The Sawyer Stories

Okay we have to remedy this partial day writing. Let’s round out day 2, shall we?

Getting to the train station in Munich was not intended to be a puzzling adventure. We grabbed our bags with plenty of time and followed the imaginary blue line on the map toward the station. When we got within view…or at least what should have been the view, we saw only an active construction site. Perplexed, we did what all good travelers do, followed the crowd of other people walking with suitcases. We bumped along the sidewalk around the entire perimeter (bumping out my sunglasses from my pocket somewhere along the way) hoping to find something reminiscent of a building still intact. Finally we found doors through which an open air train station emerged. We bustled our way to our train and climbed aboard.

Nothing compares to pulling out of the city on the train to slowly snaking your way toward the Alps. We sat down and assumed the position for 2 hours of intently staring out the window. When we came through the Alps from Italy to Switzerland a few years ago, it was summer. Everything was green. This time around we were awestruck by snow caps and rock faces. We anxiously tried to capture photos as we zoomed past, scoffing each time a tree or building in the foreground would block our view. When we could peel our gaze away from the mountains, we loved looking at each small Austrian village equipped with white stucco homes, farm animals, and always a rounded spire church in the center.

Before we knew it, we were at the Innsbruck station, pulling into our own Austrian home for a few days. We climbed off into the most idyllic town: pastel buildings, quaint shops, tiny cafes, an exorbitant amount of lingerie stores, skiers everywhere, and all of it majestically surrounded by the towering Alps.

We made our way to our Airbnb with wrap-around windows and balcony that did not disappoint. We unpacked like we were moving in and made our way out to find dinner. Side story: Thanksgiving dinners when you’re vegan look a little different. Clearly we don’t eat turkey, so my brother-in-law took on the task of making our main dish this year: vegan schnitzel. It was our first time having schnitzel and it did not disappoint. We knew this trip was on the horizon and Michael, in particular, had his sights set for authentic vegan schnitzel from its native home. He scoured the internet and finally found one, and only one, place that served it. We took off straight away and found the restaurant nesting in a string of shops on the side of the raised railway. We had to wait several minutes to order from the window, all along watching ginormous schnitzel bigger than their plates being carried out to customers inside and out. With Michael’s mouth now sufficiently watering, we attempted to order in English to an Austrian chef who only spoke German. We pointed to the item on the menu to receive back a head shake and the phrase ‘Aus und finito’ uttered. They no longer make vegan schnitzel. Picture the saddest Michael head hung low shuffle his way back outside.

We sat in the sun at the park across the street with the locals to come up with our next move and to let Michael recover of course. Our Plan B fell in line with Gephart family tradition: pizza for the first night of vacation. We found an ALL vegan place across town and hoped on the bus. Let just say Michael wasn’t sad for long. Meow Pizzeria Verde was some of the best pizza we have ever had. We took our full bellies back to the bus and slowly found our way back home ready for a good nights sleep. Tomorrow adventure awaits.