austria

L_nz

~ Bel Dunbar ~ Leave a comment

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.

Oh Vienna (Oh Rod!)

~ Bel Dunbar ~ Leave a comment

We have just boarded the train to Bratislava (Slovakia) and we are currently on the outskirts of Vienna. Moving day, as always, involves a lot of planning and organisation; today we caught two trams to the Hauptbahnhof and found the correct platform with plenty of time for Hamish to buy himself a packet of peanut M&Ms from a vending machine and time himself going up and down the escalator – 36 seconds.

The title of this blog refers to an 80’s song by UltraVox which Rod has been singing this week; the ‘Oh Rod’ part refers to the sheer joy he has inadvertently supplied for Hamish and I.

Our flight from Lisbon took about 31/2 hours and provided us with spectacular views of both the Pyrenees and Swiss Alps. There’s a bit of turbulence, but Hamish doesn’t seem to care. It’s freezing when we arrive, but Hamish tells me “it’s nice and fresh” – it’s barely 3 degrees! Once established in our lovely, warm, spacious apartment (82 stairs, no lift) Rod and I head to the Hofer (like the Aldi) to get a few groceries. Our host has suggested going to a local market on the Saturday morning, so we don’t buy too many fresh fruit and veg. Cooking in new apartments each week can be interesting; will there be a sharp knife? Will the non-stick pans actually live up to their name? There’s no cutting board…no microwave…only 1 wine glass…First world problems of course!

The market on Saturday morning is huge! We buy a few fresh vegetables (leek, zucchini, carrots, potatoes). Rod is disappointed when the potatoes at the next stand are much bigger and not so sad looking. We are in a very multi-cultural area of Vienna, with lots of middle eastern and Turkish restaurants and goods to be purchased. We discuss how it was only 5 years ago many European countries took in refugees from Syria, especially Germany and Austria. We head back to the apartment and drop off our goods, then catch a tram into the city to go to the House of Music museum.

Side note: When we arrived Friday, Rod spent the best part of an hour researching which public transport card we would need for the week. He eventually settled on the Vienna Card for 35 euro each – Hamish travels free (otherwise each single trip is 2.80 euro). The associated app Ivie, has lots of information to plan your visit to Vienna and we have used it every day. The app also stores your individual public transport card. You don’t have to tap on and off, but you do need to show it if requested.

On the way to the museum, Rod promptly deletes his public transport card by hitting the ‘dismiss’ button on the app. Took us a good 40 mins to rectify this in the middle of the city by going to two tourism offices. The young woman at the counter suggested I get Rod’s public transport card added to my app. I roll my eyes. We get our first of many wursts (German sausages) and I buy myself a beanie and scarf from H&M. It’s 4 degrees. The rest of the first day is spent at the music museum, two floors devoted to the Vienna Philharmonic and famous composers. The other two floors were interactive and explained about sounds and hearing (and other things). We are leg weary by the afternoon and go home via the Hofer to get something for dinner.

Rod has a classical concert booked tonight and Hamish and I are staying home to have oven baked pizza. We cannot be trusted at a classical concert (but really, we’re not that into it). Rod successfully navigates his way to and from the concert and we are proud of him. At 7pm, I say to Hamish “Dad must be OK I haven’t heard from him!” We laugh. Rod will write about his concert below.

Vienna Baroque Orchestra – by Rod

It was easy to get to the venue and I arrived just as the doors were opening, 30 minutes before the show started. The theatre was cosy, with about 130 chairs in all, most of which were soon occupied. A string quartet duly appeared, along with a pianist. Then the lead violinist/conductor arrived to start things off with the Overture from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. The sound was amazing. It was like I was listening to a recording in my lounge room with the volume way up. Next was a stirring rendition of the 3 movements of Vivaldi’s “Summer.” Much of the rest of the program was not so familiar to me, including a few arias featuring a tenor and a soprano (whose voices really filled the room), but was still most enjoyable. As was the glass of bubbles at half time. The show was wonderful and that lead violinist was terrific; she only looked at some sheet music for one of the dozen or so items and she also indulged in a bit of theatre with the singers for a few laughs. So glad I included this in my Vienna experience.

Sunday we plan to have a day off; we are all tired and need the down time. Rod had initially talked about a 2 hour self guided tour and I say no way, 2 hours of walking around the city is not a day off! Rod wants to see the Danube river so we plan out a ‘short walk’ that involves seeing the famous river and going to a Christmas market where we will get a late lunch. Turns out my planning route stopped at the canal, not the Danube. Rod finds a new route to the Danube, but it takes us over an hour, through some drab looking suburbs. We happen to find a Maccas to use the toilets and grab a snack. The foot bridge over the freeway finally gets us to the Danube; Rod takes a photo and we retreat. I find us a tram to get back into the city because we don’t want to walk another 5km on our day off!

It’s dark at 4pm so the market is sparkling when we arrive – it’s beautiful and our misadventures of the afternoon are soon forgotten about. Hot drinks are the first on our list, followed by wurst – this is our ‘late lunch!’ Later we find a couple of huge pretzels which we share (one sweet, one savoury), and we also have a hot apple cider. Life is good and we happily catch the tram home. No one needs dinner tonight.

Monday we head to the small museum of Snow Globes – this is special because this is where Snow Globes originated. So the story goes, the GGG Grandfather of the current owners, made medical instruments in his time. Once Edison had invented the globe, he wanted to make the lighting brighter for surgery/surgeons, so pottered about with light and globes full over water. Long story short, the snow globe was accidentally invented. This family of artisans have made snow globes for a host of famous people and overall, it was a nice little place to visit. The entire time, I’m in low key overbearing parent mode “careful Hamish, don’t break anything, don’t touch, watch your bag when you turn around…” you get the drift. Hamish is keen to buy a couple of small snow globes as gifts and carefully picks out his favourites and pays for them. Rod thinks this is a good idea too, so he’s looking at the delicate globes when he drops one. It breaks, of course; the owner says it’s no problem. Hamish and I do not let Rod live this down for the rest of the day; I mean, this man has been a top class wicket keeper and footballer!

The Schonbrunn Palace is next on our agenda and we walk around the corner from the Snow Globes museum to catch a bus there. Markets are in full swing and we grab a couple of hot chocolates and some warming food. The Schonbrunn Palace was the summer residence of the Royal Family, but now regular citizens (well, they’re probably not ‘regular citizens’) live in the palace which has been converted to apartments. We follow the walk we’ve found on the Ivie app which takes us through the palace gardens and up to the Gloriette, which is a lovely landmark and building with stunning views. Hamish delights in skipping stones across frozen ponds. We head back home via the UBahn and have a delicious homemade chicken soup with local dumplings. If you ever visit Germany or Austria, a way I remember the difference between the U-Bahn and S-Bahn is U = Underground, S = Surface. Easy!

Tuesday is our last day in Vienna and Rod has picked a walking tour from the Ivie app. It’s a self-guided tour around the periphery (Ringstrasse) of the old town. There are many, many, many beautiful buildings, statues, parks and gardens. As well as a WW2 military monument showing some love for Ukraine. What feels illegal but isn’t? Prosecco in the middle of the day! We stop off at Karlplatz Christmas market for a drink and a hot chocolate for Hamish. This provides us with some enthusiasm for the remainder of the tour. I had read Vienna has 50% green spaces in the city, the most in any city in the world and it pops amongst the starkness of the buildings.

Getting back to Rod and his oopsies in the last few weeks. Do not feel sorry for him! He is the first one in the family to point out our weaknesses, he corrects us all the time and is the most sarcastic member of our family, so it’s only deserving that Hamish and I remind him he is human! Since deleting his travel card, Hamish says to Rod, “What does this button do?” I am laughing as I am writing this. Boomer is also something we’ve been calling him. Whenever we see a statue of a person on a horse, we say “I can see a statue of a man, but there’s no horse!” (From when he was lost in Lisbon). I have been making ‘dropping objects’ movements with my thumb and forefinger when I look at him (from the Snow Globe incident) and remind him he is like Mr Bean in Merry Christmas Mr Bean, when he smashes the Christmas bauble on the floor. It is all in good fun and we all agree that it’s the little mishaps we will remember the most in the years to come.

As I finish this blog, we are waiting for the washing to finish in our new digs in Bratislava. It was a quick train trip from Vienna, no one checked our tickets so could have saved ourselves some money and stress! We worked out how to buy a bus ticket from what looked like a very old ticket machine and found the bus into the city. We dragged our bags down the cobblestones and I’m pleased to say no suitcase wheels were lost! We are in the pedestrian area of Bratislava and our apartment is on the first floor, 34 steps, no lift! First impressions of Bratislava is it reminded us of Warsaw; architecture in the style of the Soviet Union. The pedestrian centre is, though, just lovely with decorative buildings and lots of places to explore. The Christmas market is just around the corner and it will be nice not to have to navigate the public transport again until we leave for Budapest on Sunday.