La-la-la-la Linz!

I really like Linz. I don't exactly know why, but I do. Michael knows this very well after hearing me say it every 10 minutes while we walked around the city. I think maybe one of the reasons I like it so much is because it seems to be under appreciated. Granted, it was the European Capital of Cultural for 2009, but I think they had to do some work to get that recognition (just a hunch). Historically, it seems to have had the reputation of being a nasty, polluted city full of factories. Maybe that's true, but nonetheless, I liked what I saw.

Last Sunday, we took a day trip to the city. It's just a little over an hour by train, straddled between Vienna and Salzburg on the main train line that cuts across the country. On Sundays, most things are shut down in Austria, but museums and cafes are still usually open - cafes being the more important of the two for us. We started our tour through the old city glimpsing sights of the Neuer Dom (New Cathedral), Alter Dom (Old Cathedral) and Schloss Linz, among others.

After losing feeling in our fingers and toes, we headed into the Ars Electronica Center, an interactive science, technology, space center, to warm up. The highlight was definitely the 3D tour of space, which the guide narrated, natürlich, auf Deutsch. Another highlight was getting to see my (or Jane Doe's) internal body organs in the New Biology lab. After watching nearly the entire first season of (Dr.) House, these biological/medical things are starting to intrigue me. If I watch a couple more seasons, I might be able to get my MD. Watch out, world!

Enough with science and technology. What visit to Linz wouldn't be complete without having a piece of Linzer Torte? I truly admire the Austrians dedication to their ritual of taking an afternoon coffee (and cake!) break.

Michael and I enjoyed the Cafe Traxlmayr experience for an hour or two, flipping through the dozens of newspapers and magazines they have available for customers. By this time, huge snow clumps had begun to fall, and my "I really like Linz" phrase had turned into "I LOVE Linz!" Obviously this type of snowfall doesn't happen every day, but it sure made for a picturesque stroll through the Alte Stadt.

We wrapped up our day with a visit to the Lentos Kunstmuseum; we were in the Cultural Capital of Europe after all. We needed to partake in some cultural activities. There was just a small exhibit open featuring Austrian artists, including Oskar Kokoschka who was born in Pöchlarn. My favorite, however, was by Gustav Klimt - Frauenkopf (below).

And because a gray, foggy, snowy day in Linz doesn't exactly make for the best pictures, I swiped some from the internet. They look a little 1970's, but you get the idea.