When we were planning this trip we had discussed the possibility of renting a car and driving up into the Alps for a day, but we never really committed to doing that until yesterday. We managed to find a rental car at the last minute – some sort of Opel car with suicide doors – and we were advised to avoid King Ludwig II’s two first castles as they would be insanely crowded this time of year. Instead we decided to go to Salzburg via Ludwig’s third castle on an island in Chiemsee.

The weather wasn’t fully cooperating, there was light rain along the way, but the Bavarian part of Germany and Austria is beautiful. We found the information center on Chiemsee and learned that the next ferry over to the island was only about 10 minutes later. We hadn’t done any real research about what we were doing, and after a 20 minute ride to the island learned that King Ludwig II’s final castle was a tribute to (really an exact copy of) the Palace of Versailles.

We took the full tour of the castle, unfortunately no cameras were allowed. Ludwig ran out of (Bavaria’s) money and never finished it – the story goes that his crazy spending habits are what moved Bavaria from a monarchy to a democracy. The unfinished parts were just as interesting: seeing the bricks, mortar and beams that really hold the place together behind the marble was a unique experience. His dining room table was mounted on an elevator, so servants could set the table downstairs and crank it up into his dining room (a process that took half an hour). The entire castle had one bathroom, just for King Ludwig. It didn’t really matter, as he never invited guests over (and he only lived there for 10 days before he died).

We had lunch on the even smaller island of Fraueninsel before heading back to the car.

On the ferry back we could see A8 – the highway leading to Salzburg. It was absolutely stopped. We asked the person at the information desk and she told us that was traffic all the way into Salzburg and it would take hours to get there. Change in plans! Let’s go to Innsbruck!

Innsbruck hosted the Winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976; when we spotted the ski jump from the highway the car went into auto-pilot and took us straight there. It’s iconic. It’s the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. It’s also something we can go to the top of.

As we imagined how nuts you have to be to take a run down this thing, Jason noticed that from the skier’s view the first thing you see beyond the landing point is a cemetery.

From there we made our way into the old part of Innsbruck. We opted out of Tyrolian hats and “I ♥ Innsbruck” tee shirts but once again found a free outdoor concert, this time the local philharmonic rehearsing for a show that evening (complete with Bavarian horn).

At dinner I ordered “Big Plate of grilled meat” which included an exploded sausage (see images below). I don’t want to dwell on that here, because dessert was more important. When I was in Italy with my family in 2007 we decided that coins in our pockets were “Gelato tokens,” a tradition that has stuck with me ever since.

We stopped in the best looking gelato place in Innsbruck to redeem my tokens and the guy there was an artist. The cones he turned out were amazing works of frozen goodness. Go to Amorino’s. Ask for Steve. (Actually I don’t know his name.)

After that we went home.

Full set of pictures (including menu and exploded sausage):