Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Day 8 : 12th May

It's a new dawn, it's a new sparkling day! Now, let's see why I call it sparkling.

We went back to the Golden Dachl for some shopping. While we were in a shop, we heard people clapping and cheering and found out that there was a performance in front of the Golden Dachl that day. We enjoyed some moments watching Austrian folk dances and children singing. A little bit reminisance of The Sound of Music. Hey, Austria is where Sound of Music came from.



Suddenly, TH pointed at my side. I turned and almost jumped as standing beside me was this tall white statue looking down at us with menacing eyes. How long have I been standing beside this thing? OMG! This wans't here yesterday.


Austria is famous for its crystals. The trip won't be complete without getting one home. We are on a budget and a small one will do. Crystals can be found in various shops and where else could you get the best crystals? SWAROVSKI of course! We went to the Swarovski Museum at Innbruck where it's lower ground floor is transformed into a winter crystal exhibition.

At the top two floors, we were presented with these. Right click on the pictures to see a larger and clearer view of those crystals.


Our eyes were *_* when we came out.

We wanted to see more and where else should we go after seeing so many bling-bling that can top the place above? So, we headed straight to the Swarovski factory in Wattens which is just 30 minutes from Innsbruck via bus.

Here we are at the entrance of the Swarovski Kristalwatten. Next to this museum is the Swarovski factory. I've read about the implausible entrance where a giant head stood and water spilling out from its mouth. I couldnt believe my eyes it's right in front of me now.

In we go!

We were temporary blinded from the darkness inside. Faraway music greeted us as lights shone on 5 sparkling displays in the hall. Two of them are the bejeweled horse and Salvador Dali's inspired "melting" timepiece below. I love Dali's work and this is the closest one I've seen.


There are 14 chambers featuring crystal art works from various artists. Visit the
Swarovski Kristalwatten site for a virtual tour on each rooms. Scroll down below for the snapshot of our 'adventure'.

The giant's room...

Here is the giant octopus which changes its colour...

This is one of the room that I am still thinking how they managed to change its display and animation precisely on the polygons.
Right click here for a video during our visit.

At the end of the tour, we came towards this massive hall where we can shop for endless crystals. Some of the stuff we saw earlier are here as well. Rest assured that Swarovski crystals are all evenly priced in all Swarovski outlet. You can buy with a peace of mind on any products that you totally loved once you see it.


Caution: Very sparkling bra ahead!


If you can see me, I am wearing this heart shaped crystal bought from Kristalwatten. It changes colour with different background. It's very affordably priced at 12 Euro


When we came back from Wattens, it started raining in Innsbruck. We had to hide inside our hotel and luckily, the rain wasn't long-lived.

Yay! Rain-rain has gone away.


We decided to just hang around in Innsbruck and visit some of the cute shops since Prague (our next destination) requires a lot of walking so we saved some of our energy. I loved little art shops. Their handicrafts are unique, adorable and affordable. I found some of these for my mom :)



Eating time. Large one piece pizza is common in our daily meals. I loved the spinach + goat cheese flavor.

Aww...we missed this Zimt and Zucker chocolatier. It was closed and we couldnt get our hands on the Golden Roof chocolate :( Grrr...all the shops closes early here.

It's time we say goodbye to this quaint little city. It's a perfect place to rest, relax and shop here. One of the more affordable city compared to the others we visited. Let's recap Innbruck again before we say goodbye...



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