As My memory Serves......: The Epic Eurotrip--Chapter 11: The Inn that Fits Thousands (Austria--Innsbruck)

View of Innsbruck.

After Liechtenstein, we moved to Austria. Austria is known for many things: Mozart's home, Sound of Music, music capital, and may others. Our journey in this country didn't really start in one of those cities. However, this city is well known for another reason. This city is Innsbruck.

Close look of the ramp.

Innsbruck is most well known for the ski ramp they built for Olympics. The ramp was built for the 1964 Winter Olympics. It then was used again for the 1972 Winter Olympics. The 1972 one wasn't supposed to be in Innsbruck. It should have been hosted in Denver. However, due to cost reason and fear of environmental issues, Denver decided to turn down the offer. The organization decided to turn to Vancouver, BC, but Vancouver rejected as well due to the change of government after an election. At the end, the organization turned to Innsbruck again since it already has a built ramp. That would save a lot of time and cost.

The Golden Dachl.

Olympics story was one of the more recent ones. The history of this city goes way back. In the middle of old town, you can see a building that really stands out because of the golden roof. This building is indeed called the Golden Dachl (which means golden roof). This golden roof was originally built in 15th century for Emperor Maximilian I, and it was actually a palace instead of just this balcony. However, the building got torn down and only the balcony remains. Now this place is listed in the protected property so that no one can ever remove it. Inside this building (the one behind the balcony,) it's a museum about this place. I didn't go in because I kinda ran out of money at this point of the trip. Plus it's probably something you can find on internet anyway.

A view of the Old Town and the city tower.

St. Anna's Column

Going towards the south of old town on Maria-Theresien-Strasse, you can see the St. Anna's Column standing at the middle of the street. This is for commemorating the liberation of Tyrol from Bavarian troops. monuments are another thing that you see often in Europe. Again, many are in form of obelisks, and few are in forms of other shapes. Many involve Catholic background (especially St. Mary) and few have kings/queens. This one has St. Mary standing on a crescent moon.

The Triumphal Arch

Going pass St. Anna's Column towards south, at almost the end of the old town area, you can see an arch of triumph standing in the middle of the street. This one is built by the Queen Maria Theresa (you hear this name really often in Austria. See her as Queen Elizabeth II or Queen Victoria I, but in Austria. A very powerful woman who reigned for a long time. She also had many kids who married princes/kings/princesses of other countries. The political relationship of this woman was super strong.) for her son with the princess of Spain. However, on the same day of the wedding, her husband died. That's why you can see two sculptures on this arch. On the northern side, it recorded the happy wedding; on the southern side, it showed the death of the husband.

Swarovski Crystal Store

Not too far from the Golden Dachl, a store selling crystal stands there. It's the famous Swarovski store. I'm pretty sure you guys see the commercial on TV. This one is apparently the original store. I spent some time checking out the crystals they sell inside. I gotta say, to buy it, you gotta sell your kidney. You might even need to sell both to buy one crystal...... They also have decorations around the store using different colors of crystal. It's really pretty and magnificent. Then again, go sell a kidney before coming here...... (welp, at least they have free bathroom. Most of the public bathrooms cost money to use. They even gate the door so that you have to put in coins before you can enter. Normally it's 50 cents. For popular places like Venice, it can even go up to 1.50 euro. I'll talk about it again when we enter Venice.)

One of the columns in Swarovski store, made entirely with crystal

Royal palace. The Court Church is right next to it.
The background is the Alpine mountains.

If you walk towards the north of the Maria Theresa Street, you will get to see the imperial palace. This palace is, again, built for Emperor Maximilian I in 15th century. Unfortunately I didn't enter the palace due to time constrain, which I really regret. Apparently this palace holds the most prestigious ballroom in the Alps. It also has portraits of Maria Theresa's family. Even though the latter ones are easier to see (Once we entered Vienna, those portraits of royal family are kinda at every corner.)

Leopold Fountain

Next to the palace, there's a fountain for Leopold V. It's a fairly big fountain, and many families play here. Little kids.......okay I can't find more words to describe the atmosphere. It's actually not that exciting, lol.

St. James Cathedral

Near the Golden Dachl, there's a cathedral named after St. James. This baroque style church is the biggest one around. The inside of the church is very beautiful. Too bad this time there was no organ playing. There's a famous painting at the altar called "Mariahilf." (Mary holding baby Jesus.)

It's funny how I went to Innsbruck and completely missed the "Innsbruck." Bruck means bridge, and Inn is the river that flows through the town. Therefore, Innsbruck literally means "the bridge across Inn River." According to the tourist map, the bridge is pretty close by, but I was so busy checking out all the buildings and people that I completely forgot to go to the bridge! Shame. Here is a picture of the bridge.

I'll just share some more pictures to end this post.