April 23: Hungerburg and Alpenzoo

The weather cleared again and we wanted to take advantage of it to do something outside.  That, and we discovered that the museums were closed on Monday.

No class today, and Judy had wanted to check out the Alpenzoo.  There's a combo ticket from Congress Station that lets you take the cable car up as far as Hungerburg and give you admission to Alpenzoo.  While you can get off right at the zoo, we had really liked Hungerburg and had not been there in good weather.  We went up to Hungerburg and walked down a fairly steep but reasonable path down the mountain toward Alpenzoo.  Here's some of what we saw along the way:

To be honest, I really wasn't expecting much from Alpenzoo, but it is a truly delightful place.  Not on a scale of, say, National Zoo in Washington or San Diego Zoo, but the aesthetics and views are far superior. The layout is extremely thoughtful and not the largely paved landscape you encounter in many zoos.  Plus, there's a fun playground for the kids at the bottom, and a fun patio with very reasonable draft beer, wine, and snacks for the adults, overlooking Innsbruck and the mountains.  The weather was warm, the sun was out... what a great way to spend an afternoon!

Alpenzoo patio view

Alpenzoo patio view