It's 9.30 am on a Tuesday. The meeting point is a sandbar on the southern banks of the Inn River, a few kilometres west of the Tyrolean regional capital of Innsbruck. River guide Jasper De Wandeler is waiting for his guests, getting ready to hand them drysuits, life jackets and helmets for the day's adventure: city rafting.
Paddling along in an inflatable raft, the group will float downstream and eastwards for about two and a half hours, through the city framed by the massive Tyrolean Alps. But before the adventure can start, De Wandeler first instructs his guests on safety precautions and the correct method of paddling - forwards, backwards, braking. The guide himself will do the steering while the actual propulsion will be the river's current. A promising prospect.
Experiencing genuine nature in the middle of Innsbruck
We board the raft and let our vessel drift with the current for a bit to get the feel of things, with a massive mountain range towering in the background, crowned by the 2,334-metre Hafelekarspitze peak.
A popular activity in Innsbruck is to take the Nordkettenbahn train all the way up to nearly reach the summit and take in the panorama of the Inn River valley.
A number of herons rest on the river banks. Bird life is rich in variety along the Inn despite the proximity to the city. "Here, nature is still pristine and not 'man-made' like the parks in the city," says the 30-year-old guide, a Belgian who is a trained physical education teacher.
De Wandeler appreciates the river as a place of retreat, even when paddling on the parts that flow through the centre of Innsbruck. Being on the water offers a break from the daily stress and turmoil, from the noise and smells of the city. The Inn puts its spell on the rafting group - especially since on this particular day there isn't much traffic on the river and the raft drifts along in solitude.
A cityscape framed by huge mountains
The scenery along the way is dominated by the gigantic Alpine backdrop, especially the nearby 2,246-metre-high Patscherkofel peak.
But for those paddling down the river below, the massive summit is a mere passing thought as the raft has now reached Innsbruck's historic city centre. The market hall comes into view, as does the Inn Bridge flaunting a 4.5-metre-tall bronze crucifix sculpture by Tyrolean artist Rudi Wach.
Finally, the view opens up to Innsbruck's famous, picture-perfect, colourful facades which date back to the late Gothic period. The colours originally symbolized the city's different trade guilds. Another characteristic feature are the medieval buildings' many bay windows.
In the late Middle Ages, taxes were based on the width of a house, irrespective of its height, which is why so many of these buildings are very narrow.
Another eye-pleasing feature are the many different false gables towering above the roofs which were added during the Renaissance and early Baroque period.
Innsbruck's oldest building
Soon after, a late Gothic residential tower comes into view on the other side of the Inn. Known as Ottoburg and a remnant of a small castle, it is the oldest building in the city founded in 1180.
Ottoburg was built on a corner of the city wall and modified several times over the past centuries. With its red-and-white shutters, numerous bay windows and polygonal structure, the tower indeed resembles a castle.
However, rafting through the city does have some limitations, as not every landmark is visible from the river, like the Goldene Dachl (Golden Roof) with its 2,657 golden shingles, De Wandeler says.
Slowing things down
Along the roughly 14-kilometre stretch from the suburbs of Völs west of Innsbruck and Rum to the east, the current of the Inn determines the raft's speed. Expect no whitewater rafting, however; this is a slow ride.
Still, the raft crew must perform some spirited paddling in order to safely pass by the scenic pillars of the city's seven bridges.
The Innsteg pedestrian bridge was built in the 1870s following some controversy, as noted in a report in the Innsbrucker Nachrichten newspaper published in 1868. "There were some truly curious specimens among the counter-arguments," the report said.
Opponents of the bridge argued, for example, that factory workers wouldn't need it as their shifts began early in the morning, when it didn't matter so much if they were late. Meanwhile, they only finished late in the evening, when the exercise of a longer walk home did the workers good, the argument went according to the paper.
The Hans-Psenner-Steg bridge which connects to the Alpine Zoo was built as an emergency footbridge during World War II. When air raid sirens sounded, the residents would cross it to get to the nearest shelters.
The modern Hungerburgbahn bridge was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, who also created the four stations along the Hungerburgbahn hybrid funicular which connects the district of Hungerburg with the city centre.
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