The children have just been lucky enough to enjoy a couple of days off from school (Ascension Day break) and so Steve and I decided to make the most of our geographical position and nipped over the border (through Liechtenstein) to Austria.  Three days, based in Igles, visiting the location of the 1976 Winter Olympics, Innsbruck.  The full account of our trip will be blogged later this week but in the meantime here is a post (written by T) about Swarovski Kristallwelten which we visited on our final day and which is twenty minutes outside of Innsbruck in Wattens.

T took along her notebook and what follows is her report on our visit (along with photos taken by both T and J)…

On Saturday we went to Swarovski world. We saw a water spitting giant, it was really cool.  The water spitting giant is built on the side of a hill and we could see inside.  It’s really cool inside the giant, it’s made of crystals.  One of the walls is made of real crystals.  One of the crystals we saw is in the Guiness Book of World Records because it is the largest crystal in the world.  We went into a room which had legs that danced and T-shirts that moved around like some kind of wild thing.  There were also bodies that uncurled from a circle to a line.  There was a body walking around in a circle too.  It was a bit spooky.

Then we went inside a real crystal, you could see yourself in the shiny walls.  There were lights that changed colour and lit up objects that flickered on and off every minute.  After, we went into another room where there was a big Christmas tree and snow flakes.  It looked like we were in Elsa’s ice palace, I really loved it.  There were pictures of sparkly animals on the walls, and I felt like I was dancing in the land of snow.

The next room we went into we saw some ice crystals in ice boxes we also saw some ice chandeliers.  I really liked that room especially the chandeliers.  They were beautiful. There was a room with multi coloured spirals hanging on the walls.  Then we found a passage way and when you walked on the floor, crystals would form.  It was just like when Elsa puts her foot on the floor in Frozen.  We went through another door, lots of crystal artwork was in there.  They were very shiny.

Another room we went into had lots of models.  Big Ben was chiming and the Statue of Liberty was there.  There was a train going round, and also a house that you could see inside.  There was a castle, it was multi coloured and there was a helicopter on a big hill and lots of other things.  It made me feel that I was in London at Christmas because the models were covered in crystal snow.

There was another room which had lots of brass trees and crystal sculptures sat in the trees.  I saw a crystal owl in one of them.  Then there was a room with lots of crystal buildings.  One was an Egyptian Pyramid.  Another was The Empire State building. There was also the Kremlin.

There was a room with artwork in it by Brian Eno.  It looked a bit like a Piet Mondrian with the colours and lines.  It was a bit weird.  We saw another room with weird pictures changing colour which I didn’t like.

Then another room came up, it had crystals with different coloured lights in them.  I really, really liked this room because it looked like a snowy winter day.

In the next room there were lots of crystals shaped like diamonds.  They were so pretty.  I wonder how they made all the crystals.  There were dresses, tiaras, a snake necklace and shoes all made from crystal.  I also saw the real Glass slipper that they used in the Cinderella movie.  It was really pretty and I wished that I could wear it.

We went into a shop and there was lots of beautiful jewellery.  I liked everything especially the tiaras.

Then we had delicious pasta for lunch outside.  Afterwards we went into a big soft play building.  Mummy went with me and J, she was a bit scared to go on the bouncy floor at the top, but she did it.  Then we went to a playground outside which was fun. You had to climb around a pirate ship.  (I have never been a fan of soft play areas but this was truly fantastic, not only was it set over four floors there wasn’t a single foam block in sight.  Definitely my kind of soft play!)

Then we went home.  I enjoyed the day.  I would like to go back again soon.  My favourite part was the soft play.  I had a great day.

Swarovski Kristallwelten reminded me of Hauser & Wirth, Somerset in that it was set in a fantastic location with some amazing art installations (here all on the theme of crystals of course).  My particular favourites included the Crystal Cloud and the Crystal Dome.  Swarovski World was a wonderful way to round off our short break to Innsbruck (particularly for the magpie that is my seven year old daughter!) and we were lucky to make it out of there without a truck load of crystals.  We can recommend it if you happen to be passing by…

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Disclaimer:  Neither myself, nor my daughter, have received money or product (more’s the pity) in exchange for this review of Swarovski World.  All opinions are our own.  The cost of a family ticket (2 adults and 2 children) was 41.50 Euros as at May 2015.