Swarovski & Ambras Castle 水晶世界 & 城堡

June 6, 2022

We went to the Swarovski Crystal Worlds by a local bus in the morning. Swarovski is one of the world's most famous jewelry brands. The Swarovski Crystal Worlds is located in Wattens, near Innsbruck, where the company was founded, and its headquarters today. Seeing the Green Giant was on the top list of place-to-visit in Innsbruck. The green Giant at the entrance of Chambers of Wonder welcomed visitors to experience fantasy inspired and designed by some of the world's greatest artists. There were 18 chambers of Wonders containing thousands of sparking crystals, vibrant and exciting displays, and 3D images of civil rights activists and politicians. It had the smallest and largest hand-cut crystals displayed.

We enjoyed this magnificent crystal world very much. After chambers of wonders, it came with a sale trap. The Swarovski Kristallwelten (Crystal Worlds) Store was located at the museum's exit. We usually tried not to buy souvenirs during our long travel because we packed light and had no room for extra items. But it was hard to walk away when you were at the Crystal Worlds, one of the world's largest Swarovski stores. There was this old saying - "Happy wife, happy life." So as the lady was busy shopping, the guy was enjoying a cup of coffee and a small cake. Something we did not realize while shopping at the store until many weeks later. Typically, if you buy something in EU (Europe Union) countries that exceed the value limit, citizens of non-EU states would get value added tax (about 20%) back before leaving the EU. Unfortunately, when we traveled in Europe between EU and non-EU countries by train, there was no passport control station at any train station, so we never had the chance to stamp our receipts to prove that we had left the EU. The only time we would be at the airport with passport control was when we flew back to the US from Switzerland at the end of the trip, but Switzerland is not a member of the EU. Therefore, we could not have our Swarovski receipts verified and never got the tax refund. We just considered that it was our contribution to the EU.

Done with shopping and coffee break, we went to the garden. The garden of the Giant was terrific. We especially liked the Crystal Cloud, where the cloud consisting of 800,000 crystals flows above a black reflection pool. It gave us a unique experience, and it was sparkling and stunning. We had lunch at their beautiful café facing the garden. After lunch, we walked around to see other parts of the garden.

Once we got back to the city, we turned around and got on another local bus to see the famous Ambras Castle on the outskirt of the town. There was an interesting story about the castle. Archduke Ferdinand II, the second son of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, fell in love with the daughter of a patrician, not from a royal family. The emperor didn't want outside the family to know about their marriage. They secretly married, and the prince turned the medieval fortress at Ambras into a Renaissance castle as a gift for his wife. The prince systematically collected armor and art from famous personalities of his time and built one of the world's oldest museums. It was a magnificent castle where you could spend a lot of time enjoying and relaxing. Unfortunately, we arrived late afternoon and did not have as much time as we wanted to go through the castle before it was closed for the day.  

We had a short coffee break in the castle's courtyard and went to the garden afterward. The garden was very well-maintained and gorgeous. A rare white peacock and a few Indian peacocks were walking freely in the garden. One male peacock opened its train and shook its feathers to catch the attention of a female peacock nearby. But it looked like just a one-way attraction. The female peacock was interested in someone else. We spent so much time taking pictures and videos of the peacocks. We had never seen a white peacock before, and it was our first time seeing peacocks with trains open so closely. It made our day.

We had our dinner at the old town and enjoyed our last night and very last walk of Innsbruck.

第十七天:一早坐了公交车去城外的Swarovski水晶世界。这个家喻户晓的品牌在全世界都有专卖店，而我们今天来到的是它的最著名的水晶博物馆，也是这个品牌的总部所在地。入口处的绿色巨人喷泉，展厅内各式璀璨夺目的水晶及水晶艺术品，还有展馆外的园林艺术让我们觉得不虚此行。下午再接再厉赶到Innsbruck另一个著名的景点 Ambras 城堡，号称是世界上最早的博物馆之一，收藏了不少珍贵物品。当时蒂罗尔国王子因为父母不同意他与平民结婚，他为平民妻子秘密地将堡寨改建成这个城堡。在城堡的花园里我们有幸看到了白孔雀和孔雀开屏。