Laurin Obergurgl

... The scenery was definently worth it, with the Gerlos pass having a lovely Waterfall..the waterfall started a few km's up and was pretty impressive. By the time we had done the second pass it was getting quite late...but not dark yet.
The drive to Innsbruck was via motorways, but scenic enough as we got to our hotel around 7pm..just after dark. We went past the Swarovski Factory on the way into Innsbruck ...

After leaving Cortina in the morning, we drove into Austria and made a stop for a couple of hours in Imst to ride the alpine coaster there. Unlike the summer slide near the Salzberg Lakes that we rode, this one was on rails and was the longest in Europe at 3.5km or 2.1m. All of us rode it once ...

... road or the sights. Part way up we ran into some light rain and cooler temperatures so we stopped at a small Gasthaus so Connie could get her rain suit on. I was surprised to see so many motorcyclists going up and down the pass, especially BMWs.

Once we reached the top we stopped for the obligatory photos, spoons, and keychains. Okay, while we were here I thought I also would try a beer and ...

... indulging in some sweet pastries and orange juice, and also stocking up with supplies for a couple of days on the road. After packing the car we headed to Innsbruck. Innsbruck is a much larger university city where at least half the population ride push bikes. After parking at a parking station we got our bearings and walked along the river to the Medieval Old Town Centre. We climbed the Stadtturm (City Tower), which dates from 1450, to enjoy the magnificent view of ...

... Munich Airport and be greeted by the very efficient and friendly Peugeot agent holding up our name for us to take delivery of our brand new car. He drove us to the office throught the lovely countryside past the yellow canola fields for final arrangements after which we fuelled up and headed down the highway. We unintentionally took the very scenic (much longer) route through ...

... is a fairly old and wealthy, which can be seen in cobblestone streets and beautiful architecture. The town is located in a valley, surrounded on all sides by impressive mountains. After some sight-seeing we headed up to local ski resort (Merano 2000) for some winter activities. To get to the ski slopes you have to take a short bus ride followed by a 15 minute gondola ride that takes you from some 500m to 2000+ meters. The gondola stops at ...

... it slightly more easy than the day before, a bit tired and hung over... Today then was my third and last day... and it did not start off very well: as it turns out I seem to have been a little too enthusiastic about this sport and hurt my left ankle in my sisters' boots. It was so painful that having reached the lift after a 200m walk, I was close to tears and ready to give up. But gladly my Mum told ...

... good, like the kabap for example. It's like a gyro in sandwich form. Though I didn't know what I was ordering at first, it still was really good. Being in the French speaking part of Switzerland for the most part, I was set since I know a good amount of French, but now that we were in German speaking territory, I was not as lucky. Most of the signs were in 4 languages though: French, English, Italian, and German. Liechtenstein also accepts Swiss Francs, US Dollars, and Euros, so no one ...

... close to castle Fernstein before arriving at Nassereith. The next part of the trip was easier, because we found the local bike trail, away from the highway going southeast close to the Gurglbach towards Imst. There, we followed the Inntal bike trail that led us along the Inn River to Landeck (look it up under tirolwest.at / innradweg). From there, we went south towards the ...

... we got up to speeds in excess of 95km/h and were cornering with frankly ridiculous g-forces. Our faces must have been put under more strain than the Blair-Brown relationship. Anyway, moving away from the satire and back to the bob-sleding, I cannot quite convey how awesomely amazing it is. And how much your head hurts afterwards if you dont pay attention and lean into each turn, as i found out as my head became a ping-pong ball ...