Friday the 25th was an awesome day, full of new
experiences and the first day of our free weekend! We started the day off with a trip to KunstHausWien, a museum
showcase of the works of artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. I knew nothing about Hundertwasser
prior to this excursion, and I’m so glad I had the opportunity go, because I
absolutely loved his works!
Hundertwasser was a 20th century artist who was famous for
his ideas about “natural” art and design.
These ideas appear in his artwork primarily as a focus on irregularity,
avoidance of straight lines, and of course, natural subjects. But his ideas are definitely not
limited to visual arts. One of the
most fascinating aspects of the museum tour was the museum itself; the
architecture was entirely based on Hundertwasser’s ideas! The floors were not flat but bumpy and
irregular. The facade was a
patchwork of windows of different sizes and shapes, and of irregular color and
accentuation. To top it off,
nature was involved throughout the museum; there were trees and plants growing
through various parts of the building, plants hanging from the rooftops, and
even a fountain with a natural/irregular design on the ground floor. It was unlike any other building I’ve
ever seen, and it was a great compliment to the artwork that was on display! I particularly enjoyed a showcase of
models based on Hundertwasser’s architectural ideas, including a naturalistic
town model that looked like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. I would totally live in a town like
that! After the museum we got to
see the outside of the Hundertwasserhaus, an apartment
building and an even better example of the artist’s ideas manifested in
architecture. Despite only getting
a view of the outside, I could tell the irregularity was even more prevalent in
this building’s design, and the tops of trees and other plants were visible on
the rooftops. The building was
truly a work of art, and I would love to live there! After the apartment building, it wasn’t long before my group
had to head off for our free-weekend trip to Innsbruck and Salzburg. We packed our bags and hopped on a
train for a four-hour ride through some amazing countryside! The coolest part by far was seeing the
Alps approach; I had always wanted to see a truly BIG mountain, and this was my
first time seeing one (lots, actually) up close and personal! Before I knew it, we were stepping out
of the train station in Innsbruck, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was a fairly small tourist town
(kind of like my hometown) with lots of cool attractions, and to top it off…
giant alpine mountains surrounding the place on either side. We snapped lots of pictures before
heading off to find the place where we would be staying. Surprisingly enough, this was one of
the coolest parts of the trip! Our
hostel was part of a café/bed-and-breakfast place near the downtown area, and
it was pretty much the coolest thing ever! The café manager showed us around behind the building, where
we entered a hidden alleyway and walked through several locked doors before
climbing the stairs to our humble abode.
What we stepped into was WAY better than what I could have hoped
for. There was a kitchen with tons
of food labeled “Help yourself,” a bathroom complete with toiletries and a
urinal (ha), a balcony, board games, bunk beds and cots for each of us… I don’t
think I’ve ever felt so at home as a guest resident! Oh, and did I mention it only cost €25? We dropped off our stuff, spent a
little time relaxing, and met our neighboring residents before heading out to
explore the town before dark. We
found an excellent Italian place with some legit pizza (apparently we were very
close to the Italian border, go figure), as well as a family-owned café with
delicious drinks and pastries! We
didn’t stay out too late because we wanted to make the most of our time in
Innsbruck the next day, but it was nevertheless a great conclusion to a great
day.
Saturday the 26
th was probably the most epic day of
the whole trip, if not my entire life.
We started by checking out of the hostel and heading down to breakfast
at the café, which was incredibly generous. Not only was it free, but also they served us cereal,
coffee, and fancy pastries that were normally sold at high prices in the café. Even better, they let us store our
luggage at the café until the end of the day, for free. The people were just awesome in every
way! After breakfast my group rented
some bikes from a local shop and rode around for a few hours, just to see what
we could see, and it was so worth it.
We rode across the Inn River (for which the city is named; “Innsbruck”
means “bridge over the Inn”), earned a few battle wounds after some chain
mishaps, and headed a pretty good way up the mountain. It was exhausting but the views were
totally worth it, and exploring the network of tiny residential roads made me
feel a little less like an outsider.
When we finally headed back down the mountain, we went past the bike
shop and rode to the opposite side of town, where we stumbled onto a flea
market with some pretty awesome cheap stuff! I ended up getting a steel cup with some neat designs on it
that reminded me of Innsbruck, and my friend Kenneth got a wooden jug that was
beautifully carved. Buying that
jug was hilarious. The owner spoke
hardly any English so Kenneth asked “Wieviel kostet das?” (How much does that
cost?) and the guy said “Funf euro… ohne schnapps” (5 euros… without
schnapps). We had a laugh and
walked around a bit before Kenneth decided he wanted the thing, so we headed
back, at which point the owner told him the price was only 3 euros. Kenneth was quick to continue the
earlier joke and asked “Wieviel… mit schnapps?” (How much… with schnapps?). To our surprise the man handed him a small bottle of Serbian
liquor, the same kind we had been given on our first day in Vienna, for
free. Then we had a REALLY good
laugh! After the flea market we
returned our bikes and met the rest of our group for lunch at a local biergarten
before heading off for the best experience EVER: going to the top of one of the mountains! We took a tram/gondola system that got
us there in about half an hour, and it was totally worth the €22 that it cost. It was an amazing ride up! There
were a few stops so we were able to get pictures at the overlooks and snowy areas
along the way. We also saw people
hiking the mountain, biking up and down the mountain, and even skiing near the
top, all in the midst of some pretty harsh terrain. When we finally reached the summit, I simply couldn’t
believe my eyes (and you really won’t believe my pictures, despite how little
they capture of the atmosphere).
We looked out and saw the entire city of Innsbruck in a huge valley more
than a mile below us, saw the 1989 Olympic ski-jump across the valley, and all
around, mountains, mountains, MOUNTAINS. Being at the peak, we were also able to see the other side of
the ridge, which was completely uninhabited! There were jagged cliffs, huge drop-offs, pine trees in the
distance, and of course, more of those famous snowy mountaintops. I’ve never seen so many Paramount logos
all at once! We saw some people
who were crazy enough to walk across a narrow snow bridge to climb some of the
jagged rocks, with death-drops on either side—naturally, part of me wanted to do
it… but more of me wanted to live.
There were fluffy black birds flying around and hoping for people-food,
mountain goats grazing in the distance, and even a few patches of flowers
scattered around the tundra-like area near the top. I wish the pictures could convey the experience, but they
just don’t do it justice, unfortunately. It
was the most exhilarating hour-and-a-half of my whole life! I was sad when we finally had to head
back to town, but we still had a good time. We walked through the local park, stumbled on a beautiful
church, got some incredibly fancy gelato, got more incredible pizza, and
finally headed to the train station for our trip to Salzburg. It was pretty late when we arrived so
we didn’t really have any time to do anything, but we did have fun talking to
the taxi driver who took us to our hotel.
He was a nice guy, and the hotel was even nicer! It was a pretty good way out of town,
but it was similar to our Innsbruck hostel, so as you can imagine, it was
totally worth it. As with
Innsbruck, we were quick to get to bed so we could make the most of our coming day
in Salzburg!
PHOTO UPDATE:
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| Bright and early in Innsbruck. |
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| Biking is the thing to do in Innsbruck! |
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| We had a great time. |
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| Making our way up the mountain... |
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| Getting closer to the top... |
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| We saw some crazy mountain bikers from our cable car. |
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| Finally at the summit! Innsbruck is more than a mile below! |
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| The other side of the mountain is wilderness! |
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| The summit was the most beautiful place I've ever been, hands down. |
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| I wish it didn't have to end... |
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| Bye, mountain goats! |
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| Inside an awesome church on the way out of Innsbruck. |
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| Like every other church we visited, it was spectacular. |
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| Beautiful ice cream! |
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| Arriving at our cute little hotel in Salzburg. |
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| It was a perfect welcome to Salzburg! |
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