip.
Our dining area was moved indoors due to the impending rain, but we spent every moment up until the showers began, in the outdoor dining area on the rooftop patio. The view was beyond spectacular up there — we were surrounded on all sides by the Tyrolean mountain and we were having dinner just as the sun was setting behind the mountain range to the right of us. It couldn’t have been a more idyllic setting and was a wonderful way to end the night.
