We entered the grounds and got a ticket for the shop, which is free. The Kristallwelten is basically a modern museum, celebrating all things Swarovski. I've visited a couple of time but it is SO pretentious that I would never bother again. The entrance is a large grass mound in the shape of a giant.
We bypass this and go to the lounge for our drink and this is the weird entrance tunnel!
After this, and once I'd been given my free gift, we made our way out through the he massive shop and returned to the car. As we were leaving more people were arriving. This is one of the major attractions in Austria.
The difference this time was that we were going towards Innsbruck for a change, so that we could visit a village in the mountains called Igls. We are staying there for the first time in Septemebr so whilst we were so close, I thought it was worth having a look. I decided to pop in to our hotel and see if we could upgrade the room. When I made the booking we weren't given the option so I thought it was worth calling in and speaking to the staff. It worked! We were shown tow rooms in a higher category and we picked one, 301. It is lovely, with a balcony overlooking the mountains and so has a fantastic view. We don't have to pay until we go in September, which was good news in case I have to cancel the holiday.
From here is was up some very steep, open stairs to the roof. Suffice to say that I didn't go bu the Husband did. He managed to get some good photos on his camera but I haven't got access to them until I get home.
There are corridors into what look like caves or the crypt of a church. 
What a wonderful shop! I really hope I get back there in September, as its only about half an hour from our hotel, whereas it's currently and hour and a half from the farm.
This is the back of the hotel but you can get an idea of the views!
From here we made our way to Rattenberg where we always shop for glass. This time we stopped and had a picnic by the river that flows thought the town.
Rattenberg is a medieval town, which is clear from its buildings and main road, now pedestrianised.
When you pay for parking, the ticket gives a discount for the town museum. Never having been there before, we decided to find it. What a gem! It's the old monastery and dates from the 1300's. I've never seen anything like it and was so glad we visited.
The sacristy contained glass cabinets displaying all of the gold and silver belonging to the Augustinian monks. 
To our utter amazement, there was a full size church inside, with wonderful altars and wall paintings. The ceilings were painted too, it was completely breathtaking!
From here we ascended to the first floor, which brought out to some gory paintings. Having siad that, there was a lovely picture of the Madonna and Child too.
There were also doors, on leading on to a fretwork balcony, overlooking the altar below and the other at the rear of the church where all the monks would sit to listen to the service. This was all a little creepy but again, fascinating.
We left the museum feeling really pleased we had made the effort to find it!
Now it was time for shopping for glass. We went to out usual shop, Kisslinger, and started at one end, searching for what I wanted. There are tow entrances to the shop as it takes up a massive area. In a town like this, with small shop fronts, it only looks like a tiny shop.
I always look for unusual vases and, after about half an hour, I found it. The shop is amazing as its built into the mountain, so parts of it are very cold. As it was 32 degrees outside, it was most welcome!
Once I had finished we left via the second doorway, emerging into the bright sun and heat about 75 metres further along the road!
So, after all this shopping we only had to visit Aldi (called Hofer here) to get some supplies for tomorrow, fill up with fuel for the journey and then make our way back to the farm.
We've decided that, if we are able to return to the village next year, that we will think about staying somewhere else for a change. There's a new hotel being built but I doubt that will be ready in time, but you never know in Austria! There's one hotel next to Cafe Schmid, where the Shearings people stayed but I wouldn't stay there now having heard their reports on it. We've stayed at two otheres, so wouldn't go back, which left one I hadn't even considered until now. It's a bit tucked away and I forget it's there but it's undergone a massive refurbishment, which has totally changed it from how it was before. Before tea, we wandered over to see it, having checked it out on the Internet first. It looked really good but very modern. We are going to think about it for next year, as we can only book a short time before we can visit.
We went for tea at the Schnierderman - again but this time having something really basic, sausage and chips, Tirolean style!
Having said that, this was my view out of the window!
And so to bed.
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