Swarovski Crystal

Here is a castle on a hill on the way from Hallstatt to Fussen. The thing about this part of Europe and castles is this - after a while you have seen so many of them you stop taking pictures of them and you even stop mentioning them to other people in the car unless they are really spectacular. However, when this picture was taken they were still something a bit novel for us.

In due course, we arrived at Wattens Austria, home of Swarovski Crystal Works. Audrey really, really likes this kind of crystal. Apparently, there are so many people like her that they actually have this really amazing museum of modern art centered around a Swarovski Crystal theme. In the courtyard for this museum there is a snake wrapped around a pole. A little something about woman and snake and temptation, perhaps?


Audrey at the unique entrance to the Swarovski museum. This fountain has crystal eyes and is a herald of the art inside!

Notice Audrey's smile as she stands in front of the "Wall of Crystal"....

Here Audrey and I pose inside the "Crystal Dome". It is an experience something like what I imagine it would be like to be trapped inside a disco ball on steroids!

Audrey bought some crystal at the museum in Wattens, but they also gave her a brochure about a crystal store in Innsbruck - apparently the largest store of its type in the world. She did not read about it until we got to Fussen, but when she did we had to make a backtrack trip and stop to Innsbruck. You just know that this had to be expensive, don't you? I am afraid that you will simply have to wait until we get home to see how much new crystal we own now - but does the phrase "I need another suitcase" send chills up your spine the way it does for me?