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!
No comments:
Post a Comment