I’ve just returned from a travel bloggers’ conference in stunning Innsbruck in the Austrian Alps. We had a tight, full and interesting programme, with loads of inspiration and new things learnt. Perhaps especially useful were the photo walks and learning more about travel photography. Furthermore, I really enjoyed reconnecting with fellow bloggers and writers. Others I had the pleasure of meeting in real life for the first time. All in all, well done TBU.


Along the river Inn

If you’re interested in attending a travel bloggers’ conference, the next TBU will take place in Umbria (near Assisi) in April 2012.


Blending centuries

The travel blogging sphere is already teeming with posts and photos from Innsbruck and Tyrol. It’s a gorgeous area, full of history, legends and lore – and fabulous architecture, old and new; worthy of a long, unhurried stay.


Zaha Hadid’s cool Nordkettenbahn

When I was 15, I spent a wild and wonderful summer in Bregenz (Austria), officially doing a German course, in reality having heaps of deliciously carefree and slightly irresponsible teenage fun. After a weekend trip to Venice that summer, we stopped in Innsbruck on the way back.

Can’t say I remember much from the quick stop that glorious summer decades ago, so seeing Innsbruck last week, was like seeing it for the first time.

Innsbruck, you’re so adorably unpredictable.

35 degrees is not exactly standard Alpine temperature, not even in August. Yet, that’s what met me on arrival on a sultry afternoon. A day later, the city was soaked in rain and hidden behind low clouds. Next afternoon, as the fog lifted, the surrounding mountains revealed freshly fallen snow.


Hofburg (Imperial Palace)

If you don’t like the weather in Innsbruck, just wait a minute

Many have been credited with the quote: “If you don’t like the weather in … insert town, region, country …, just wait a minute”. This Alpine town firmly belongs in that category.


Fab pink room inside Hofburg

Posts will be forthcoming on my excellent post-TBU blog trip to Oetztal (courtesy of the Austrian National Tourist Office), where Ötzi the Iceman walked 5 300 years ago. Coincidentally, the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo is presently hosting an exhibition of this most famous of Neolithic men.

Innsbruck, Altstadt
Hölblinghaus, Altstadt

Ever been in Tyrol? What’s your favourite Alpine city or village?

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