We are currently on a train to Munich; my allocated seat is roomier than an exit row on an airline. These Europeans know how to do train travel. Australia could take a leaf from their ‘Trains’ book. If you’re wondering why the word Linz looks a bit weird in the title, it’s because much of the Christmas signage in Linz this week looks like L_nz

We arrived into Linz Hauptbahnhof Saturday early evening, after catching two trains: Budapest to Vienna – Vienna to Linz. We caught an Uber from our apartment (as the train station was quite a distance across town) with a non-scary Hungarian driver. After walking through a tunnel to god knows where, we backtracked and ended up in the “not awful, but not comfortable” train station. We boarded the train with what felt like thousands of others, some of whom were sitting in our allocated seats (always an awkward conversation) and settled in. Arriving back in Vienna was a relief in comparison to the Eastern European train stations we’ve encountered lately: the station smelled of vanilla and cinnamon, everything was clean, warm, organised and well signed. Once in Vienna we had an hour to get to the Westbahnhof (across town). We tried to engage one of the multitude of taxi’s parked in front of the station, but many of them were trying to negotiate in cash only. Cash is precious and not to be wasted on a taxi, so we just kept walking down the line until we found a taxi who would accept payment with a card. Our driver was an older lady whose official ID suggested she was about 17. Rod asked her how long it would take to get to the station. She took this as a challenge and flung us through peak hour traffic (one near miss with brakes fully engaged) to get to the station with plenty of time to spare.

The travel time from Vienna to Linz was a bit over 2 and 1/2 hours. We had planned to meet our host at 6pm at the apartment we had booked for the 4 nights, so again, hit up one of the many taxis outside the station. No question about cash/card until the driver dropped us off – cash only! With help from Hamish’s few euro coins, we managed to scrape together the 8 Euro. Not getting caught with this taxi scam again – Uber all the way. Our very kind host dropped Rod off at a market to grab a few breakfast supplies due to supermarkets being closed on Sundays. During the car ride, the host told Rod his daughter had been offered a scholarship in athletics in the US and the other daughter was, I can’t remember, about to solve world peace. I said, you should have told him Hamish knows all the countries in the world!

Our apartment was in walking distance to the main city centre this week so again, we have not bothered with public transport. Once unpacked, we found a sushi train restaurant for dinner. I have never had this eating experience before, but Hamish has. Rod ordered a dish from the menu, but Hamish and I were excited to try the many samples of hot, cold, sweet and savoury dishes on offer. For reference, the plates are about the size of a saucer, or a small side plates: Hamish had 16 plates I had 8. We had dishes such as: steamed rice, fried rice, prawn stir fry, pork ribs in plum sauce, honey chicken, sushi, sashimi and a mini muffin/cake. The beer I ordered was 500ml – you really have to commit to a beer here!

We’ve had a slow week in Linz. With 4 unallocated days on our schedule, we had to pick something between Budapest and Munich, so Linz felt like a good halfway point.

Sunday we visited a technology museum which was very hands on. There was a display where you could rearrange a dish cloth and a phone cable and the AI programme would make this into a painting. It was incredible!

Monday we caught a little tram to Postlingberg – the local mountain. Here it snowed for us! We looked at the church and walked around a bit, Hamish tried to hit Rod with a snow ball, but his aim was way off. Found a gorgeous little bird (female Black Bird) who patiently posed for me whilst I got a few photos. On the way home, the little tram had screens showing the news, Rod was trying to make out some of the news (in German) and telling me what was happening in the world. He says, “Oh, Judy Dench has died. She was 90” Turns out Judy didn’t die, she just had her 90th birthday.

Tuesday Hamish opted for a ‘day off’ – he says he hasn’t been sleeping well and we were happy to leave him in the warm confines of the apartment. He’s actually fallen asleep on the tram yesterday!

Rod and I headed for the castle, which wasn’t very interesting, then walked around a few churches one of which Anton Bruckner had been the choir master and the other he’d been the church organist. Hedging his bets? We had lunch and then spent at least an hour in the biggest sports store we’ve ever seen – it was the best! We now both have new runners – and they’re well priced in Europe, Rod’s Asics were 57 Euro and my Mizuno’s were 75 Euro (that’s $200 for two pair of good quality/brand runners!).

The train has just stopped in Salzburg and here the very long train splits. Our half goes to Munich and the other half goes somewhere else: “Please make sure you are in the correct carriage” The Police have just jumped on board. Rod (who is sitting with Hamish in front of me) has asked for our passports. I hand him his and Hamish’s – the Police are checking ID and asking loud questions like “When did you arrive in Europe?” and “Do you have a residents Visa?” and “Show me your ID” – Good God. We watch them come towards us – Rod has the passports open, but they merely glance is his direction and move though the carriage. Flashbacks to the time Rod nearly got arrested in Poland for not validating the tram ticket!

I’ll finish this blog in Munich in the next day or two and post it. We are in Munich for one week – we only have 18 days left of our trip in Europe before we fly to Thailand and Malaysia for our 3 week ‘holiday’. Accommodation in Munich was quite pricey, but I found a little apartment SE of the city centre (about a 20 minute ride to the touristy areas) for 95 Euro per night. The Lidl is next door, bus stop around one corner, metro around the other corner, bakery next to the Lidl – so what it lacks in sights, it makes up for in connectivity! Good I think, to get a glimpse into the daily life of people living in the suburbs – makes it real. Tomorrow we have a ‘free’ walking tour in the city ending at the most famous beer house here: the Hofbrauhaus! Exciting times ahead!

Update on the Police on the train: We made an unscheduled stop and I saw about 6 Police escort about 8 men of African appearance, off the train. We’re guessing no tickets, no visas, no ID and quite possibly all of the above.

And one more thing, whilst looking for things to discover in Linz, Rod found this review of a lookout over the powerplant. Best review ever.