Friday, May 20

 Budapest to Linz

  We had a lovely train ride, about five hours and no changes, from the Keleti Station in Budapest through the West Bahnhof in Vienna to Linz.  The scenery changed slowly from  raggy Hungarian countryside to neat and rolling landscape of Austria. 

Our arrival at the Sommerhaus Hotel and university facility was somewhat marred by a dribbling shower in our apartment, filling the small bathroom floor with two inches of water and threatening to overflow into the bedroom.  And the ancient computer didn’t work either, but we heard later that the entire first floor here is a ‘hot spot,’ so we can take our laptop and work in the breakfast area.

  We took a walk around the neighborhood, mostly dorms and highrise apartment buildings, and had some coffee, and later ate a gratineed asparagus dish at Johann’s, the restaurant next door, part of a large sports complex. We met some of the other program staff, and learned about tomorrow’s schedule, orientation for the students in the morning and a city tour later. 

Saturday, May 21

It turns out that we can plug in our own computer here in the little flat in Austria, which helps us immensely, especially since one or the other of us has been waking early, around four or five each day, with the early morning light!  Chuck is grading final exam essays online, while I want to download photos, compose prose, and work on the webpage, so we are having to compromise.  He was still (!) asleep when I got up this morning at four-thirty, so I am in possession of the machine!

  Anyway, we are living on the 9^th floor of a sort of dorm/hotel combo, and have a space not really bigger than one room, but it’s got a teensy kitchen, study/living room, and a loft with bedroom and bath.  I described this place last summer, so won’t go into it at length, but it’s okay for a couple of weeks.

  We’re with the law program (on arbitration) from GA State, about 40 students and three other professors at the moment, and will be involved in some of their activities, but have plenty of free time as well.  At four we walk with the group over to the university campus to meet a guide and bus for a tour of the city.

  A small somewhat industrial city (190,000), Linz has a charming old center and a rich history, and is surrounded by countryside with high wooded hills and flowery meadows.  On clear days we can see the snow-capped Alps to the south. The Danube runs through the middle, and we’ll be crossing it several times a day, usually on a tram.  Although we are way out in the suburbs, the tramline ends only about three blocks away, and we have passes to ride anytime.

  Later

  This afternoon, we and the students strolled over to the university, named for Johannes Kepler, the famous mathematician who taught here.  The origins of the academic institution may be traced to the 16^th century, although the university itself was established only in the mid 1900s, and the campus is mostly modern buildings, around a small lake, but an old baroque hunting lodge nearby houses some administrative offices.

  Our guide, Frau Wagner, herded us onto the bus, and we took off, first to a literal overview of the town, from the Poestlingberg, a lovely church and restaurant complex atop one of the highest hills. Finished in 1748, the magnificent Baroque Wallfahrtskirche (Pilgrimage Church), is a popular wedding site. The little train up the hill, the Poestlingbergbahn, is called the world’s second steepest streetcar line. It is an adhesion railway, rather than the more common cable or cog type found in the mountains, and climbs gradients up to 10.6 percent.  The original hundred-year-old carriages are still in use, and the scenery up the slope during the 20-minute ride is marvelous.

  Our bus climbed to the Poestlingberg lookout on a winding road, where we occasionally caught a glimpse of the railway, and sometimes saw the wonderful view of the city.  At the top, we dismounted to view the church and stand at the overlook.  Photo op, for certain!  Last summer we ate at the elegant restaurant here, and the food was as delicious as the view.

  Following our descent we entered the city, driving past numerous landmarks, and were finally dropped off at a tiny ancient church, Martinskirche, high on a hill near the castle.  First documented in 799 and probably dating from an even older time, the original stones are probably from Roman ruins.  It was an open building, and later Romanesque and Gothic arches were gradually installed and filled in to enclose the chapel.  We strolled toward the river, down past the castle to the main square, the largest in Austria.

  Here the facades are mostly early Baroque but behind them lie the older medieval buildings.  Our guide took us down a long courtyard to see the ancient stonework, buttresses and walkways, and other traces of Gothic times.  These go back at least a block, and the horse-drawn wagons used to enter from the front and leave through the rear gate.

  Our afternoon ended with dinner at an old beer garden, the Klosterhof, where the center of the huge inner courtyard is filled with chestnut trees and cobblestones. The students enjoyed getting acquainted over roast meat, potatoes and beer, and our group stayed until around nine, taking the tram to get back to the Sommerhaus.

Sunday, May 22

  With many museums and shops closed, we chose the Botanical Gardens as our destination for the day.  Transferring from the tram to a bus to take us up a steep hill, we found the site easily. The gardens cover a moderately large area, spilling down the hillside in brilliant rhododendrons and dense woods. Late spring flowers bloomed in abundance, and we especially liked the iris, peonies and a lovely rock garden surrounding a quiet pool.  Another little pond featured a centerpiece of rocks covered with turtles, who basked sociably together on this warm day.

  That evening the program sponsored a ‘barbecue,’ of grilled meats and the trimmings for the group, at a rustic place near the university.  Sausages and kabobs were the main dish, but our favorite was a wonderful sautéed mixture of sauerkraut and spaetzle, with bits of bacon and onion.

Monday-Thursday, May 23-26

  During these days, we explored more of Linz, stretching the horizons we’d known from the previous summer’s visit.  We went back to the Fischerl Haus, a marvelous fish restaurant right on the river, the kind where you simply order the fish off the “today’s catch” blackboard, and specify the preparation.  Last year, during our slightly later stay, the cold wet weather left us with a feeling of a quaint and cozy inn; in this May’s heat, all the service was outdoors under warm red umbrellas, and we welcomed the breeze across the water.

  The biggest adventure was a boat trip up the Danube, to a small town just a few miles away, but two hours by water. After our theft in Prague, we decided to substitute this modest day trip for a two-day visit to Salzburg We had to miss breakfast, but grabbed some rolls and slugged down a cup of coffee, and then trekked the four blocks to catch an early tram.  The agent had told us to buy our tickets that morning, so we stopped at the office, just under the Linz art museum.  A brand new building (2002-03), Lentos sits immediately on the riverbank, a block of dark glass lightened by a cut-out ground floor section so that it seems to float.  At nightfall, it becomes more dramatic, as lights installed behind the façade render it glowing with a single color, pink, red, yellow, green, blue.  The color purportedly depends on meteorological conditions – temperature and humidity, but we have not confirmed that theory.  Inside, the small collection includes a few works by Kokoschka, Klimt and even Warhol, that we saw on our visit last year.

  Our destination, Aschach, stretches along the south riverbank, its main street with church, town offices and shops facing a park on the river.  A wide promenade or bike path lies between the park and water, and the flatness of the land here encourages many cyclists.  The Aschach architectural tradition of high decoration on colorful pastel facades livens the street, and the painted or low relief baroque embellishment is generally well maintained.  Apart from gazing at buildings and creeping into the old church to listen to the organist practicing, there isn’t a lot to do in Aschach, and after about two hours, we were happy to board a boat bound for Linz.     

Friday, May 27

  At 6:45 Friday morning, we, along with the program staff and students, loaded onto a large touring bus, to set off for Prague.  We traveled north, through the picturesque Muhlviertel (mill quarter), of high hills and meadows. The road curves and it was a slow drive, past flower-filled gardens, old villages and dark forests.  After about four hours, we got to the outskirts of Prague, and took a tortuous route to the center, passing the Wilsonovo Main Train Station, named for Woodrow Wilson.

  Most of the staff stayed at the Prague Marriott, and while we often prefer more local accommodations, on this occasion, the standard comforts and location of this hotel were very welcome.  After lunch, we needed to make our overdue police report regarding the briefcase theft there, two weeks before. Having used the subway to come from our drop-off point, we easily found our way out to the Holesovice Railway Station, and the police station adjacent.  

  The guard who let us into the secured facility clearly spoke no common language with us, and he called an attractive blonde, with whom we finally established communication in German.  We explained our mission, and she said we could come back that evening at seven-thirty, when a translator would be available.  This happened to be exactly the appointed hour we were to meet other staff members for a special dinner, and we asked whether there might not be a mutually convenient time on Saturday.  After some discussion, we decided that doing the interview in German might, after all, be the easiest thing, as we all felt moderately comfortable in that language.

  The interview lasted nearly two hours, and was exceedingly detailed….”And how far was the briefcase from your leg?”…and “What color was his hair?... and on and on. (We later noticed that when we reported the perpetrator as being "dark-haired," she transcribed it  as "Muslem!" Sweat trickled down our necks and backs in the hot office, as we had dressed for dignity, while our young interviewer, in shorts and a brief top, kept her cool.  She listened carefully to our responses, and typed them into her computer,…in Czech!  We are sure that our insurance man in Decatur, GA, will appreciate this document! ….which we’ll need to have translated.  We wiped our brows as the interrogation went on, interspersed with conversations with other officers, consultation with a dictionary, and her unhurried, deliberate wording of the document being created on the computer.  Finally, she printed several pages, smiled and handed them to us, who thanked her and shook her hand in farewell.  Our experience with Czech Polizei was over, to our great relief.

  The 90-degree heat, an incipient head cold and our police episode combined to take their toll, and all I wanted was to get back to the air-conditioned hotel.  After passing up a café date with Chuck, opting to sleep instead, I decided not to attend the dinner that night.  So C found some fruit and bread for me, and took off with the other staff members to a nice restaurant, the Wallenstein, across the river.  After a good dinner of game, they strolled the long route home, pausing several times at various watering holes.