April 14: a little touring, a little rain

We woke to rain again, but after some coffee and pastry across the street the weather lifted a little. We went down to the tourist information center and found out about the "Innsbruck Card." For €29, you can get a 24 hour pass that lets you ride or enter basically anything. You can also get 2 and 3 day passes for just a little more, but since Judy, Liz and Aaron are heading back to Munich tomorrow that didn't work for us... and we wanted Liz and Aaron to get a taste of Innsbruck on their one day here, weather notwithstanding.

We started by hopping the Sightseer bus, which wasn't so great from a tour standpoint but did get us out to Schloss Ambras, built by Frederick II. And we spent a lot of time there. In addition to being a pretty spectacular castle, it has a really impressive collection of armor and medieval weapons, art, and "curiosities."

Frederick II's wedding armor. Nothing says "I love you" like armor.

This hall is lined with pictures depicting the the ancestors of Frederick II (and the feats of Herculese below)

One of Freddie II's ancestors

Most of the murals lining these courtyard walls depict important events in the history of Tirol.

By the time we were done with this, we'd burned the morning and early afternoon. Although the clouds were pretty low, we decided to take a cable car and ski tram up one of the mountains. That ride alone (without the pass) is €29, so we figured the pass would pay for itself on this one alone. We picked up the Hungerburgbahn funicular at Congress Station. The funicular is a lot like San Francisco cable cars, at least in terms of locomotion, but completely enclosed and as you move uphill the cars remain horizontal, affording some pretty cool views. The funicular ends at Hungerburg, where you can catch the Nordkettenbaum gondola up to the ski area but also get some food. Which we did. I had some Munchner Weissbraten, Judy and Liz a veggie plate, and Aaron had something with the best name for food ever. Kasermand'l Pfand'l. Forget for the moment that it's just mac and cheese. Kasermand'l (below) is apparently a folk figure.

Here's what I found on the web about Kasermandl:

In his time, so the legend goes, the Kasermandl worked as dairyman (Kaser) at mountain huts. But our Kasermandl was a mischievous character who showed no respect for his work or the food. The butter balls, for instance, he used for bowling! A punishment for his misbehavior was inevitable of course and the hopeless dairyman was condemned to roam the mountains after his death. So beware when hiking in the Tirolean mountains in fall!

The Kasermandl appears after the cattle and herdsman have left for the valley and all mountain huts are clocked for the winter season to come. Typically he has to stay until spring when animals and farmers return to their pastures; in some place the penalty was more lenient and the Kasermandl is allowed to return at Martinmas. In the past this return from the mountains was often replicated by youngsters who dressed up as animals and Kasermandl and boisterously roamed the villages blackening the faces of everybody who crossed their ways.

Unfortunately this tradition has died – quite contrary to the Kasermandl who still wanders around the mountains. If you feel truly sorry for the Kasermandl, and are not the queasy type, you could redeem him: all you have to do is eat the ‘Mus’ (a traditional type of porridge) he offers you. Which is easier said than done as the Mus is contaminated with dirt and animal feces ... But should you overcome your disgust and finish off the plate, you accomplished a truly good deed: the battered soul of the Kasermandl is saved and he may finally make a quick getaway.

So we ate our food (but no Mus) and continued on up the mountain on the gondola. We got there just before the clouds really rolled in and obscured everything within about 5 minutes. Here's what we got, picture-wise: