68 
A HOLIDAY IN THE TYROL. 
By Mr. JAMES LANCASTER. November 10 th, 1908. 
The lecturer said his subject would include such interesting 
towns as Innsbruck, Botzen, Trent, Pieve di Cadore, the 
birthplace of Titian, the famous Brenner Pass, and some 
of the most strikingly grand mountains in the world, and 
thought it ought to be worthy the attention of the Club. 
The Tyrol, too, had a wonderful history. Livy, the great 
Roman citizen, Strabo, the geographer, and Pliny, the natural- 
ist, had all written about it, and it offered a playground in 
many respects equal to Switzerland. 
There are two principal approaches to the Tyrol, one 
from Venice, and entering it from the south, and the other 
jvhich is shorter from England, via Basle, Zurich, the Arlberg 
and Innsbruck. This journey takes thirty-two hours from 
London to Innsbruck, giving a pleasant two hours’ break 
at Zurich ; and the route from Zurich to Innsbruck is through 
most romantic scenery. Innsbruck is one of the most pictures- 
que cities in Europe. It lies on a wide plain surrounded 
on all sides by sheltering peaks with the silvery Inn winding 
along its valley and through its streets. Walking down the 
main street of Innsbruck, the mountains, snow-capped, seem 
to rise nearly perpendicularly from the end of the street, 
tier upon tier of precipices where on the lower slopes grow 
the gentian, clematis, and alpine roses. In this street, the 
Neustadt, is the famous golden house built by Duke Frederick 
and afterwards occupied by the Emperor Maximilian. Inns- 
bruck is a most charming city to wander in, with its old-world 
buildings, old curiosity shops, narrow streets, sunlit squares, 
and quaint fountains. The surroundings of the city are 
in keeping with the city, and charming excursions were made 
by electric railways to picturesque villages situated on the 
hills surrounding the city. A six-hours’ railway ride to 
Toblach brings us to the Northern entrance of the famed 
Dolomite district. The journey is through the famous 
Brenner Pass, the oldest pass over the Alps to Italy. The 
railway is a marvel of engineering skill, and reveals lovely 
glimpses of verdant valleys, foaming cascades, pretty villages, 
snow clad mountains, and calls forth the admiration of the 
