tyrol short trip: from hospital to road to loft to mountains, or: this new feeling of freedom

Some trips happen well-planned, with route and room fixed weeks ahead. And some trips come together out of the blue. Like this trip to Tyrol. Which basically happened as I had my final hospital appointment this week, on a Wednesday afternoon - after the long time of treatments, especially after the last 7 weeks of daily radiation dates, this brought a feeling a freedom. My partner accompanied me to that date, and we had thought of going to dinner somewhere that evening. Then the forecast turned all rainy for the weekend, and the idea came up to go on a short trip on Thursday and Friday.

We figured out the "details" on Tuesday evening: where to go (Tyrol mountains, staying in Innsbruck for the first night), and when to leave (right on Wednesday afternoon, so that we would wake up in the mountains on Thursday.)

So I booked hotels, via a hotel booking page (hotels.com), and while figuring out the second hotel, the one close to the centre that I had bookmarked for Innsbruck wasn't available anymore - and so I browsed the listing, and then saw one a bit further from centre, not a usual room, but a loft. Cool, I thought. And it was. This is were we stayed:



And this is the view from the loft, to the city and mountain side:



We even could see the famous "Bergiselschanze", the ski jumping facility of Innsbruck:



We went to the old town for Italian dinner, and could sit outside - it was that warm still at 9 pm. And the Italian restaurant - we just came across it while walking. It was right at the "Freedom Sculpture" place, which turns into a skate-freedom-place in the night, with its own vibe that connects history and youth.

After dinner, we went for a night-sightseeing walk, and realized it's a really lovely and shaded way to explore a city, especially during summer highs.
For some more views of Innsbruck, try the Innsbruck webcam page, or the Innsbruck wiki page.

Then: Thursday. Waking up with mountain view, in a waterbed - yep. hadn't known this, but the double-bed in the loft was a waterbed - it made me think that on a trip, it's all the unplanned things that make it so special.

From Innsbruck, we took the old route to Brenner Pass, and arrived at the top point around noon. You can see the Italy-Austria border crossing sign on the right side, it's an open EU-border.
Here's the wiki note about it: "Brenner Pass is a mountain pass through the Alps along the border between Italy and Austria. It is one of the principal passes of the range and the lowest of the Alpine passes within the area. As a result, it has been coveted throughout history." (more)

Our route lead from Innsbruck through 3 famous passes in the region:

Brenner Pass - Jaufen Pass - Timmelsjoch (which leads back to Austria)

The weather was brilliant, and the mountains are Heidi-film-like there: 

....More gorgeous photos in the file, but it is getting late. Yet before i go for today, this reflection on things:

Still so very glad that we went, especially as it's a rather rainy sunday all around. So the timing really was lucky, and going with the flow on short notice the best idea.

It's strange to think that just 2 weeks ago, I had my last radiation session (more about that, here: radiation countdown + hair identity matters).

On the other hand, travelling showed me directly how not-really-fit-yet I am. We want to travel for some days longer next week (actually this trip was both a lovely short trip and a "test" for going for some more days) - and I realized I better go a bit slower then, and have more leisure time during the day, to relax and recover.

As to the treatment - it's "finished" for the intensive part, but there are still several side effects I am dealing with. There's a next doc date already, and it's good that there is the cure stay upcoming in September, and meanwhile I am working myself on the recovery, and try to get more active again.

Step by step....

:)