Innsbruck

It's been quite a while since I have wanted to go to Innsbruck, which is really not too far from Munich. Part of the reason I wanted to go was because Tord Boontje has a Winter Wonderland instillation at Swarovski, and because the nearby Kristallwelten.

I really am the last person that has an interest in crystals or Swarovski, but this piqued my interest. I guess it's different visiting a place like this rather that purchasing, as they call it here, 'schnick schnack'. We were surprised to find the Swarovski headquarters on our trip to little Liechtenstein, and it seems as though their stores dot every major European city - at least once.

We ventured to Austria in the afternoon and stopped at Kristallwelten first. Let me preface this by saying they have a great marketing team, because it was much different than I anticipated.

We bought our ticket to enter 'The Giant', a beautiful waterfall, and then walked around the grounds admiring the art works and the hedge maze.

Once it was two o'clock we were supposed to enter the Kristallwelten. You scan your ticket and the gate opens - simple enough... that is unless everyone with their entire family hasn't decided to wait in line for half an hour before they are supposed to enter, thus blocking the entrance for everyone else.

While I'd rather refrain from using this as an instance further proving no matter where you go you will encounter stupid people that's just what this is. After standing a line that wasn't moving, we decided to walk further up and ask people what time their ticket said. Big surprise, we were standing behind people that weren't supposed to enter for a while.

Once a large enough group of us gathered and complained we squeezed past people to the front and then were herded through the various exhibits. We didn't even wait for the tour because at this point I simply couldn't handle being around people. If that wasn't enough, everywhere we went people stunk to high heavens and it was a reasonably chilly day.

Much of Kristallwelten is very avant garde. For someone that studied art history, and appreciates modern things, this was just a bit too far fetched and I can't see that it appealed to the masses. But since art is supposed to evoke questions it served its purpose.

Surprisingly there weren't even many crystals in the exhibits and there was no information on how a crystal becomes a crystal. We were simply stuck in this avant garde fun land.

The highlights for me were the Dan Flavin-esque neon lights in the 'calligraphy' exhibit, a crystal tree by Tord Boontje, the world's largest kaleidoscope, and an enormous faceted dome with changing colors that you could walk into. I must also say I liked the ceiling of the gift shop, which in true museum fashion you are forced to enter as you leave.

After this strange experience we finished the drive to our intended destination - Innsbruck.

I instantly loved all of the bright colors and proximity to the mountains. It was stunning and so Austrian.

Since I spend a substantial amount of time in Salzburg I noticed the similarities - Mozart Kugeln being sold, a place to buy Sacher Torte, and the Tomeselli Cafe even had an ice cream shop there. All of the tourist wares were the same only Innsbruck had been substituted for Salzburg. The architecture being similar would be expected. One of the big attractions in Innsbruck is the 'Goldenes Dachl' - the golden roof.

We walked around and admired all of the details. Innsbruck wouldn't be nearly as beautiful without it's bright façades.

After venturing around town we went to yet another Swarovski shop to finally see Boontje's Winter wonderland. Stefan even commented that it was more of what he would have expected from the Kristallwelten. In true Boontje fashion it did not disappoint.

During our visit Innsbruck was celebrating it's annual Festwochen, which many cities in this area celebrate at this time of year. We walked through and enjoyed a krapfen (donut). I also found it odd that many of the shops were closed, but this could be due to their Festwoche.

As the evening came we decided to do something a bit different for dinner. I will write a separate post about that experience.

Redecorating

Lately I go back and forth with the idea of moving. Ideally we would appreciate a larger space, however we love our neighborhood and being so close to the city center. While we could always find something in the same area, it will probably take some time considering it's a desired place to be. Not only that, there are certain 'must have' features we'd want for an apartment when we already have most of them here. 

It's also nice to not acquire more things that will only tie us down. This will enable us to put money towards savings, traveling, and investing in other worth while things.

I'm also very happy with the possibility of acquiring art work. I already have my eye on another Joe Sorren piece.

The more we think about it the more we are content with the idea of staying here and making our home more tailored to our needs. It's great that Stefan is helpful in that department as he offers up suggestions as opposed to saying 'sure whatever, it looks nice'. 

As we discuss interior design aspects, I think of the beautiful things I have seen and saved from magazines, the internet, and design stores. I instantly recalled seeing beautiful and organic looking plastic pieces while I was 'working' in Salzburg. I must have the best job if I get free time to shop! These unique pieces are designed by French brothers, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec. They can be restructured according to the owner's wishes, but what I like most about them is their versatility... they can function as a room divider or a wall hanging and come in a variety of colors.

I've also considered getting one of Tord Boontje's beautiful midsummer night hanging lights. I just don't want to go overkill on the delicate lacy effects. Plus, it's such a dramatic piece and I'm not certain it would go with the rest of our design aesthetic.

I guess the notion that we are even entertaining ideas of redecorating is exciting. Since we don't have a large place, it will be easy to invest in nice things and make it cohesive and tailored towards our personalities and interests. I'm sure I'm making it sound more simple than it actually is. Maybe we'll even enter the Apartment Therapy tiny spaces contest next year!

I'm also on the look out for a modern buffet that opens into a table. My Grandma has one, although I'm hoping to find an updated version. Unfortunately it was one of those days where I enter every descriptive thing I'm looking for into google and still come up with stories on Warren Buffet rather than a buffet. The closest match for a modern white buffet is one I saw in that catalog of Interio, a design shop in Salzburg. While it's beautiful, it's still lacking the table aspect.

I'm certain we can't be the only people living in a small space that want versatile pieces of furniture! ... The search will continue or perhaps we'll have something custom made.

weekend wrap up

I love the frilly and floral qualities of Tord Boontje's lights. As we were walking to Gast, a delicious and simple restaurant that runs off the open kitchen concept, I passed a shop and instantly recognized his 'Midsummer's Light' pendant lamp in the window. Boontje's aesthetic mix of natural with the technological create some striking pieces. I also love that he returns to nature for inspiration.

He currently has an instillation at Swarovski in Innsbruck through 2009 and I still need to make my way to see it. Despite my lack of interest in the zillions of Swarovski shops that seem to dot every European city, I would be willing to visit the one in Innsbruck since he is involved. I had to laugh when we went to tiny Liechtenstein last year to find their headquarters are there. Swarovski is truly inescapable.

Dinner at Gast, was great as usual. They have a huge variety of fresh pastas, pizzas, salads, and rice dishes. I've also seen their menu for a breakfast, but we haven't made it yet. If you're interested in an inexpensive and delicious meal, you can find Gast at the Gasteig, one of Munich's performing arts centers, at Rosenheimerplatz.


This weekend we also enjoyed the Mark Rothko exhibit at Kunsthalle, which is part of Fünf Höfe. It was a retrospective, which are always fascinating. I love being able to see how an artist progresses and they had these really neat digital monitors that enabled the viewer to flip through pages of his sketch books simply by touching the screen. It brought me back to the abstract expressionism from my 20th century art history courses. We noticed many of the pieces were on loan from his daughter Kate. Interestingly he also holds the record for a post-war painting sale - in 2007 he had a piece sell for $72.8 million. I wonder what he would think of that. Fünf Höfe has several exhibitions through the year and they are always quite good. The space is beautiful and I love that they integrated art into a frequently traversed area of the city.

I love taking people to art museums, because it's nice to be knowledgeable and tell people about the area that I studied. Stefan was asking me even seemingly simple things about the different mediums and the differences between oil paint and gauche, so it was a bit back to basics, but it brought a little smile to my face.

We definitely need to make museum visits more of our weekend repertoire. I miss seeing the art as well as the other patrons, since museums and galleries seem to draw and eclectic crowd.