Innsbruck Photos

AIA conference, February 2007

The Innsbruck Congress


This is the centre in which the IASTED AIA 2007 conference took place. It's more or less right downtown, only a 10 minute walk from where I was staying. Nothing is too far away from anything else in Innsbruck since the size of the city is more or less constrained by the surrounding alps.

The Alps as seen from the street


This is the sort of view one gets from street level in Innsbruck. The mountains are in every direction and can be seen anywhere the sky should be.

The Alps as seen from the street


Here's a wider shot of the Alps from downtown. Normally, buildings prevent wide-angle views, but a building had recently been torn down at this location, providing a better look at the mountains.

Cafe Central


This is a very old style coffee house in Innsbruck. It's been around since 1884, and it's a great place to sit and absorb a hot coffee and a book. My supervisor visits Central every time he comes to Innsbruck (it's his hometown). We made multiple pitstops here.

Dragon Statuette


This is a statuette of a dragon, which forms part of a larger structure called the Rudolf Fountain. It's in the Bozner Platz, downtown. It was built in 1877 to mark a 500-year relationship between Tirol and the House of Habsburg.

Man-Pig Statue


This is a man-pig statue in the Stadt Park, by the river Sill. I don't know the significance of the man with a pig's head.

The Triumphal Arch


This is a shot of the famous Triumphal Arch in downtown Innsbruck. It was commissioned in 1765 by Empress Maria Theresia to mark the wedding of her son Leopold. Due to the sudden death of the emperor at the time, this side of the arch was sculpted to commemorate that event instead.

Ready to Ski


This is a shot of my supervisor, Franz, his son Yandu, and their cousin Andreas loading their equipment into a taxi to head out for a day on the slopes.

In a Gondola


Here I am ascending up the mountain in a gondola with Andreas (who took the picture).

Valley from Lift


This is a shot of the valley, taken from one of several ski lifts on the slopes.

The Alps


This is a shot taken from high in the mountains.

The Alps


Here's another shot of the mountains from the slopes.

The Alps


At one point I fell (okay, well, I fell a lot). I figured that was as good a time as any to snap a photo, so I reached into my pocket to grab the camera, only to discover that it wasn't there! Luckily, it had fallen out of my pocket right then an there. It was on the snow beside me. After that, I tied the camera securely to myself with my sweater's hood laces. That was lucky timing!

Watching the Competition


We all stopped for a lunch break in a chalet before hitting the slopes again. The Austrian skiers were being badly beaten in the skiing competitions on television at that time. Here are Franz, Yandu, and Andreas watching the tube. They were none too happy about their fellow countrymen's performance that day.

View from Chalet


This is another view of the valley, this time from the balcony of the Chalet. I should have quit skiing at this point, but I went on to wear myself out so badly that I was falling left and right. I managed to hurt my knee at one point, and spent the next few days limping, including two high-speed limping sprints through the Frankfurt and Toronto airports. Despite the injury, the slopes were lots of fun!

Plane to Frankfurt


This is the plane I took from Innsbruck to Frankfurt - the first leg of my long trip back to Ottawa. The veiw from the tarmac is quite nice.