TRAVEL: Innsbruck, Austria - Christmas, crystals, and cold weather

It’s ever helpful to have friends in convenient locations. I have a friend currently working in the Austrian city of Innsbruck so decided I would go and visit somewhere I probably wouldn’t have found myself otherwise.

A few hours after departing from Stansted airport, I touched down in Innsbruck under the cover of night. Catching a bus to the main station, I met up with my friend and we headed for dinner at the top of the Adler Hotel, which offered pretty views across the city which I can only imagine were even more impressive during the day when you could see the mountains.

We were staying at the Leipziger Hof Hotel in one of their apartments which offered a pretty nice base during my stay. The next morning I was up early, ready for a full day of exploring. Armed with my trusty map, I wound myself through the city streets and over to the Imperial Gardens, which looked significantly bigger on the map, but were nonetheless pleasant to walk through. All I was thinking was just how quiet Innsbruck was – what a pleasant place to be on a cold winters day.

Walking down by the side of the glacial green river, I arrived at Congress funicular station. My ticket was fairly expensive at almost 30 Euros but I had been told that the view from the top was quite spectacular and worth the investment. We headed three stops on the funicular, including through a fun tunnel with multicolour lights flashing as you and the funicular coming the other way sped towards each other, before stopping at Hungerburg, the mid-point up the mountain.

Eager to continue my journey, I hurried to the cable car station to travel up to Seegrube. As we gained in altitude, everything became whiter and whiter until eventually we could barely see ten metres in front of us because of the snowy weather. Exiting the cable car, we were met with a blast of icy air. I wandered around the cable car station, enjoying the deep snow underneath my feet but not getting much of a view due to the heavy cloud cover. Perhaps check the weather before you cash out on the trip!

However, it was nonetheless nice to be up the mountain, and the views of the treetops as we headed back down were pleasant. This time I made sure to take some time at Hungerburg which, out of the cloud cover, did actually offer nice views of the city, from the ski jump to the river.

Back on the funicular, I hopped off at the Alpenzoo station to take a look at the station architecture, with all the funicular stations designed by famous architect Zara Hadid. Given there were 15 minute breaks between each funicular, I wandered around the alpine streets, admiring the cosy cabins perched on the hillside.

I continued back to Congress and began walking down the river before stumbling upon one of the city’s Christmas markets. Now this is a proper Austrian German Christmas market, with stalls selling plenty of Gluwein and other tasty treats. An Austrian friend of mine had recommended that I try kasespatzle, a potato type pasta smothered in cheese so I picked up a bowl and munched my way through it as I walked across the road into the Old Town.

One of the first things you see in the Old Town is the Golden Roof, the city’s most famous symbol. It’s quite small, but does what it says on the tin. I walked down Maria-Theresien Strasse to the Triumphal Arch (reminiscient of the arches I saw in Berlin and Potsdam, which you can read about here) and back up the other side.

At this point, I discovered Heaven, and that is the Innsbruck Swarovski store. One of Innsbruck’s claims to fame is as the birthplace of Swarovski, and so of course they have a huge shop of crystals which if you’re anything like me and a fan of sparkly things, is an amazing place to visit. I spent far to long looking at all of the jewellery and ornaments in each of the display cases, ending up with the most gorgeous necklace and bracelet I think I’ve ever seen.

Back in the real world, I continued my wander around the Old Town before deciding to take advantage of the hour or so of light I had left to traipse across the entire city to Ambras Castle. This was pretty much deserted bar me and a few peacocks strutting around, and again I was struck by that sense of quiet and calm as I ambled around the castle grounds. Certainly a pretty place to visit.

I returned to our apartment as I waited for my friend to come back from work, and we then headed out to see the Christmas markets. As it turned out, I had inadvertently already visited them all during my days adventures, but it was nice to see them all lit up at night anyway.

Day two began with a dusting of snow on the ground. My plans were a bit up in the air, but eventually I decided to catch the shuttle bus to Swarovski Kristallwelten (Crystal World) which according to Wikipedia is a museum but to me seemed more like an art gallery slash experience. The best way to describe it is a bit like Santa Fe’s Meow Wolf (read about that here)

Again, it’s not cheap but for 20 Euros you get a few hours of amusement and plenty of crystals to gaze at. Your journey begins behind a gaping mouth carved into the hill and into the main gallery where you walked through fabric curtains into room after room of sparkling crystal art installations ranging from a tree to geodes to the sun.

Of course there’s another huge shop, and a few more installations outside like a maze in the shape of a hand and a sea of crystal clouds. My main concern with Kristallwelten is their lack of shuttle buses, which only come every two hours. I had finished with about an hour and fifteen minutes until the next bus, so found myself waiting in the bar area, unable to go back into the exhibition and having seen everything outside.

I was in fact waiting for a call from a paragliding company to let me know whether I needed to catch the shuttle back into town if the weather was good enough, or decide what else to do. Unfortunately, there was too much turbulence so paragliding was a no-go, but at least this meant I no longer had to wait for the shuttle! I exited Kristallwelten to catch a bus to the nearby town of Hall-in-Tirol.

I was surprised to find they had a Visitors Information Centre given the small size of the town (or at least the Old Town) but I picked up a walking tour and noodled my way around the town for half an hour or so, past the old churches and quaint alpine streets. Apparently this town is home to the best Christmas market in Innsbruck and its surrounding areas, although I was there too early in the day to see it.

Having exhausted all there was to do in Hall, I bussed myself back to Innsbruck and ended up at that first Christmas market again as I had seen they were serving raclette and felt the need to indulge in the gooey cheesy goodness. A few hours later, we ate spinach knodel (dumplings) smothered in butter at the hotel restaurant before heading to bed for my last day in Innsbruck.

The following morning would have been perfect for ascending Seegrube as the sky was beautifully clear and the mountains easily visible. Alas, I wasn’t willing to spend another 30 Euro to go up again, so instead made my way to Audioversum, a museum of sound.

For 9 Euro, I was able to wander around the museums three interactive exhibits. The first was on sound, and included vast sculptures of bells and lightning bolts that you could put your hands on to feel the decibels they emit as well as sound walls which reacted as you walked past. Admittedly I was a bit confused by how to work some of the exhibits but it was quite fun that all of the exhibits were interactive.

The second exhibit was on the brain, and included a machine which could alter your voice so you could see what it would be like to speak with a stutter or on helium, and one you could play with a partner to see what you could hear if you were moderately or severely hearing impaired.

The final exhibit was on smell, and included about a hundred different smelling stations ranging from the nice (fresh madeleines) to the not so nice (beaver). Having experienced so many different smells I felt that my sense of smell was heightened for the rest of the day, and could smell coffee on the breath of people walking by me!

There was supposed to be an interactive room where you could experience what it was like to be in different places like the jungle, but it was being used for team rehearsal for the Christmas party, and I didn’t have time before needing to go to the airport, so I caught the bus back to the city’s tiny airport to return home.

Tips for visiting Innsbruck: Honestly, I think I did pretty much everything one should do when visiting Innsbruck, so this could be a pretty good guide for your trip. The Old Town and Kristallwelten would be top picks. Another option is to go skiing, although you might want a bit longer to do this, and check the weather on the slopes you’re visiting, as Seegrube appeared to be shut due to poor visibility. Finally, Christmas is of course a wonderful time to visit this alpine town, with its cute little markets and snowy scenes that help to get you in the festive mood. I’m always pleasantly surprised by the cities I visit that I probably normally wouldn’t have picked, and Innsbruck is certainly up there.

I hope you enjoyed today’s travel blog – I have a big Christmas holiday coming up so stay tuned to @CiarasCountry on Twitter to read that soon. If you’ve been to Innsbruck or are planning to visit, I’d love to hear your thoughts so drop me a message in the comments below!

TRAVEL: The Ultimate London Christmas Lights self-guided walking tour!

I firmly believe that London is one of the most magical places on Earth at Christmastime, and in no way is this more clear than the effort put into the city’s Christmas lights. But London’s a big city, right? Is it really possible to see the best of London’s Christmas lights all in one go? You’ll be pleased to know that the answer is yes – just follow the route below for the Ultimate London Christmas Lights Tour!

Duration: 2 hours

Our journey begins at Regent’s Park station. Walk west on Marylebone Road before turning left onto Marylebone High Street. As you walk down the High Street, you’ll see your first set of magical Christmas lights. Peer into the windows at Daunt Books to see their best books for Christmas.

When you reach the end of the road, you can turn right here to see Selfridge’s window displays. Otherwise, turn left and then a swift right just before Costa Coffee onto St Christopher’s Place to see more lights and the off the high street shops here.

At the end of St Christopher’s Place you’ll arrive directly into the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street, one of the most famous places to see the Christmas lights. Cross the road after Bond Street and onto South Molton Lane for their impressive lights. Pop into Claridge’s to see their amazing Christmas tree, designed by a different designer every year.

Back on Brook Street, retrace your steps past South Molton and peer at the lights up and down New Bond Street before crossing Regents Street (again, famous for its lights). Peek into Liberty London for a true British department store experience and then turn right onto Carnaby Street, which this year has a stunning lights display inspired by Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.

Turning back onto Regents Street, make your way over to Berkeley Square (Conduit Street is your most direct route here). Walk around the top of the Square, taking a quick detour on Mount Street to see their colour-changing Christmas tree before turning back to Berkeley Square and past Annabel’s Clubs incredible decorations. Turn down Berkeley Street and you’ll find yourself on Piccadilly right opposite the Ritz Hotel.

Turn left up at the street, stopping to check out Burlington Arcade and Fortnum & Mason’s window displays. Wander your way up Piccadilly until you reach Piccadilly Circus – if you look left, here’s another opportunity to see the Regents Street lights.

Turn right onto Haymarket and then a left at the bottom of the road towards Trafalgar Square and its very large Christmas tree. Walk down Duncannon Street, across the Strand and down Villiers Street, through Embankment station and up the stairs onto Golden Jubilee Bridge. You’ll get some amazing views of London across the Thames.

Across the river, now is the perfect time to stop for something to eat at the Southbank Christmas market, before turning left and then across Waterloo Bridge for some more views. Turn left onto the Strand to see the Northbank lights before turning right onto Burleigh Street.

You’ll arrive right into Covent Garden where there are some pretty lights inside the covered area as well as a huge Christmas tree to greet you outside. Turn up James Street past Covent Garden station, left onto Long Acre and right onto Mercer Street. This brings you to Seven Dials which is pretty from any of the seven sides you look at it.

Take the second exit up Earlham Street and left onto Shaftesbury Avenue. Turn right up Charing Cross Road and you’ll reach our terminus, Tottenham Court Road. I hope you enjoyed my Ultimate Christmas Lights Tour – if you decide to test it out yourself, tag me on Twitter @CiarasCountry, I’d love to see your photos! Thanks for reading!

TRAVEL: Jerash & Amman, Jordan - centurions, Citadels, and Crown Princes

Before you start, make sure to read my last Jordan blog here! 

Having now seen wonders of the world, untouched desert, and salty seas, our journey through Jordan continued on the road, passing through coastal scenery, to desert, to Mediterranean landscapes filled with olive trees. After a few hours, we arrived at Jerash, somewhere we hadn't previously heard of, but should really be included as a 'should visit' when in Jordan. Jerash is a former Roman city, and today is filled with Roman ruins. 

We picked up another local guide as Ra-ed wasn't able to come in with us, and spent the next hour or so wandering along the Roman streets and through former temples under the hot sun. It was surprising to find Roman architecture somewhere that we wouldn't have usually associated with the Empire, but Jerash was in fact an important midpoint between Amman (then called Philadelphia) and Damascus in Syria. The tour was interesting, but unfortunately ignored a number of my questions, and then stalked off without so much as a thank you or goodbye after we'd tipped him, which dampened the experience somewhat. 

With Ra-ed, we headed back to Amman to visit the Citadel. These series of buildings lay high above the city and gave great views of the cluttered streets down below. Again, many of the buildings of the Citadel had become ruined over the years, but the central church was still in good condition and looked very impressive from the outside with its large domed roof and stone sides.

Afterwards, Ra-ed took us into downtown, filled with hundreds of shops selling watches, hats and wallets, kids toys and the like; and through the fruit market stuffed to the gills with fruit as fresh as can be and fragrant spices galore. The tour ended with some kunnafeh, a traditional Jordanian sweet made of a slab of goats cheese toasted with grains on top, and smothered in syrup and pistachios. It wasn't too sweet, and was utterly delicious. 

Towards the end of the afternoon, we headed back to the Hyatt we'd stayed on at the first night, but were met with a surprise in the form of a fleet of blacked out cars, which we'd previously seen racing through the streets of downtown with police officers blocking traffic to let them by. Ra-ed informed us that due to the dress of the soldiers surrounding the cars, this meant royalty. How exciting! Nonetheless, we headed up to our rooms, wondering who important might be in our hotel......

With a few hours until dinner, it seemed like a good idea to head down to the lobby for coffee, and lo and behold, a number of paparazzi were waiting down there, with security personnel waiting around the lobby. We took a seat, had our coffee and managed to catch someone walking by to ask who it was at the table behind us who required so much security. As it turned out, this was Prince Hassan, the former kings brother, and the current kings uncle. How exciting! We're clearly staying in the right hotels if they're okay for royalty too! 

Our last meal in Jordan, at the Hyatt, was very pleasant if extremely slow service, in spite of the pretty much five guests total in the restaurant. I started with a cold mezze of Jordanian favourites including hummus, moutabel, baba ganoush, dolmes, and fatoush, which would have been sufficient had there been no main as well! This was followed by a cream of mushroom pasta dish, and a chocolate lava cake, neither of which I managed to finish being so full of my starter! 

To conclude, Jordan was magnificent. My tips should you wish to visit (which I would recommend!) would be 1) make sure to see more of the country than just Petra. Petra is spectacular, but so is Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea, which are also worth a visit. 2) Go with an open mind - there's a lot going on in the Middle East at the moment, but from what we saw, Jordan is a safe and friendly country to visit. Granted, we were on organised tours so I cannot speak for how it would have been on a DIY tour, but safety concerns should not be a reason not to visit. 3) Try the hummus. 

I hope you enjoyed today's travel blog! I'll be back with more very soon so make sure to stay tuned on my Twitter @CiarasCountry, and drop me a message in the comments below with any comments or questions you may have about my adventures - thanks for reading! 

TRAVEL: The Dead Sea, Jordan - beauty is pain

Before you start, make sure to read my last Jordan blog here! 

 After our brief excursion into the desert, we jumped back in the van with Ra-ed and headed off on our four and a half hour journey through Aqaba and along the border with Israel towards the North part of the Dead Sea, stopping only for overpriced crisps and coffee en route. I'm pretty sure they have 'local' and 'tourist' charges in some of the shops this side of the world! The North is certainly more sea-like than the South part of the Dead Sea, and across the water you could see the cities of the West Bank ahead of us. I don't think I'd ever been somewhere where two countries separated by water seemed so close. 

Our hotel for the next two nights was the Crowne Plaza, a large resort with plenty of rooms which I'm sure were booked out during the high season, a massive swimming pool divided into six different depth sections, and the main appeal, a small section of beach leading to the Dead Sea. Due to all of our driving that day, we arrived just around sunset as they closed the beach, so headed instead for a buffet dinner (can confirm that the hummus was not as good as the Marriot) and then to bed. 

It was a buffet for breakfast the next morning, very manic with Saturday being the end of the Jordanian weekend. Once fed, we made our way down to the beach, expecting to have to fight for deck chair space, but finding only about ten other visitors there. The first step was to take a five minute dip in the sea to test the waters. You walk up to about waist depth, lift your legs, and bam, you're floating on top of the water. I had a few cuts on me, including the fresh ones from my camel handle and boy, talk about pouring salt into a wound! It was excruciating, to the point where I was gritting my teeth as I got in, but nothing would deter me from my Dead Sea experience. Maybe make sure that you have no open cuts on you before you opt to do the same! 

It's difficult to return to standing position due to the buoyancy of the water, meaning you have to scull your way around to get anywhere. I loved doing this (much easier than normal swimming) but some people didn't seem to find it so easy, and you don't want to make a mistake, as we saw when two lifeguards rushed in to pour water over someone's eyes after they'd accidentally flipped onto their front. After my initial five minutes to make sure that the salty water hadn't adversely affected me in anyway, I returned to the water to float to my hearts content and let the current carry me away - within the fifty metre confines of the private beach, that is. 

We'd been told this was the healthy amount of time to spend in the sea, and with the sun beating down I didn't mind floating my way back to shore, because there was more fun to be had. Pails of Dead Sea mud were attached to mirrors on the beach for you to slather yourself in, and so we did, turning into something of Swamp Creatures by the end of it. Go big or go home, right? After a further twenty minutes of letting the good mud nutrients set on our skin, we showered off and basked in our deliciously soft skin. 

For a change, we headed up to one of the six pools in the mega pool, which was so large we ended up having pretty much a whole pool to ourselves. The water here was colder than the sea, refreshing in the head of the midday sun. Knowing it's not everyday you visit the Dead Sea, I was keen to have another float, although this one didn't last as long as I felt all of the salty cuts even more keenly - even a scratch felt like torture, so I spent the next while watching from the sidelines as further tourists turned from humans into Mud Monsters!

And just like that, somehow we'd managed to pass the whole day 'relaxing', something I'd say I'm definitely not very good at. The sun set quickly again, and it was time for another buffet dinner, although quieter this time given that many local visitors had headed back home for work on Sunday. If you're into relaxing by the beach and getting your exfoliation on, this is the place for us, but I was keen for more travel and culture to come... coming soon to the blog! 

I hope you enjoyed today's travel blog! I'll be back with more very soon so make sure to stay tuned on my Twitter @CiarasCountry, and drop me a message in the comments below with any comments or questions you may have about my adventures - thanks for reading!

TRAVEL: Wadi Rum, Jordan - deserts, dromedaries, and Death Stars

Before you start, make sure to read my last Jordan blog here! 

Our journey into the desert consisted of a lot of driving as we made our way to the Wadi Rum desert, home to many film sets including The Martian, for which Ra-ed had driven Matt Damon around a couple of times, Transformers, and an upcoming movie starring Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. I later found out that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was being filmed as we drove by, complete with chopper and extensive set. I liked knowing that I was only a couple of hundred metres from the cast and characters of my all time favourite movie franchise! 

We drove to the so-called Space Camp, where various huts shaped like the lab in The Martian that you could stay in were placed, and picked up another driver for a two hour trip around the desert in a Land Cruiser. The landscapes were utterly spectacularly, including one where we stopped just to yell at the top of our lungs to see how far the echoes travelled, and it was fun driving across the sand, by far the smoothest surface I'd ever driven on. 

Towards the end of our excursion, we reached a dip in the valley where inscriptions denoting the camel caravan route had been etched, and coincidentally, a number of camels themselves. We'd been informed that they were looked after well by their owners and would therefore be a safe bet if we wanted to experience what it was like for these people to get around and ride a camel ourselves. 

I, of course, accepted and hopped on the back of a lovely beige camel which I rode for the next twenty or so minutes across the desert as part of a camel caravan made up of locals and tourists alike. Whilst thrilled to have had the experience, I have to say it was one of the most uncomfortable rides of my life! The motion of the camel moving up and down meant my legs were chafing the sides of the saddle, the handle at the back of the saddle (necessary to hold on to when the camel awkwardly gets up or sits down again) was uncomfortably rubbing against my lower back, and my lovely camel had a habit of lifting one of its back legs off the ground meaning I swiftly tilted dangerously at random occurrences, all meant that twenty minutes was more than enough for me - I'm definitely more of a Land Cruiser type of girl! But I loved being able to do it, and shall tick it off of my bucket list. 

Our final stop of the desert tour was an area where various visages of Laurence of Arabia were carved into the rock, and where a large tent had been erected for visitors to stop for traditional tea. Whilst we drank our tea, one of the tribesmen came around with solid perfumes of amber, musk, and a mix of the two, which he rubbed on her hands. Had he not done so, I could have easily gone home without them, but they smelt so fantastic we had to purchase - what a wise selling technique. 

Without further ado, it was time to move on to our next destination, although I wish we'd had longer in the desert than just a few hours. The camps there looked impressive, and a night under the stars would have been truly imaginable, so if you find yourself in Jordan, make sure you add a night in the desert to your itinerary, and tell me all about it when you do! Next stop for us - the Dead Sea, coming soon to the blog! 

I hope you enjoyed today's travel blog! I'll be back with more very soon so make sure to stay tuned on my Twitter @CiarasCountry, and drop me a message in the comments below with any comments or questions you may have about my adventures - thanks for reading!