The reviews on Trip Advisor were strong, so we decided to check out the Swarovski Kristallwelten site, regardless of the fact we’ve never really been exposed to their products. This is just 10km from Innsbruck, so it’s an easy drive.
Their products are all glass, and I try to stick to diamonds and tanzanite and other precious gems when I’m looking at jewelery. Well color me surprised! This place is awesome! This giant vomiting the Carmody McKnight wine is the first thing you see as you enter (if you don’t get the reference, please go to the prior post. Are you not reading these in order? Sheesh!)
A quick note. There was a sign just inside the door suggesting wearing a mask if you were unvaccinated. There was no requirement to wear a mask, so we didn’t. A lot of other folks did, but we follow the science, and nobody said boo to us. This is how it should be!
One of the first items you see is the largest hand-cut crystal in the world…I don’t know how they got this back from Liberace’s family, but nicely done!
This artwork was apparently done by Andy Warhol? Who verifys this stuff anyway? What brand didn’t Andy Warhol shamelessly promote?
Salvador Dali worked in glass…and used a coat hanger? Does not compute. They must have paid him a fortune for the marketing.
The next room, Silent Light, had an advisory to stay no more than 3 minutes, as the temperature was -10C. Where we live, we call that “efficient air conditioning”.
Yes, that’s actual snow. What you don’t see is me in a short sleeve shirt and shorts, and I was just fine. You can see them cranking out new snow constantly. What does this have to do with glass crystals? I have no idea.
The next room is the Crystal Dome, and I actually thought this was the coolest room of all.
Then there was a Wall of Infinity room, but I didn’t quite get the same effect they were suggesting, saying it looked like large cities. Maybe it’s a matter of interpretation?
Then there was the Ready to Love room. I don’t get the Indian Bollywood theme. Very bizzare. A video of the stairs was required.
This interactive floor, called the Ice Passage, would create blocks of ice as you walked across it. Creaking and breaking ice sounds accommpanied you as you traversed the floor. As Kim said, this place belongs in Vegas!
The next room is filled with large objects you are supposed to interact with and become part of the art. Perfect for Instagrammers! Kim is standing on a spot that says “best selfie spot”. Now we are giving them pointers on where to self-promote? Sigh.
This room is called Studio Job Wunderkammer. Reminds me of It’s a Small World.
Then the weirdly named Chandelier of Grief, which is another mirrored infinity room.
Yes, it keeps going! Then there is Eden, which was supposed to depict a forest. It was pretty cool, with large colored crystals in the “trees”.
The next room was Famous, and the below is supposed to be the Pyramid of Cheops in Giza. There is supposed to be a guy getting attacked by a mummy. Glad they told me what it was supposed to be….because I’ve seen this while driving through San Francisco. It does slightly resemble the Transamerica tower…
This is 55 Million Crystals, that is basically a kaleidoscope that changes very slowly and never shows the same colors twice. It was created by Brian Eno, who I have actually heard of!
Then the Heros of Peace, which showed historical figures in what was supposed to be holograms, but they didn’t seem that high of a quality to me, as in I really didn’t see much in the way of 3D projection. It was still pretty cool though.
There were more, but I’ve posted enough. You’ll have to check it our for yourself next time you are in Austria. The outer grounds were pretty nice to visit as well. These “trees” light up at night….I wish we could have seen that, but we have to get back to Innsbruck as there is food to eat and wine to drink…particularly the latter!
This is a great area for “kids”, as there are several play structures, a Merry Go Round, a hedge maze and a 5 story play tower. Kim had to pry me away! No children were harmed in the making of this video…
I would have jumped a little more aggressively, but I’m not sure when OSHA last weight tested this, and we have about 12 more days of vacation to go that I don’t want to spend in traction!
This place even has sheep! Kids love sheep!
There is a huge gift shop as well, and it has this really cool spinning globe covered in Swarovski crystals. What kid doesn’t like spinning globes!
This was a great spot to visit, and surpassed our expectations. This is a must do…and trust me, I was wery leery of this at first, so just do it. It’s worth it.
One last shot of the Innsbruck hills as we were headed to dinner. Such a beautiful spot!
Tomorrow we are headed to Vaduz, Liechtenstein. Time to check off another country!