After my recent city trips to Prague, Bratislava and Budapest, I started feeling bad about having seen so little of Austria (next to Graz, Salzburg and ofcourse Vienna). After all… it has been my ‘Heimat’ for over a year. Last saturday I went to Linz. Which was, just as a sidenote, the European Capital of Culture in 2009.
“It may not have old-world architecture to rival the giddy heights of Vienna or Salzburg, but it comes up trumps in the modern art and new technology stakes, with crystalline venues like Lentos and the Ars Electronica Center.”
After arriving at Linz Hauptbahnhof, we walked through the Volksgarten, passed the Musiktheater in-process-of-construction, towards Landstrasse. Following this main street to Taubenmarkt (Pigeonmarket) near the main square, where we found a little market ‘happening’. In the middle of the Hauptplatz you’ll find the so-called Pestsäule, built to remember the people who died in the plague epidemics. The Alter Dom is also a quite impressive sight on this square.
My travelbuddy of choice and I met up with an old friend of his over lunch at veggie restaurant P’aa. And coffee at Jindrak, the epicentrum of Linzer Torte, or so I’ve heard. A pretty interesting place anyway, with a smokers room in authentic design and a non-smokers room that is way more modern and ‘Starbucksy’. It goes without saying that we endured the smoke, just to get a hint of nostalgia.