Monday 11 August 2003. Today's excursion is to the city of Innsbruck. It's our first time there and there's plenty to see.
This is the famous golden roof. The Goldenes Dachl as it is known locally. The bay window and the roof are a late addition (c1500) to an already existing building from the early 1400s. It was added by Emperor Maximilian to commemorate his wedding to Bianca Maria Sforza - and also in an attempt to scotch the rumours that he was somewhat skint... The roof was tiled with 2,657 fire-gilded copper shingles, though apparently most of them were taken down and replaced by copies in the early 1900s. Six of the original tiles are displayed in the museum inside.
On an adjacent corner to the Golden Roof is the Helblinghaus, known as the Wedding Cake House for obvious reasons - yes it's currant...! (Please don't write in because of that - I kan spel...) Once again the building pre-dates it's famous decoration. Variously described as built originally as town houses or as the town hall (and possibly the confusion is simply in the translation from Austrian) the building once again dates from the 1400s and the the decoration in this case from the early eighteenth century, being completed in 1732. The name though according to the Innsbruck guidebook is for Sebastian Helbling, who owned the building from 1800 to 1827.
But enough of this frivolity... Mum has found the Swarovski crystal shop so we went in to have a laugh at the prices. We had been given some discount tickets and they are burning a hole in her purse. The price of one of these chandeliers would have also burned a hole in Dad's pocket, bank balance and possibly the Bank of England as well...
And so we hit the streets and the sun comes out. Mum, never the one for meaningless elegance, has forgotten her suntan lotion and instead of letting us attempt buying some in a foreign language, has tied a 1950s style flimsy headscarf around her shoulders believing it will do the trick. She believes this all the way until the following morning when she wakes up with mild sunstroke and elects to stay in bed...
We are heading from the Old Town towards the river, which is the River Inn, hence the name of the city. I didn't notice until Miss Franny pointed it out to me just after I took this, but the girl sitting eating her lunch on the wall has the most gigantic piece of pizza and is having to hold it in both hands whilst taking chomp-sized bites out of the edge!
We reach the river and take photos of every combination of three of us whilst the fourth takes the photo.
We came upon this. Mum said it was the Maximilian Arch. She was right too, where that came from I don't know... Maximilian (he of the Golden Roof fame) was King of the Romans and also became the Holy Roman Emperor in the 1500s. He had a magnificent tomb in the church here that we saw, but he is not buried in it. He was buried in Wiener Neustadt, south of Vienna, in accordance with his wishes, though the church there did not allow for a huge tomb. His grandson had a massive tomb built here in the centre of the nave with sarcophagus, statues and iron railings, but no body, so it serves more as a memorial or cenotaph.
We stop for a bit of refreshment - keeping hydrated was a must in the hot sun. There are lots of outdoor cafes in Austria, great in summer, a bit more chilly in winter perhaps... They are a good platform for watching life go on.
Apart from horse-drawn carriages, local transport includes a tramway system, some of the trams a cross between tramcar and train.
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