Calm before the storm

My first month of living in Innsbruck, Austria has now passed and I can only say it has made me even more excited to embrace the “Innsbrucker student lifestyle” once uni begins in a few days.
Having a considerable gap between the end of my UTS semester and start of MCI semester, I thought I’d give myself a bit of extra time here to settle in and explore the city. I had already organised my accommodation through a friend also living in Innsbruck before arriving, but moving in and seeing the view from my room was still a pleasant surprise…

Living with 4 other people in an apartment has instantly opened the doors to this little paradise as I have been shown the best bars, where to buy affordable groceries, and been lent a bicycle which seems to be the most popular and useful way to get around here. And if its raining or your feeling lazy the network of tram connections will get you to where you want to be within minutes.

Innsbruck during this time of year has an apparently strangely calm feeling, as most of the 30,000 students which contribute a quarter of the total population here, are away visiting family in their uni holidays. Knowing this has kept me in some suspense as I now await a rush of life to be injected in the next month as uni starts, not to mention the energy as the snow begins to fall and the snowboards and skis are brought out. However I have also embraced the calm before the storm as I have had time to explore a little outside of Austria as well. Being so close to some of the worlds greatest driving roads made hiring a car and driving down to Italy irresistible.

We drove down the stilfserjoch which was unfortunately a little crowded (likely due to its amazingness) to Lake Garda without any accommodation bookings (but a tent in the car) and were able to eventually find availability at a campsite using a mixture of our german, english and hand gestures.
The views were breathtaking and seeing how close together so many different cultures and landscapes are was quite astonishing.

My uni orientation is in 3 days and within weeks the ski season will finally begin! I have a feeling the next few months are going to be very intense (but in a good way). I am bursting with anticipation, and expecting to spend the next 6 months either in a Uni class or on a snowboard.

-Julian Meyer