Austria Dazzles the Whole Family
By Eileen Ogintz
Tribune Media Services
(Tribune Media Services) — It sparkles everywhere — on the walls, the floors, on the ceilings in fanciful art displays guaranteed to make you say, “WOW!” no matter what your age.
Welcome to Swarovski Crystal Worlds in the small town of Wattens, Austria, where the famous international company has been headquartered for more than a century. We’re just a short drive from Innsbruck at this unique underground museum, Austria’s second top tourist attraction (after Vienna’s Schonbrunn Palace), which attracts 700,000 visitors a year to the Tyrol. (Catch a bus several times a day from Innsbruck).
As the legend goes here, a benign giant (we see his huge walking stick) watches over the subterranean world (crystals, of course, are formed deep in the earth and then refined by human hands). Each of the museum’s paintings, sculptures and multimedia installations are created by internationally known artists and utilize crystals — from the Mechanical Theater (kids will love the dancing pants and the man’s body that comes apart with crystal inside!) to Poseidon’s Puzzle, which changes based on your movements, and the giant kaleidoscope, flower angels and dancing suns.
Check out the biggest crystal in the world — 300,000 carats — and the tiniest, just .8 millimeters (www.swarovski.com/kristallwelten). Kids will love the special art workshops, the performances (we saw some amazing Brazilian dancers) and the sculpture garden and playground outside.
