Random pix

[cdwillis]

 

[tegendemuur]

I my art class we had a furnace so that we could cast aluminium. So you would carve a piece out of polystyrene foam, add sprues, pack it in sand and cast it in aluminium. I never did get around to trying it. But I did have a painting exhibited in town and received a certificate signed by Syd Nolan (famous Australian artist). I don't why I got that certificate.

Glass blowing would be amazing! A couple of years ago we visited Kufstein in Austria. I had never heard of it before, and having visted I can kinda see why... But it has the Riedl factory which produces some of the best wine glasses. You can tour the facility and it's really hot! You walk around a catwalk which encircles the glass-blowing area so it gets quite toasty up there. But the highlight of Kufstein for us was a cocktail bar called Stollen. It's hidden right in the middle of the small old town, dug into the mountain under the medieval fortress and behind a restaurant. It was dug into solid rock as a bomb shelter in the 1920s. So it's a rough hewn hole in a mountain with an ornate timber bar inserted into it. It's spectacular and the drinks are fantastic. It has thousands of different kinds of gin.

Had to look that one up. Amazing! <3

 

[HamishR]

That's it! We went the two nights in a row it was that good. I had an old fashioned variation called a Diesel. It was possibly the most aggressive flavoured old fashioned I have had - it was my kinda cocktail. Kufstein is kinda halfway between Innsbruck and Salzburg, and it's close enough that you could probably go there for dinner from either one of those other cities. I wouldn't mind trying the restaurant in front of this bar.

I'm sure we will go back to Austria in the next few years and a return visit to Stollen is a must.