#2978 vacation memories: day 8 - Linz, Austria (Friday, 12 Sept)

 

always down for a biergarten

When reviewing the itinerary for this vacation, I figured there were two days that were "throw-away days." I mean that there were two places we were going to stop and I'd get off the ship to see what was up and then go back and hang out on board the Aegir. The two towns without expectations: Bratislava, Slovakia and Linz, Austria. I've already told you I had a really nice day in Bratislava. Now I'm going to tell you that Linz was delightful and I had a fantastic day there.

We started out on a walking tour through Viking. The weather was grey and drizzly. The guide was very good, though, and I enjoyed hearing him talk about the third largest city in Austia - yeah, Linz! There is quite a bit of history there related to World War II and the little mustache man, but I won't go into that here because it was after the tour was over, when Lizzie and I got to wandering, that the day really picked up for me. Lizzie and I made a little plan that primarily involved getting coffee somewhere and wandering around for a little while. With this rather loose plan, off we went. 

The first thing to note is that, as with many of the cities we visited, Mozart was here! He wrote Symphony Number 36 in C Major here in about four days at the end of October 1783. (I'm listening to it as I write this, by the way. You may not know this about me, but I love classical music.)

Mozart wrote the Linz Symphony Number 36 here!

The second thing about Linz that caught my attention was flowers. I mentioned in my Vienna post that Austrians are the best at flower boxes, and Linz was just really great at flowers. Spoiler: the first pic and the third pic are the same light post from different angles, taken a few hours apart.

these cuties were at a little shop

a cute flower shop in Linz

Lizzie said she remembered seeing a little coffee place, so we went in that direction. We were sidetracked by a darling little bookshop. Most of the place was dedicated to children's books, but there was an upstairs portion for grown-ups.

We didn't buy any books, but we did find stickers and postcards and magnets (oh my!) I very nearly bought a coffee mug, but I chose not to simply because I was concerned it would get broken in my overly-stuffed bag.

Speaking of coffee, here's where we had some:

Friedlieb und Tochter

We sat at that orange table, sipping cappuccinos and enjoying cake. Lizzie had the most delicious cheesecake. It was incredibly smooth and creamy, and topped with a light layer of raspberry, I think. Here's what I had:

cappuccino and lemon cake

The sun had come out, the sky was bright blue, and I truly felt like I was living my best life, siting there having coffee and cake at an Austrian cafe. Could the day get better? (Yes, it could, and it did!)

After this amazing treat, we continued to wander around the quiet back streets. We decided to find the new cathedral, the Mariendom. It's fairly new, consecrated in 1924 and is the largest church building in Austria. We walked around inside and admired the stained glass, then walked out the door to find a biergarten!

biergarten with the cathedral in the background

I took this pic as we were leaving and the sky was clouding up again, but while we were there, the sky was blue and the air was warm and all was right with the world.

fav snack: fries with mayo and beer

a happy nun chats with a priest and a friend while sipping a pilsner

Lizzie likes it too!

Music was playing, people were having lunch, drinking beer and wine, chatting, and soaking up the sun and good vibes on this beautiful Friday afternoon. I took out my sketchbook and started doodling what I saw around me.

doodles done at the biergarten

We limited ourselves to two beers each, and as the clouds started gathering again, we decided to head back to the ship. On our way, though, we stopped at the oldest bakery in Linz to get a piece of the famous Linzertorte.

inside the Hofbackerei with a Linzertorte display

ooh! chandelier! (and a woman giving me the stink eye)

We took our slice of Linzertorte back to the ship to snack on later. We wanted to get back in time to have a tour of the wheelhouse with hot Captain Tomas - yet another highlight of a glorious day. 

My thoughts on the Linzertorte: it was dry and could have used a bit more of the jam. I think I would have liked the Linzer cookie more. The fact that I didn't get a cookie instead of the torte might be the only regret I have about the day in Linz. My favorite part was a toss up between the cafe and the biergarten. I had a great time at both places.  If I ever went back to Linz, I would cross the river and go up on the hill to explore the church up there and take in the view of the city.

maybe next time I'll go to the other side of the river and up that hill

The step count that day was 12,728 steps, 5.28 miles.

Next stop: the hills are alive in Salzburg, Austria!