Top of Tyrol

Photo: Summit cross at Hafelekarspitze.

If nature and outdoor activities is what you like, I highly recommend you to climb up to this point: the incredible views over all the surrounding mountains and the city of Innsbruck will be a great gift. I'm talking about Nordkette, a mountain chain included into Karwendel Nature Park that will take you literally to the limit: it is the geographical border between Austria and Germany. From its highest reachable peak, called Hafelekarspitze, you will see both countries at the same time: Austrian Tyrol on your left side and German Bavaria on your right.

It is quite easy for everyone to get up there since the stations are connected: first station is Hungerburg and can be reached taking the funicular in Innsbruck's downtown. By the way, this line has four stations in total and all were designed by Zaha Hadid in her typical modern style. Another cable car will take you from Hungerburg to next station Seegrube (1.905m), a station in the middle of an ski area with a good-looking restaurant and amazing views. During winter, the area is full of skiers on the steepest slopes in Europe, while in summer many hikers try their hardest trails. The last station is Hafelekar (2.269m), which has to be reached with the last cable car. Don't miss taking a 10min-walk to Hafelekarspitze (2.334m) and you will enjoy views such as in the picture above!

PS. Have you ever been inside an igloo? Check "Cloud 9" out at Seegrube station and don't miss laying on the hammocks at daylight or enjoying the party at night. It is only open from December to April though!

Von Trapp's home

Photo: Lake Leopoldskroner Weiher and the palace at the back.  

Do you see the palace at the background of the picture above? That's Schloss Leopoldskron on the homonymous lake shore. It is a rococo style palace built back in 1731 by the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. Its fame came after the filming of "The Sound of Music" - being the main scenario as Von Trapp family villa. Even though, the interior scenes were never filmed in this palace but in an adjacent property called Bertelsmann. 

Since 1947 the palace hosts annually the Salzburg Global Seminar to debate and solve issues concerning all kind of topics and, since 2014, it plays also the role of a luxurious hotel.

There are several other scenes filmed in Salzburg city centre, all of them with an historical interest deserved to see. For example, Alte Residenz was home to city's archbishops during centuries and since 1923 it holds the Residenzgalerie (art museum). On the other hand, Schloss Mirabell was an originally Baroque building built in 1606 as love gift, but a big fire destroyed it so it was rebuilt in a Neoclassical style. Famous architect Erlach von Fischer designed those magical gardens in the late 17th century, including lots of mythological statues, a palm house, million roses and even a hedge theater. I personally loved those gardens since there are several nice viewpoints, specially the Pegasusbrunnen (fountain) with Mirabell gardens and Hohensalzburg fortress as background. Also, Stift Nonnberg at the fortress' foothill represents one of the oldest Benedictine nunneries in the world, dating back from 714. Most of those places are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List together with Salzburg's old town. 

Photo: View over Schloss Mirabell (left), its gardens and the Hohensalzburg fortress at the back. 

Mozart's birthplace

Welcome to Salzburg, one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been too and a lot of people must think so when its old town was declared UNESCO's World Heritage Site in 1997. And I must say it, worldwide-known thanks to its favorite son: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. 

If I may share an advice, take your time to explore the city's surroundings. Salzburg is encircled by two hills - one of them is where the fortress Hohensalzburg rises up and the other is Kapuzinerberg with its cloister on the hillside, where I took the picture below. 

Photo: Another view over Salzburg and, as background, the region of Bavaria in Germany. 

Small narrow alleys, cozy boutiques, hidden cemeteries... Salzburg's old town has some not-so-known spots worth to discover. I actually had the priviledge to explore the city with a local who showed me all those cute places that I probably wouldn't have discovered by myself.

First of all we stopped at Alter Markt, a square with some curiosities: the oldest farmacy in Salzburg still standing (since 1591), the café where the original Mozartkugeln were invented in 1884 and the smallest house in Austria with only 1.42m wide. Judengasse starts at the northern point of the square to the right, a small and narrow street full of charming places. I remember one in particular - a shop named "Christmas in Salzburg" in which they sell thousands of hand-painted eggs. I also remember that feeling of getting into the shop like: "such an amazing artwork, don't dare to break one single egg please!". And last but not least, located at the other side of the river, Sebastianskirche's graveyard is one of those hidden places I was talking about. It is quite difficult to see since the graveyard is surrounded by other buildings and there's only a tiny alley to go through. Some of Mozart's family members are buried here, like for example his widow Constantia von Nissen. 

Photo: Hand-painted eggs @ Christmas in Salzburg.

Look out: fragile!

This museum is seriously an artwork for those who love weird structures made out of a material you barely thought it would be used for that. Optical illusions, reflection games, interactive surfaces... and all that dangerously fragile! I'm talking about Swarovski Kristallwelten and their world-famous tiny crystals. 

Photo: The Giant and its two underground entrances to the Chambers of Wonder.

I would say the complex is divided in three parts. The picture above is what the visitor sees at a first moment. It is the entrance to the underground part of the museum, called "Chambers of Wonder" and includes the most of the artworks of the complex - some of them are from the very same Salvador Dalí and Andy Warhol. Right behind the hill, there is a playground for people at all ages and a hand-shaped labyrinth. The last piece of the puzzle is the Crystal Cloud & Mirror Pond, a majestic structure made with 800.000 hand-mounted Swarovski crystals.

Before arriving to Austria, I didn't even know that Swarovski was an Austrian based company. I first saw their store in Innsbruck's downtown - quite an amazing store by the way, much bigger than any other I've ever seen, made in such a modern or even futuristic design, decorated with several crystal artworks, in one of the most luxurious and beautiful streets of the centre. The store offers not only jewelry but also optical products out of their intern brand "Swarovski Optik" and it even has a bar inside!

Photo: Crystal artwork.