Innsbruck and more…

Hello my dear, wonderful, amazing, great P-E-O-P-L-E !!!! Unfortunately, I have a writing crisis. For some reason it started to be really hard to force myself to write (I think that there is not enough time for the blog, but as they say: if a person sincerely desires with all his heart, he will find the time for anything). Well, maybe I have been procrastinating for a long time. Finally my hands reached the keyboard, and the eyes reached the screen, and the bum made it to the chair. In other words, all parts of the body gathered together in the right place and therefore I can write an article about such a wonderful town as Innsbruck, that is in Austria.

As I mentioned in my previous article I am writing in the opposite direction which means that before Innsbruck I was in Verona&Venice and after that I went to Vienna (that I have already written about). I was traveling to Austria from Italy (Verona) with the bus company called Hello. I want to say that I was very happy with the service. Firstly, I like the design of the bus (pretty simple, stylish, black and white). Obviously design of the bus is the most important thing for me, haha. The bus itself was big, comfortable, with a socket (so I could charge my American “Mr. Apple Jobs”). In addition to that we were traveling almost in an empty bus so it was very comfortable. No complaints at all!

(The photo was taken from the internet)

(My own photoshoot, going with the wind 🙂 )

I do not know how interesting and useful it will be for you to know about my relationship with couchsurfing, but I still want to share it. For those who have never heard of this strange word I will explain: couchsurfing is one of the largest guest networks, existing as an online service. It unites more than 7 million people in 246 countries. Unfortunately, I’m not an advanced user of this service. It has been just 2 times when I found (and, eventually, stopped) at the place of one  lovely Italian woman in Verona. It was an excellent experience and I am very grateful for her hospitality. In Innsbruck I decided to stay with a guy. In fact I was really surprised about this moment: it is extremely unlikely that I can get into a car with a stranger, agree to enter his house and stay there for a night or even a few, and at the same time it’s not a problem to do all these things if I do it through the site. I find it quite strange. And it’s all despite the fact that the company cannot check everyone and will not do this, so I get all the information about my potential host from his/her profile (what the person wants to share with the rest), from the photos and reviews of those who have already stayed at this user of the site. Anyway I found my “victim”.  I was sure everything was going to be great, but I made a big mistake as I did not ask for the address of the young man, and the day before my arrival he didn’t have the opportunity to get in touch. In the end, I was afraid that I would remain without a roof over my head (even though it had moved many years ago))). Therefore, I had to look for another option with the use of airbnb (and it’s not some kind of advert, I just really like to help my readers while sharing my experience). Again, I made a mistake. I wanted to tell you about it my friends so that you don’t fall in the same trap. I booked an apartment from someone called Jonathan (it was a small one-room apartment, rather even a studio, but in the very center of the city, 2 minutes walk from the railway station and with a magnificent view of the mountains). I kind of looked at the address and understood how I could find the house BUT on the way I got lost 1000 and once times, asked almost everyone on my way where this notorious house number 3 was, then the Austrians called Jonathan at my request, and he did not pick up the phone. In general, everything was at the right time as they say! haha) What was extremely pleasant is that the Austrians welcomed me in such a great way. I even met an old lady who could not actually help me so we parted ways with her and in a few minutes she RUN (caught up with me) and told me where the house was. She really went the extra mile for me! Finally when I found the house I realized that there were about a hundred apartments and there were surnames written on the opposite of each flat-number and in order to call I needed to know the surname of the apartments owner. However, I only knew his name (Jonathan). Then I went to the neighboring Kebab, I spent quite a while explaining my problem to the local cook and telling him that I needed him to call to the phone number (to Jonathan) and say “Natasha is here.” And the Turkish man spoke English very badly (and I couldn’t speak German). Anyway it all worked out, Jonathan came and after some minutes I was at the desired studio, enjoying the view with the mountains and thinking about such a beautiful life! I was glad I had all these little problems because what didn’t kill me made me stronger 🙂 and also it was good to know how much friendly and hospitable the Austrians were.

And here, by the way, the photo that welcomes you at the railway station

And there was a great view from my window  not XP)

For one and a half day that I was in Innsbruck I managed to walk around the city, visit Swarovski Museum in Wattens and Ambras Castle. And, probably I also managed to blind the city with my unbelievable beauty))). In fact, I don’t think so but I felt that way in Innsbruck. Almost every passer-by man looked at me fascinated. For a moment I even thought that something was wrong with me: “Why do all these people look at me like that? Maybe I’m dirty and I am walking with a dirty face?”))) But then they told me that I was really beautiful. As I said earlier – the Austrians are really good people! Have no complaints at all)))

As about the city itself – I really liked it! How compact it is, fabulous and toy. The houses are all neat, colorful and unusual. At the same time, it is located among the mountains, which gives it an even greater fairy-tale character. And, of course, there is an important component of any city which is the river. In my opinion, it has everything it needs. Innsbruck reminded me of Andorra which is also really pretty and surrounded by mountains.

The only thing that bothered me very much and left some kind of sediment was my evening walking when I saw how much rubbish was there, on the streets of the city. In addition, that evening (as well as during the rest of my time in the city) there was a strong wind so most of the garbage flew in the air, and at that moment I realized that I would hardly call Innsbruck a fairy tale. However, it should be noted that everything was clean and washed in the morning so Oscar goes to Leonardo DiCaprio, and Respect goes to the street sweepers of Innsbruck. Well done guys! And still it seems very unpleasant that some citizens and tourists there don’t appreciate its beauty and allow themselves to clog the city.

(The photo was taken from the internet)

(These 2 photos were also taken from the internet)

(The rubbish I was talking about)

(The wind did it work – all the bikes were scattered).

(I think it’s an interesting name of the shop)

(And this photo is dedicated to my close Czech friend, whose name is Milan)

Found them (road signs) being interesting)

(And here are some creative teapots)

The next day early morning I went to the Swarovski Museum. I strongly advise you to visit this place if you like magic, miracles, creativity and, of course, crystal and glass. To make it easier for you to do this and not to make my mistakes I’ll tell you how to get there ( it’s obvious that I prepared all the instructions for the trip, BUT somehow I managed to wait at the wrong station for the wrong bus and therefore I lost an hour). Everything was the way I like: clearly, correctly, thought out))). So, my dears, you need to go to the central station of Innsbruck and look for the big bus of greenish color with the image of the museum. It is very important!

For some reason (although I had all the necessary instructions), I decided that I could go to the museum with an ordinary bus and I saw that one was going to the right place for me which was Wattens. (See photo below: bus 4123 goes to Wattens).

Just so you know what exactly you need: a bus like on the photo below. Here is this beauty (and it’s not the bus number 4123):

I advise you to come a few minutes before your departure. The stop is right next to the entrance to the central station. I bought my ticket from the driver, it cost me 9 euros (round-trip, this price is for March 2017). There is another option to get there by car or teleport, but I have no idea about it (for now))).

The entrance-ticket I bought at the ticket office of the museum, which you will see straight after coming to Wattens with the bus. It was very surprising for me as the cashier spoke Russian, so unfortunately I could not show her that the Russians could also speak the language of Shakespeare pretty well.

I was even given a brochure with a museum (how rich I was, haha) so I can share some interesting information with you, my dears. Since I try to respect all copyrights, I’ll make the information brazenly taken from the brochure by crystal birds, with the quotation marks.

I like this phrase that greets you at the entrance to the museum’s territory. As for me, it’s really nice and positive 🙂 and I do like such things! “Yes” is the word we should use more often (though at some particular cases I can take my words back, haha)

(When the Siberian Giantess meets with the Austrian Giant. When he saw me he opened his eyes widely and his mouth with the shock and fright, and I said to him: “Oh, come on, Austrian people think that I am beautiful! Don’t be nasty!”)))

(The photo was taken from the internet)

“The world of crystal art was created by the artist André Hiller in 1995, on the occasion of the centenary of Swarovski brand and it was supplemented by another amazing land of crystal nature. Where previously there were arable and virgin lands stretched, an amazing garden, a new miracle, was added as a supplement to the Giant’s treasuries in 2015 (in the year of the company’s 120th anniversary). The Giant’s Garden is the place where you see the reflection of your own soul in the mirror, or you simply cannot resist of the crystals’ charm.” (c)

For some unknown to me reason I missed this text in the catalog and went straight away to the museum (building itself), I could not wait to look at the luminous art objects. I think that this was my mistake as I spent a lot of time observing all the internal expositions and, therefore I practically ran in the garden while putting a tick (=must see) in order to catch the bus that was leaving the museum at certain hours.

The first thing that you should know is that during your stay at the museum you can download all the information about the Giant’s treasures (the Swarovski Museum) that fascinate you with the first words and sounds… Or you can do the way I did while not downloading anything but simply connect to their wi-fi there and find on the official museum website all the stories that mentioned above. I must say that it undoubtedly strengthened my impressions of what I saw there.

“Swarovski Crystal Worlds” are divided into several rooms or as they are called “Wonder Rooms”: Blue Hall, Mechanical Theater, Crystal Cathedral, Silent Night, In Lattice Sun, Crystallocaligraphy, Ice Corridor, Transparent Opacity, Wonder Studio, Diva, Eden, Fame, 55 million Crystals, Reflections, Crystalline Forest, Timeless.

It is difficult for me to select the most interesting Wonder Room since every single one impressed me to some extent, so I will simply share photos with you my friends and add a few comments (I am not such a good photographer so I’ll try to conquer the world with my text))).

(There is a “Great wall” (not of China this time) which is made out of Swarovski crystals.) How many of them are there!) An immeasurable amount!)

And here is the close-up of the wall, in case if you didn’t look properly on the previous photo or if you simply want to count all the crystals)

The mechanical theater. There were shirts flying, the mannequin walking without a head (which often happens in the world nowadays))), okay, I’m joking). In general, there was everything so mechanical, so theatrical (I am the best at explaining, haha). Well, in fact, it’s better to see than to talk about it.

And this is just a masterpiece (The Crystal Cathedral). When you enter the room, you forget who you are, what you are, where you are … everything is sparkling, shimmering, changing lights and colours, and sometimes the Cave (Cathedral) transformes so that  you can see some more Art objects inside the wall at certain time. I spent there quite a while and now I am complaining that I never have enough time for everything I do)))

And this is such a Winter Fairy Tale with a very beautiful Christmas tree, created from Swarovski crystals, and also there are very interestingly decorated walls and lighting which unfortunately I didn’t take a photo of.  You seem to fall into the winter there, whatever season is out in the yard. That time Cinderella remembered her Siberian home and she thought: “Perhaps I’d rather go to this room in the Austrian museum than in Siberia.” Actually I am a kind person and patriot of my country, but at the same time somehow I do like to live abroad. It’s such a paradox of my life.

I found a nice chandelier for my place, hahah. Well, actually I would prefer to live in a place decorated in minimalism. Anyway, first of all I need to decide which country to live in, that is the question (after “to be or not to be” because I cannot compete with Shakespeare).

I am not sure what is the connection with Swarovski here (maybe he was just passing by when it was made)), but this is a very interesting art object, especially for such a little 27-year-old girl like me))). There are no images on the floor and once you step on the path of good and beauty (floor I mean)), then there are different patterns (instead of traces) appeared behind you . As for me it is fun!

And here are the photos of the hall with a very beautiful art object which are consists of well-known (and not only) architectural structures, as well as the railway and the train goes (on the wings of love just like I do) the train … And the hall itself is painted beautifully (look at the photo, behind my back). Actually it gives the impression of a kindergarten and something too bright and childish maybe, but in life, however, it looks quite interesting! And as I said earlier for a 27-year-old kid like me, the kindergarten is the right place to be at))

As far as I remember it was a room with geometric figures with some projections on telling the history of different countries and eras. My memory may cheet on me so I am not sure, especially this little lady (memory) doesn’t like history that much…

Here is the reflection of Medusa Swarovskić in the mirror))

If only euro cost much less I  would probably buy that for my ordinary walk to the shop…or maybe not?)))

And here is the highlight of the programme (which according to the internet costs smth like 2250 dollars)! Why is it such an important part of my article?? Because it’s that special crystal slipper from the film “Cinderella”, which was released in Russia and the whole world in 2015. I remember how I went to watch this movie with my close friend, while being in Omsk. And now myself being a fictional-real character (Cinderella from Westminster), found her shoe!! Well, where are you, my Prince? I have already found the shoe myself. I’ve done all the work for you! :)))

And here is a shot from the film (a photo was taken from the Internet because for some good reason I could not attend the shooting of the film at that time even though they tried their best to make me coming to the USA)) But we are Siberians – to be taken very hard, haha

Finally, I  managed to get out after a very impressive internal exhibit (it was not easy because the crystals beckoned me as if they knew that I was a crow)).

And what did I see outside? Another fairy tale…

“The crystal cloud consists of more than 600,000 crystals. What’s more there are three different sizes of the crystals, so that the cloud is more sparkling in the light! It (the cloud) majestically floats above the water surface and invites you to dream. The light of the crystals on the water reflects like stars in the sky, even on a very sunny day ” (which was not the case on my visit, haha)

“The 20 meter high gaming tower is the world’s highest indoor playground, where really diverse games are offered” (didn’t take the photo of it though).

“More than 10 football fields could fit the territory of the Crystal Worlds of Swarovski”.

“There were 72 445 bulbs of flowers planted in the Giant’s garden”

Many thanks to the museum for birch trees. It was such a pleasure to see them for the Russian soul staying in Austria!

And here are a couple of photos of Swarovski windows in Innsbruck:

I still had some time to fly by bus to the castle-museum Ambras (after Swarovski), which was (and still is) one of the main attractions of Innsbruck. The cultural and historical significance is closely connected with the name of Archduke Ferdinand II. (I will probably forget this name right after I post this article…that’s a shame really).

And lets discuss again “how to get there”. This is what I found on the internet:

I completely forgot I am writing in English and it’s in Russian. So it says that you can get to the castle for 9 min only with the bus number 4134 and all the stopts/directions written in German there. And I asked Jonathan (not the seagull Jonathan Livingston though I wish I could talk with such a great bird))) to help me with the scedule of the buses and he was so kind (my landloard) to send me all the times. Have a look here:

The castle contains magnificent collections of armor, weapons, jewelry, paintings, sculptures and so on. In truth, this museum was not an easy thing for me. Firstly, I already felt a bit tired after the Swarovski museum, and secondly it was hard to look at ancient things, behind which there were a lot of real stories and legends, when you are still somewhere in the clouds of crystals. I wanted something light, airy and magical and there were armor of knights and weapons in front of me. I felt like quoting Stanislavsky “I don’t believe!”))).

Anyway I took the most I could from my visit to the museum. First of all there was a truly marvelous view of the city observed from the hill where the museum was located. Secondly, I really liked the cashier and the museum administrator (it was one person). He was very friendly, kind and cheerful. When I asked for an audio guide, he said that in that case I needed to leave my passport as a deposit. I was confused because tomorrow I was already going to Vienna and I kind of needed my little friend (passport) in any case. I asked a stupid question (I am the best at asking stupid questions))) if they return my passport or something like that. The man answered me that we should have hoped, especially if it was found among the other passports. It’s nice to meet people who are ready to joke easily and without embarrassment during working hours. Well, at least I like it.

(The entrence of the castel’s park territory)

(Here is the Scaring Achtung))). I felt really helpless! I know almost 4 languages! Well maybe I know just  2.5 if being precisely. In any case it’s not so pleasant to understand that it is written “Warning!” in red there. And then you have no idea what it’s all about))) I simply tried my best not to smoke, not to leave rubbish, not to offend anyone, steal anything or kill anyone while I was at the museum territory. Maybe one of the points I meantioned above was actually in this mystical for me “Achtung”))) Anyway I had been a good girl 🙂

At the museum…

So here I was leaving one of the museum’s halls when I saw this birdie. We greeted each other, discussed the cost of euro and how it it is to live in Austria and then I left her…I can say it’s an interesting museum))

And here the birdie lost her head because of my incredible beauty and I did the same because of her pure beauty too…)))

Being a true artist and a little bit abnormal person I can see lots of interests and beauty in the wall texture…and unfortunatelly not that much interest in the knightly armor)))

And here’s another birdie but maybe less cute (I hope she doesn’t read my blog as I am afraid of her). By the way, I know that I have to call the bird “it” but I simply cannot)). Anyway I also approached her and decided to talk about the euro exchange rate but, apparently, I stepped on her sore spot. The birdie turned into an angry bird and went after me and I started to run along the street. I know it’s strange and funny but I was frightened of this predatory animal)))

And I like this shop’s name which reminded me an idiom. “The early bird catches the worm”

Once I was walking somewhere in the centre of the city and found some writings on the wall and I was disappointed with it. Why do people write such unpositive things? I should have changed the writing because some people may believe it’s true when it is actually not! 😉 Have a look at the photo above and remember it’s nothing but lie!))

I am not sure what else to share with you my dears. Two days passed unnoticed and were very busy and lively. Thank you dear Innsbruck that you welcomed me in such a lovely way! I have no complaints!

And here is to you, my dear friends, my sunny friends! I really wanted to share stories about the carnival in Venice, about the visit I paid to Romeo and Juliet in Verona, about my living in the province of Milan and the capital of Italy – Rome…there is so much to share BUT it turned out that I have a plenty of work and responsibilities of all kinds therefore I’m inclined to believe that all these stories will remain mysteries covered in darkness. By saying this I mean I do not have time to share these stories. I wish you all as much free time as possible, so that you always have enough of it! And if for some reason you do have a lot of it – be nice, share with me, eh?)))

I love you all, I kiss you all!