The Golden Roof and the City of Water

Location: Somewhere in Italy

Well…clearly I made it.

I am currently riding on the train with Ellie to Venice. I am beyond excited. Here, we will spend the afternoon and evening touring, stay in a hotel and then tour in the morning before heading back to Innsbruck.

We have been busy over the past few days. Friday, after landing in Innsbruck, Ellie, me and my luggage took a bus to Maria-Theresian Strasse to meet up with her friend and teammate Emilie and Emilie’s boyfriend Stefan. This location is kind of like the main drag – a strip with stores, restaurants and a mall. I was hungry so we ate outdoors at a place called Orangerie. Ellie helped me order something “authentic” which wound up being these pasta noodles (they looked like French fries) and an Apfelsaft G’spritz (tastes just like Apple Juice!). After eating, Ellie and I headed back to her place to relax until she had to go to practice. I took a much needed nap and woke up feeling a little better, although still kind of like a zombie. Could have really used a Starbucks.

Hot off the train, eating at the Orangerie

My first meal in Austria

Speaking of Starbucks, at the Frankfurt airport I made a stop at one. 1) because I figured it was the last one I’d see the whole trip and 2) I was exhausted. As we all know, I didn’t sleep much on that flight from Dulles to Frankfurt before the infamous breakfast was served. Anyway, the Starbucks guy looked at me crazy when I asked for an iced coffee – and the result was expected. A cup of ice, hot coffee from the coffee maker and a straw. I made it work, but it was not that great and I wound up having to down it anyway because I had to go through security, again, to access another terminal.

At my gate (which I thought was my Gate because it is what was printed on my boarding pass for the second leg of the flight way back at Dulles) I found a table to sit at and worked on a presentation for class. Downfall, of course, is that there were zero outlets anywhere…and when I did finally find one, it required a converter which I clearly didn’t have. Smh. So much for a lot of schoolwork. I tried to lay down and take a nap, but that was rather unsuccessful. I also people-watched quite a bit, including two men’s volleyball teams that fly out of my gate during my 5.5 hour layover. Their team names were Asseco Resovia and the Rhein- Neckar (or Necker?) Lowen. They were flying to Lubijana…and that’s just about all I gathered. I learned people-watching is a bit different when you cannot understand anyone. There isn’t any possibility of eavesdropping on conversations – it is a complete observation of body language and guessing what they may be saying. It got old fast, lol.

Anyway, back to Innsbruck. So, Ellie’s practice was interesting. She has been describing the experience all along as completely not on the same level as college. And while I would have to definitely agree, her team was much better than I feel I had then figured them to be. It was just clear that they did not have the bond that a college team would have based on experiences and time together. It made me think of the NBA and NFL – and how much harder it must be for these people who do this as a living to bond based on the passion they still hopefully have for the sport. Of course, not everyone on Ellie’s team only play volleyball. The Austrian players make much less money, so they have other jobs too – the volleyball team is not their sole source of income. I will also admit it was not easy to sit and watch practice – I wanted to play! I supplemented my urge by shagging an occasional ball and working on some schoolwork when the drills weren’t of interest. It was really fun watching Ellie play though – and a position I hadn’t seen her play since high school!

Bed came soon after practice – after updating ourselves with NCAA games that were happening at the time. We watched the ending of the Norfolk State upset of Missouri (15 seed over number 2) and then the next morning learned of Duke’s fall to Lehigh (another 15/2 seed).

Yesterday we spent a majority of the day touring Innsbruck. I picked up some items (mainly candy and chocolate – you know me!) at a store and we tried on some things other places. I saw the infamous Golden Roof, we ate Hawaiian pizza (that had bananas and cherries on it!) and saw Old Town Innsbruck. It was a lot of walking which was good exercise but also a bit hard on the back. I think the best discovery of the day was a church we happened upon. It had a huge, wooden door that Ellie curiously opened and as we walked inside, past the blankets that hung right behind the door, I felt like it was an ancient discovery. The church was breathtaking. We later learned it was St. James’ Cathedral, which Ellie said she had been meaning to see so that was a bit of a bonus for her.

St. James Cathedral

Ellie and I inside the Cathedral

In front of the Golden Roof

Hawaiian Pizza

The team she was scheduled to play last night had bus problems on their way to the match. In short, they wound up forfeiting the match which was disappointing for 2 reasons: 1) Ellie knows 2 of the girls on the team, both whom which we trained with in Anaheim…but I know one of them too because she is from Iowa and grown up playing volleyball with/against Ellie. It would’ve been fun to see them. And 2) I now won’t get to see Ellie play a home match in Innsbruck. Wednesday, we will travel to Vienna to play the same team (it will be match #3 of the best-of-5 series) so at least I will still get to see her play. In fact, her coach is looking for another player for that match. Ellie told her I could play – but amidst the language barrier and also probably not really knowing if I can play or not, she dismissed the idea. I am hoping I can practice with them either Monday or Tuesday though – that would be fun.

Last night we went to an old restaurant called Ritter-Kuchl (I think, lol). It is comparable to an American medieval times…only it was so cool because it was believable. The building was genuinely from the times and the food was authentic to Austria. There were four courses and we could only eat with our hands. We were with a group of 11 – it was a surprise dinner in celebration of Stefan’s birthday (Emilie’s boyfriend whom which we had eaten with the day before). It was so much fun!

Afterwards we headed to a bar where the group continued the celebration with cake and drinks. Ellie and I did not stay long, however, as it was pretty late and we had a train to catch in the morning…which brings me back to my current location :)

I’ve finished my presentation for class next week and now hope to start another assignment to complete before we get to Venice. I definitely don’t want my trip to be about schoolwork or work. But 4-hour train rides are good times to enjoy the view and also stay ahead! It is supposed to rain either today or tomorrow and be quite cloudy. It is hazy right now – but I’m still looking forward to seeing the City of Water :)