After seeing Munich we visited Innsbruck, Austria. It was only about an hour away and since we drove to Oktoberfest (both a good and bad decision) it was an easy to get there from Germany. Innsbruck is famous because it has been the sight of the winter olympic games multiple times. As an architecture student I was most interested in seeing Zaha Hadid’s ski jump. She just so happens to be the most famous woman architect in the world right now and doesn’t have much built in the US. One of the greatest things about Europe in general is that they value design a lot more. I’m sure that doesn’t mean a lot to other people but it’s really interesting to see a subway that has been designed by Hadid compared to what we have to deal with in even bigger cities in America. If you want to see what I mean check out this link that shows images of the different stations in Innsbruck (I tried to take picture but I saw them at night): Hadids Subway Stations

The ski jump is located above the city and was visible from the drive to Germany. We got up early and made it up to the top of the mountain. Thanks to being a student we got in for a little less than regular admission. This is a picture of the view on the way up:

At the top of the jump there is also a cafe that lets you overlook Innsbruck. That is the part jutting out from the main concrete structure that looks like it isn’t being supported by anything in this picture:

This is the view from the top of the ski jump. I can’t imagine being the person about to go down this:

And finally a picture of me and Kyle with Innsbruck as the back drop:

It was worth it to stop and Innsbruck was a really nice city besides seeing the ski jump, small but with public piazza’s like Roma. Not to mention driving through the alps was really beautiful so hopefully we will be able to go back when there is snow!!