Exploring Nordkette, Alpine Zoo, and Innsbruck

We enjoyed a delicious breakfast early morning at the Aqua Dome Hotel  – one of the best we’ve ever had!

There were fresh bread, pastries, cheeses, eggs, and fruits.

The quality of the food was better than Four Seasons! After the incredible breakfast, we enjoyed the thermal pools and the sauna.

Inna showed me a fantastic sauna where a cold stream of water with thunder and lightning drops on you. It was amazing!

At around 11:00am, we checked out of the Aqua Therme hotel and started our drive for Innsbruck. We planned to take the funicular to the top, followed by a short visit to the city’s alpine zoo.

On arriving in Innsbruck, we parked near the funicular (a bit farther away than necessary) and walked to the ticket office. We decided to purchase a combined ticket (funicular + zoo). It was expensive – almost 100 euros for the three of us.

We first took the Nordkette gondola to the top, where we ordered lunch at the Restaurant Seegrube on the terrace. Inna selected a beef soup while Alex ordered soup and Wiener schnitzel, which he ate quickly (as he was starving).

While Alex and Inna ate, I went hiking to the top, where I ran into mountain goats. I got very close to a few animals and took some close-up photos.

After returning from the short hike, Inna and Alex joined me on a fast, flat, easy hike on the mountain. We saw a few more mountain goats, but not as close as before. As it was getting late, we headed back and returned to the bottom of the funicular.

We took a different funicular to the Alpine Zoo – it was only one stop away. At the zoo, we saw the brown bear, the lynx, farm animals (pigs, mountain goats, sheep), and various birds.

Walking up and down the hilly terrain was challenging, and everyone was tired after about an hour of walking up and down.

When we finished with the zoo, we took the funicular to the parking lot and drove to downtown Innsbruck. After trying to find parking, I found a spot and parked.

We wanted to see the world-famous Golden Roof before dinner and saw a beautiful square with this attraction.

Many other tourists took photos, and an orchestra played classical music in the nearby Hapsburg palace.

We didn’t have much time to eat dinner, as we needed to return to our next destination in Reutte, so after searching Yelp, we settled on an Italian restaurant – Il Convento.

Inna selected the “Gnocchi Salsiccia” (which she did not care for); Alex picked the “Trofie Burrata” pasta; and I chose the “Garganelli Gamberi” (pasta with seafood). I really liked my pasta, and Alex liked his dish.

After dinner, at around 7:30pm, we headed to our car and drove two hours to our new apartment rental in Reutte.

It was a harrowing drive since it was dark and raining, but we made it safely there.

Our hosts were there to greet us and tell us about the nearby castles and nearby bakeries. As we were exhausted, we went to bed quickly.