Innsbruck, an alpine destination that's a must see for those who love the mountains. I do believe that it might actually be more beautiful during Winter and Spring with all the snow caps still intact. Although it might be a little too cold and snowy in Winter. Summer was warmer here, temperatures after sunset dropped to below 10°C, so just a point to note.
The drive from Salzburg to Innsbruck was a surprisingly long one because I took the mountainous route instead of going into Germany. That was a mistake on my part, but it did mean that we got to see some of the beautiful alpine mountains. Decided to first head to the Swarovski Kristallwelten in Wattens first before heading to Innsbruck Hauptplatz. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't too good so I didn't get the chance to go up the Innsbruck Nordkette which was a real pity (another reason to come back again then...)
That said, the place where we stayed for the night was up in the mountains so at least we did get to be amongst the Innsbruck mountains in a way.
This album cover features the Innsbruck Imperial Palace (die Hofburg). It is held in high regard as one of the key cultural buildings in Austria along with the Vienna duo of the Schönnbrunn Palace and Wien Hofburg. Like most other palaces, it now houses a museum.
Der Riese (The Giant) is the first to greet you at the entrance to Die Swarovski Kristallwelten (The Swarovski Crystal World)
Meant to stand in the middle but I realized that having Der Riese spew water out onto your head looks incredibly weird so I shifted towards my sister. The gap left in the centre is probably equally weird... but oh well.
The Centenar greets you in the Entrance Hall. This sparkling beauty is the biggest cut crystal in the world and has 300,000 carats. Precision and beauty all in one. Sehr schön, ja?
Kristralldom (Crystal Dome) is probably how you'd imagine yourself to be inside a crystal. This kaleidoscope has almost 600 mirrors on its walls that creates a room rich with a multitude of colours.
Took me quite a while before I got the right colour balance for this photo.
Unfortunately, I couldn't replicate the same colour balance for this one. But at least I still managed to capture my sister and I snapping away ;)
Winter's Dream features a winter landscape with what I believe are White Christmas trees made out of crystals. Beautiful but fragile.
Perhaps the only room with bright lighting in the Crystal World. I suppose you could call this a room with crystal sculptures. Pretty impressive to be honest, because you've got crystal furniture around the room.
The Empire State Building made entirely out of crystals.
You just knew that I'd come back to do this! You can clearly see that I'm missing the Merlion back home in Singapore.
Family Photo with Der Riese :P
For a company that produces luxury fashion, Swarovski also has a business unit called Tyrolit that produces abrasives and sawing machinery. After all, nothing cuts better than crystals.
So that was it for Die Swarovski Kristalwelten. Next up was Innsbruck Altstadt!
Located opposite the Hofburg is the Tyrolean State Theatre (Tiroler Landestheater). Just down the road along Rennweg is the Congress where you can take the Nordkettenbahn up to the Innsbruck Nordkette.
Dom zu St. Jakob, or simply the Innsbruck Cathedral, as seen from Domplatz. This 18th-century Baroque cathedral was badly damaged during WWII due to an air raid. It underwent extensive works to restore it to its original state after that and was done within the 5 years after.
I'm told that if you don't see the Golden Roof, you can't consider yourself as having been to Innsbruck. Das Goldene Dachl is the icon of Innsbruck and is the landmark of Innsbruck Altstadt (Old Town). Emperor Maximilian I and his wife used to watch festivals from up here back in the 1500s.
Along Maria-Theresien-Straße with die Annasäule (Anna Pillar) and a marching band in the background. If you look closely, you can still see Altstadt from here.
Featuring The Young Ones....
Oh yes, you can see the Innsbruck Nordkette in the background too!
Another family portrait...
Here's the Inn River and the bridge in the background is the Innbrücke. Very different from the River Mur in Graz though. And my, the view into the Nordkette is really beautiful. Still rather disappointed that I didn't manage to head up there...
Derived from the root words of Inn and Brücke, Innsbruck translates to Bridge over the Inn. If you're looking for the Inn, look no further than to the Inn River.
Delighted to finally make the trip here because it meant I finally covered the 8th capital of Austria. Unfortunately, the 9th and evasive one was Bregenz (capital of Vorarlberg), which I will go to... soon.
Next up was a trip out of Austria. The initial plan was to go to Venezia, but due to a slight change in plans, it meant we took a detoured route to Lesce Bled in Slovenia instead. Venezia will have to wait.
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