Can you imagine ancient? Here time takes on a new dimension.
Let's talk about the Alps, for example. Back before time was recorded, this was the main route to get from Northern Europe to Italy. The 5000-year-old guy with the copper axe frozen in a glacier until a few years ago was found just south of Innsbruck.
And that says nothing about the age of the Alps themselves - magnificent symbols of the power and supremacy of Nature for millions of years.
Innsbruck, the bridge on the Inn River, Tirol Province, Austria
The Celts moved in some 500 years before the Romans arrived, looking for salt and iron ore: they introduced iron to the Romans and the rest of Europe. Tirolian place names often reflect this Celtic heritage. Obviously, with the rise of the Empire, Rome needed a foothold in this provice of Panonia to protect their route to the north over the Brenner Pass, immediately south of Innsbruck. When Rome faded, the barbarians from the north were only too happy to fill the vacuum created in the Alps, and Bavarians set up camp.
In fact, the name "Innsbruck" comes from two words, the River Inn (itself a Celtic word) and the Bavarian version of the German word, "Bruecke" meaning bridge. As a crossroads of Central Europe, with east-west travel along the length of the Inn Valley and north-south travel over Brenner Pass from Germany to Italy, Innsbruck became an important Medieval city. Henry III, the Saxon king, passed through the city barefoot on his way to the Vatican as penance for offending the Pope. The Hapsburg Emporer Maximillian preferred Innsbruck to the family's homestead in Vienna, and actually had knights joust in the streets.
The Alps produced the first downhill skiers, so it is only natural that Innsbruck has hosted to Winter Olympiads. Although the city has a population well over 100,000, the lifts are close enough to downtown that it is common for people to take a few runs during the 2 1/2 hour lunch breaks that are a holdover from the Roman siesta custom. Take a trolley to the lift, and take a trolley back to the office. In the summer they hit the plethora of hiking trails, just to stay fit.
Austrians are passionate hikers, and with the natural wonders of their landscapes, the passion is understandable.
