{"id":17262,"date":"2017-11-23T21:31:48","date_gmt":"2017-11-23T21:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/?p=17262"},"modified":"2017-11-23T21:42:46","modified_gmt":"2017-11-23T21:42:46","slug":"nationalparkwelten-museum-mittersill-austria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/nationalparkwelten-museum-mittersill-austria\/","title":{"rendered":"Nationalparkwelten Museum – Mittersill Austria"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Nationalparkwelt<\/a><\/p>\n

Imagine if you will a day on your alpine holiday when the weather is truly cold, squally and wet, and your family is less than enthusiastic about being outside at all.<\/p>\n

You on the other hand, have stuffed yourself so full of Kaiserschmarnn (fried pancakes in butter with raisins and plum jam or apple sauce!) in a local gasthoff, slightly depressed at the thought of not being able to fully enjoy the beautiful surrounding mountains, and furthermore none of the other members of your family seem that enthusiastic about your idea of heading back to the apartment to relax with an afternoon of German lessons to look forward to (albeit in Kids TV form) whilst you sit quietly (and sadly) reading a book…<\/p>\n

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The Kaiserschmarnn King tucking in…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Well you could of course do all of the above (we did at least have the Kaiserschmarnn, it was very good!), or you could opt to spend the afternoon at The National Park World Museum in Mittersill<\/a>.\u00a0 Luckily, we decided on the latter.\u00a0 \u00a0 We have passed this futuristic building on many a journey when we lived close by, and hadn’t set a foot inside – up until now…<\/p>\n

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The Museum is set out over 9 different areas, all focussing on the National Park that surrounds its very building.\u00a0 This covers a vast area including Austria’s tallest mountain the Grossglockner (all 4,000 metres tall of it!), some 266 peaks (all over 3,000 metres high), over 342 glaciers, and one of the highest water falls in the world…\u00a0 \u00a0It is possibly the largest alpine park on the planet, and this museum is dedicated entirely to the different aspects of majestic scenery (both above ground and below it) on its doorstep…<\/p>\n

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Eagle’s Eye Room (plus reflections)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We started off in the shop.\u00a0 \u00a0Obviously something you typically save for the end of a visit, but as I had discovered that I had forgotten to pack the toddler’s beloved “dog”, and bedtimes were somewhat harder than usual because of that, such a visit was imperative.\u00a0 \u00a0Alpine cuddly toy section investigated, and small brown bunny (“bun bun” which if you are two sounds a bit like “bum bum”) decided upon, we headed straight to the first room of the exhibit “The Eagle’s Eye View” – which must be quite petrifying if you are rabbit shaped…\u00a0 This room does exactly what it says on the tin, and is a great introduction to the peaks of the National Park.\u00a0 Through the modern wonders of technology, various interactive displays let you imagine what it’s like to fly high above the mountain tops.\u00a0 \u00a0There’s also a live weather station too if you are desperate to find out whether the rest of your trip is going to be a disaster weather-wise.<\/p>\n

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Leading on from here, you will find the Treasure Chamber, with plenty of impressive exhibits about the 200 odd types of precious stones and minerals that can be found deep beneath the skin of the mountains in these parts, and the various myths and folklore surrounding them.<\/p>\n

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There are little caves to hide in, plus a 3D film about the origins of the Tauern Window (which I would love to be able to tell you more about, but gather that it’s something to do with tectonic plates and a special geological region of scientific interest in the park!).\u00a0 \u00a0The Toddler and Bum bum weren’t particularly into this aspect of this exhibit, having set their sights firmly upon the cows in the High Pastures Life area next door…<\/p>\n

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The High Pastures Life room was quite possibly my favourite.\u00a0 \u00a0What’s not to like about specially designed recliners to lounge about on whilst little films of alpine flora and fauna play above your head, all with alpine sounds (nice ones, not avalanches or children moaning or anything) such as the gentle buzz of bees, and the faint clonking of cow bells piped in the background.\u00a0 People pay good money for this kind of therapy, I am sure of it.\u00a0 I could have spent the whole day,\u00a0 if not week there to be honest.\u00a0 \u00a0Please note that despite the contrary indication on the Museum’s promotional video, climbing on the cows is now strictly verboten\u00a0 (just in case any of the younger members of your family were thinking about attempting such a thing)…<\/p>\n

Dragged out of my recliner (and half slumber) by my ten year old excited to show me something in the adjacent Gallery of the Mountain Forest (which in hindsight was probably the inspiration for his particularly selective photographic study later in the holiday when the weather did improve!<\/a>), here we learned about the huge variety of trees in the National Park, and their various inhabitants.\u00a0 You can also listen to the odd noises of the tree tenants, and learn about what they eat (and poop!)…<\/p>\n

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Next it was time to venture downstairs to the Marmot & Co room.\u00a0 \u00a0 If there’s ever an example that I have no foreign language ability whatsoever, it’s the fact that up until recently, I could only think of the German name for these creatures, and how they often feature in various depictions of the weird and wonderful Wolpertinger<\/a> from Bavarian folklore that you can find in so many gift shops.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0I have never seen a real one in the wild (Marmot not Wolpertinger obviously), but I hold out hope that we might one day.\u00a0 \u00a0In this room you can imagine what it’s like deep in their burrows, and learn about their various calls and habits by watching a sweet film about these cuddly looking creatures.\u00a0 \u00a0If you are too big to fit in the pretend burrow, don’t feel left out – there’s a great climbing wall that those delighting in the fact that they are small enough to fit into the marmot tunnels probably couldn’t even think about scaling…<\/p>\n

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There are plenty of other alpine animal facts to learn about here too, as well as some pretty mind blowing plant facts.\u00a0 \u00a0For example, did you know that the alps are home to the World’s Smallest Tree?\u00a0 \u00a0The trunk of the KrautWieder (or Least Willow) is no thicker than a finger, and grows under the ground – only the tiny leaves and miniature catkins can be seen.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 This is now officially my favourite tree, and you know<\/em> how I feel about them…<\/p>\n

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On now to perhaps my favourite room of the lot –\u00a0 NationalPark 360 – a media installation that takes you on a magical journey through time lapse photography, exploring time and seasons in an all encompassing cinema room (360 degrees of it funnily enough!).\u00a0 The film is both stunningly beautiful, and very moving in a strange kind of way.\u00a0 \u00a0It’s also moving in another way in that it makes your brain think that you are actually moving along with it, so it’s quite easy to find yourself swaying unintentionally.\u00a0 Hold on to the rails, and don’t stand at the top of the stairs (the lumbering up and down of which kept the toddler happy!) for that very reason.\u00a0 \u00a0I wanted to apologise to the nice quiet couple for our sudden intrusion, but didn’t want to disturb them anymore than we already had (sorry people).\u00a0 Then it was back up the stairs to the final few rooms.<\/p>\n

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The World of Water is actually situated to the left of the High Pastures Life area, but exploring the museum this way around just seems logical.\u00a0 \u00a0Here you can imagine what it’s like to be a trout (easier for some than others I imagine!) deep under some crystalline alpine stream, and come face to face with a few stranger looking creatures as well.\u00a0 This room is quite beautiful, and intrigued the Toddler and Bum Bum for quite some time…<\/p>\n

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The rest of the gang were by now in the Avalanche room.\u00a0 \u00a0 Mr R is always being lectured on the dangers of which with his penchant for skiing off piste, so hopefully being able to visualise what it’s like to be in the centre of one in yet another video installation (another beautiful one at that) has well and truly put him off any such nonsense in future…<\/p>\n

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Afterwards, the path led us out to the final exhibit – Glacier World.\u00a0 \u00a0I hadn’t quite appreciated exactly how many glaciers there are in this corner of the planet.<\/p>\n

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Kissing his reflection…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The largest is at the base of the GrossGlockner itself, and you can investigate a slightly stomach churning exhibit, steering the wheel to find out how big the glacier used to be, and how much it’s shrinking year by year.\u00a0 \u00a0If this kind of thing doesn’t keep you awake at night yet, believe me it will after studying this.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0This room also features an actual glacier that you can touch and feel – and if your parents aren’t watching you closely enough for a split second, have a quick go at doing this to it too…<\/p>\n

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no tongues were harmed in the taking of this photograph…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We all really enjoyed this museum (I will admit to not really knowing what to expect beforehand!).\u00a0 There’s exactly the right balance of information, interaction, fun and experiences to keep everyone happy when the weather outside is appalling and\/or if your legs are killing you after a full day’s skiing\/hiking.\u00a0 Plus it’s always good to learn that little bit extra about a place you are visiting right?… Highly recommended.<\/p>\n

Tips:\u00a0 Entrance – Adults cost \u20ac10 euros each, Children from 5-14 cost \u20ac5 (under that age go free!).\u00a0 Family tickets cost \u20ac30.\u00a0 \u00a0Open daily from 9-6pm (apart from various holidays).\u00a0 \u00a0The Alpine themed cafe is well worth investigating, but if you don’t fancy any of the cakes there, I highly recommend the Kaiserschmarnn at the Brauerei Gasthof Braurup<\/a> up the road…\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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