Innsbruck, capital of Tyrol

Innsbruck, an elegant little city, a world-famous ski resort, but also a summer holiday destination, thanks to its cheerful position, lying among the green valleys of Tyrol. Innsbruck is the capital of Tyrol, and you can see it from the buildings in the local style, the decorated houses full of bay windows, the friezes and the distinctive signs. I visited Innsbruck in summer, and found a quiet, beautiful, elegant, sober little city, full of shops of every kind, among which I remember the magnificent organic market with its little self-service restaurant attached. In Innsbruck you perceive another dimension; we're on Austrian soil, even though just a step from the Brenner, the border with Italy.

Innsbruck, however, is already Austria, not only in the language, but also in the urban tidiness, the care of the greenery, the sober and quiet image overall, so far from our noisy and unfortunately disfigured and uncivil Italy. The station is a model of efficiency and services, brand new, with a large entrance and a glass elevator, bright and impeccable in cleanliness and maintenance. The little city is wonderful and offers us enchanting views, true fairy-tale postcards. Walking through the streets of Innsbruck is like going through an illustrated book: the Golden Roof house gleams in the city centre, the clock tower, the Swarovski museum in Wattens, Ambras and its castle, the wonderful parks, immaculately kept, tidy and impeccable.

The ski jump for freestyle skiing stands out sharp on the horizon, perfectly integrated with the landscape; from this jump the champions of the Olympic discipline launched themselves like missiles fired into the sky, since Innsbruck has hosted the Winter Olympics. What else can I say? Innsbruck is a jewel, to be visited, to be lived, a modern little city, to be taken as a model of sustainable tourism.