Merry Christmas from Innsbruck!!

 Christmas Morning is a magical morning!  Some people perform magic by wiggling their nose, or waving their hands, or speaking weird incantations.  Innsbruck has decided that its form of magic shall be cast through incessant coughing, heated bodies, and overall malaise.  At around 4 AM, Bill woke me up to let me know he was going to the Emergency Room, as his cough had become worse than the night before, and he was worried about bronchitis coupled with his previous pneumothorax.  You read that right, Innsbruck's present to us was a trip the ER.  

We texted mom to let her know, and Bill went downstairs to summon a cab.  I finished getting dressed, grabbed our passports, wallets, and room key, and we were off in the taxi to the ER.  Upon arrival at the hospital, our cab driver pulled up next to another driver, and together they figured out that the entrance to the ER was a tiny little door that had almost no markings on it at all.  

We paid the driver, and went in the door.  We were met with a short hallway and a lady behind a glass wall.  After confirming she spoke broken English, Bill's passport was taken, and then we were trying to explain what the "emergency" was.  A nurse walked through, who thankfully spoke great English, and finally understood that with Bill's history of a collapsed lung, there was cause for an "emergency" visit.  Remember, this is an Emergency Room, not an Urgent Care.

While the nurse was chatting easily with Bill, the Dictator behind the glass wall was very concerned about my presence in the detention hallway. After making a stink, she finally got the nurse to tell me that due to covid precautions, visitors aren't allowed in the ER.  

I left Bill, and then started the short walk back to the hotel.  After a couple hours, Bill let me know that they had done blood work, a brain tickling Covid test, an xray, and were sending him home with a positive covid test, two prescriptions (one for coughing and one for sleeping), and told him that they'd check with the local authorities on travel restrictions, if any exist.  They encouraged him to stay outside, and social distance as much as possible.  If he had to go indoors, they told him to wear a mask.  Otherwise, the mentality here was mostly one of "what covid?"

Once Bill got back to the hotel, he was super worried about exposure for me and for mom.  As we all know, Mom has previously had Covid, and her exposure lead her to a bed in the ER.  She's struggled with her lungs ever since, and we did not want a repeat, especially in Europe.  So, Bill decided to just stay in the room for the duration, and try his best to force his Covid into accepting that it was NOT Covid, and was in fact, Bronchitis.  

I acknowledge that the following decisions are selfish, and that I probably did not, nor have not, acted in the best course of action for the general well being of the public.  

I, knowing today was our last day in Innsbruck, was not going to be stuck in the hotel room.  So, I geared up, and went on my way to see the town.  First up today, was the Innsbruck furnicular, with its first stop being the Alpine Zoo.

I know, a Zoo is a Zoo is a Zoo.  You can see an animal here, there, or anywhere.  BUT, the Alpine Zoo is supposed to have some amazing views, and some unique Alpine animals that aren't see elsewhere.  Zoo's are Bill's favorite thing to see, so it was a true bummer that he wasn't going to get to see it.  He instructed me to take LOTS of pictures, which I promised to do (with my fancy new camera!)

First up, were the Ducks!  They're so neat! 

Then, after the Ducks, we have BIRDS!  Ooh.  Ahh.

Oh, an Owl!  The fun part of this was that while I was in this exhibit, there was a family that came through, looked, and exclaimed "hier ist nichts!" which I was able to understand as "there's nothing here!" Or something similar.  I pointed and said "there's an owl in that tree."  The dad looked at me, and had a look of confusion.  So, I said "Die Eule ist hier!" When I said that, he said "Oh! Die Eule?!"  And then they saw it, and the kid lit up.  It was kind of cool.  What was even MORE cool was I felt like I has having a Duolingo lesson, IN REAL LIFE!  "Die Eule ist hier!" I swear that was direct from the lessons.

I won't get through each of the photos, as they're pretty obvious.  However, somewhere in the mix of photos, I switched from my "autofocus" lens to the manual focus.  I was getting frustrated trying to figure out how to get the camera to focus on the animal, and not the stupid fencing right in front of me.  Insert: manual focus!  As you can tell from the pictures, the zoo was really foggy/cloudy.  I didn't add any special effects...that's just how the air was, and the views were.  Oh, yea - about the views.  There were none.  Like, I could barely see the animals, let alone the town.

I spent a little over an hour at the zoo, and decided it was time to take the ride the rest of the way up.   (lots of pictures - scroll through them for more text)

(Don't worry, I know I'm model worthy - don't be jealous)

Here is where I wish I could photograph better.  So, the cable car that we transferred to started out in the clouds.  About half way up, the clouds dropped below us and there was a collective gasp from the riders.  It was STUNNING to see this.  I can't even put into words what the experience was. I took some time at the first "stop" and just took it all in.  That's going to be the first several photos above.  

As I was standing in the queue to take the second car up to the tippity top, Bill had sent me a text and said he was starting to feel even worse, and asked that I not stay out too long.  He was feeling feverish, and it brought to the forefront of my thoughts the idiocy of my decision to go out.  Mind you, I had no symptoms, and I felt "normal" but I know that during the incubation period is when you're "most" contagious.  As I stood in the tram car with 75 other people, I could EASILY see how Covid spread so easily.  I mean, we were all packed in here, and I had someone literally inches in front of me breathing in the air I was breathing out.  This felt...well, it was eye opening on how Covid spreads so easily.

I snapped up the rest of my photos, and then rode my way back down to Innsbruck. It was about noon, or noon thirty, and I knew that no one had eaten much since I was gone.  I offered to pick up lunch, and since it was Christmas Day, knew that one of the few places open was McDonald's.  So....that's where I went to grab lunch, and made our very American Christmas Day Lunch for the group.

More to come.