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Awakening in Innsbruck, Austria

February 18, 2016 Leave a Comment

Two nights. One day. Basically, the 24 hour guide to exploring and enjoying Innsbruck, Austria.

I have a few friends that wonder how I travel so much. How is it that you visit these places you’ve never been to before? It’s simple really. I commit.

Buy the transportation ticket and reserve a place to stay.

My friends and I opted for train tickets using the OEBB SparSchiene. This website offers cheaper train tickets than the main website. And we rented a bedroom in a shared flat on airbnb. So far, I’ve loved airbnb for it’s accessibility, character, and fun options.

If you haven’t signed up for airbnb yet, click on this link to receive 22 euros in credit!

That’s the first and most critical step. It’s the thing that will make you pack your bags even though you’re tired, feeling uncertain, or just want to stay home in your pajamas for the weekend. You spent money. All the other details will fall into place whether or not you researched ahead of time.

Always keep your eyes open for fun little details.

Purchase the Innsbruck Card.

Sometimes I want to steer away from the things that the city already provides to you, but this isn’t one of them. We purchased the 24 hour card for 33 euros, and we asked for it to begin it’s use at 10 am on Saturday. The card not only gives access to the city transportation, but it also permits free entrance into many museums and other attractions. You can read more here.

Ride the cable cars to the mountain top.

Within 20 minutes, you can be transported from city center to mountain top with Innsbruck’s cable car system. With windows all around, the view is stunning or terrifying depending on your fear of heights. Follow the skiiers when changing cable cars. This trip is included on the Innsbruck Card.

Aren't you curious by my expression of awe? Guess you have to go to Innsbruck. photo by Erin Heizelman — Aren’t you curious by my expression of awe? Guess you have to go to Innsbruck.
photo by Erin Heizelman

Visit Swarovski World.

Catch the green-you-can’t-miss-it bus to Swarovski World from the train station. Check out the shuttle timetable here. Enjoy 25 minutes of Innsbruck scenery. Once at Swarovski World, be sure to show your Innsbruck Card to the ticket office. They will give you a free pass to the art exhibit located behind The Face. Swarovski offers many different options for amusement, but we only stayed on location for about an hour before hopping back on the shuttle.

Hop on and off the sightseeing bus.

At the train station and various other locations around Innsbruck, you can board the sightseeing bus with your Innsbruck Card. The bus is red. You can’t miss it. Bring your own headphones because the buses are outfitted with language-specific audios at every seat. This bus tour was a nice rest for my feet, and I may have spread out across the five seats in the very back (Someone has to be that kid).

Hop off the bus and explore Schloss Ambras.

Present your Innsbruck Card at the ticket office to receive your ticket to explore the castle armory museum and then the main building itself. Strolling peacocks in the garden make for fun photo opportunities, too. But, what I found most interesting at Schloss Ambras was the portraits of hairy people and the secret marriage of Ferdinand II to Philipine Welser.

Stroll through the city and visit the Inns River.

Innsbruck is just gorgeous so make sure you build some time into your schedule just to explore by foot. One of my favorite views was definitely on the Inns River. See the infamous Gold Roof.

For our meals, we ate at…

Der Bäcker Ruetz – This chain is throughout Innsbruck, and it offers tasty options for breakfast and even lunch if you so desire. I opted for some filled donuts or krapfen.

Ludwig, Das Burger Restaurant – These burgers were every bit as delicious as they appear from the window. It’s a hipster-like place with cool decor and sweet potato fries. Definitely a win. Website here.

And we ate at one other restaurant that was just around the corner from the Gold Roof, but I naturally have forgotten the name of the place nor can I find it on Google currently. I really need to remember to take pictures of the places I eat at!

Reminder: If you travel on Sunday or want to sight see on Sunday, remember that most shops and stores will be closed. Make sure to plan around this. We bought food from a grocery for our Sunday train on Saturday.

Maybe You Can Break Up with God

February 15, 2016 12 Comments

It’s not You, God. It’s me. I guess, what I’m saying is that it’s a personality difference. Your ways are higher than mine. Your ways make no sense. Maybe you can break up with God.

“I’m just going to live my life without you.” It’s simple. We’re incompatible.

Or it’s more like, “I trusted you. You allowed this to happen, letting me down just like every other person in my life. You think I’m going to trust you again?”

You can’t break up with God. He’s not a bad boyfriend or a bad father or a bad friend or a bad anything really. Right, right? He’s perfect.

And maybe that’s the problem.

Talk about incompatibility.

I tend to assume that God is like me, sharing similar flaws and short-comings. Maybe a little bit too vain, a tad too loud-mouthed about opinions, and a tendency for squinty-eyed judgments.

But He’s not. Like me, that is.

God is the perfect everything. He is not vain, and he whispers truths. He’s a good judge, and he’s consistent in his faithfulness, in his love, in his kindness to us. The story is he died on our behalf so we could be in eternal relationship with him.

Seeing that kind of perfection day-in and day-out just heightens the huge character differences between God and me.

Just as this incompatibility causes distance because it scares me or angers me, it’s also that which most magnetizes me to him.

I miss holiness. I miss faithfulness. I miss purity. I miss sovereignty. I miss perfect love that knows what’s best.

Penny tugged on my hand as children of all ages ran around the room during free play. I looked down on those giant blue eyes. “What’s up, Penny?”

The little girl raised both her hands to me so I lifted her onto my hip. Once there, she wrapped her tiny arms around my neck. Her voice came out small. “I miss my daddy.”

“Oh?” I spun the two of us around in a circle so our hair fanned out. “I miss my daddy, too. He’s across an ocean.”

“I miss my daddy.” Penny said it so calmly that I knew I could distract her from that missing for a little while longer so we played. And then, she zoomed on roller cars with other kids. But about fifteen minutes later, she was back.

“I miss my daddy.”

I pulled the little girl into my arms, and I made eye contact with one of my helpers, “We’re going to go find Penny’s dad.”

We rode elevators, climbed stairs, and stepped through hallways in search of Penny’s daddy. Many passing adults tried to win the little girl’s smiles, but she hid her face in my neck. Finally, I spotted Penny’s daddy. She squeezed between the grown men who sat listening to her daddy speak.

One moment Penny wasn’t in his lap, and the next moment she was. Her daddy stopped what he was doing to focus solely on his daughter with a hug and a whispered conversation. And she just hugged him. With a kiss, he set her back on her feet, and she scampered to me.

Let the little children come.

So you can break up with God. You can walk way. Shut the door. Quit your personal time with him. Become absent from church, small group, and prayer meeting.

But He’ll still be there. Teaching. Loving. Sharing. Waiting. Caring.

Moments will remind you of God. Memories flood you. New experiences will make you think of God. And then, you’ll miss Him.

The certainty of his love. His hand stabilizing your life. His perfection sharpening you into a nicer human being.

“I miss my Daddy.”

Perhaps you’ll need someone to carry you to where He is or maybe you can go on your own. I don’t know where you are in this journey (I only know where I am). Maybe you’re one of those men crowded around the Father already learning from him. Maybe you’re already sitting in his lap. Or maybe you’re doing the carrying today.

What I’m saying here is that opposites attract.

God is holy. I’m not. God’s all powerful. I’m not. God’s kind. I’m not. God’s loving. I’m not.

I’m attracted to God for these characteristics that he wrote the definition for, and yet, at the same time, because I’m not all those things, I’m inclined to project my own issues on God. I tend to see him as tyrant king and angry man.

But He’s not. Not a tyrant king. Not an angry man.

After all, he welcomes the little children even when they interrupt his meetings.

And when things don’t go according to my plan when I was trusting God (with my plan), I blame the failing of my plan on him. I trusted you. To make my plan work.

So perhaps, a break up with God is a bit too rash. But really, it’s time to climb back into God’s lap and remember who He is, not who I’ve made him out to be, and who He’s making me—a human set a part by his sacrificial and redeeming Love. And this love, it’s offered to every human.

Kind by Amanda Cook (Brave New World)

[edit 5/27/2016: I discovered that posting song lyrics on a blog is illegal so I removed Kind‘s lyrics from the body text. But please watch the linked video for the lyrics.]

To the God I tried to Break Up With,

Will you take me back?

Dreaming of Innsbruck

February 11, 2016 Leave a Comment

“You have to see the Alps. Or mountains, at least, when you’re in Austria.”

Yeah, yeah, okay. I’m not all about the mountains like this friend is. However, I decided that I should do it for her. So Ms. J, this trip to Innsbruck is for you. And I plan on taking lots of photos.

“Located in the broad valley between high mountains, the so-called North Chain in the Karwendel Alps (Hafelekarspitze, 2,334 metres or 7,657 feet) to the north, and the Patscherkofel (2,246 m or 7,369 ft) and Serles (2,718 m or 8,917 ft) to the south.” Thanks Wikipedia!

For now, I’m beginning my travel prep with some hardcore Pinterest time (follow me!). I’ll share with you a few of my favorite pins here (but first I’ll read the tips to see if I think they’re helpful or not)!

As I was scrolling through Pinterest, this picture kept grabbing my attention but the “with kids” part made me move away. Until I finally clicked. I’m glad I did. I found the following website post really helpful!

And let’s be honest. Everyone loves a pastel tourist map like this one. I’m hopeless at maps (and see, I’m still traveling), but I like these ones.

So now, I’m off to airbnb.com to check out possible places to stay for a few nights. I actually really love airbnb, and my experiences with them over the last few months have been so good. I like feeling as though I really live in a place rather than staying in an unoriginal hotel room that lacks all character and personality. If you’ve been too nervous to check it out, do it now! I always read the reviews as I’m trying to choose a place.

Happy Traveling!