Travel with Manfred

Travelogues from around the world

TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION

Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document without a fee, provided that the person conspicuously and appropriately publishes on each copy the appropriate copyright notice and these terms and conditions for copying, distribution, and modifications. Changing this document or charging a fee for distribution or using this document for a financial profit is not allowed. Including this document in a publication that is for sale is not permitted.

This document solely expresses the author's current opinions. It in no way expresses the opinion of any other legal entity. This document does not claim to be correct, complete, or factual. Reading it is at your own risk.

Copyright © 1994 by Don A. Jones, Jr.. All rights reserved.

May 14, 1994

Austria Impressions by an American

Don's Impressions on His First Trip to Austria

by

Don A. Jones, Jr. (edited by Manfred P.)

The first impression of Europe I had was obtained from the view out the airplane window. We first landed in Zurich, Switzerland. From the air Switzerland looks pretty much like the pictures I have seen. Mainly lots of mountains and (presumably) quaint villages (not so easy to tell from 20,000 ft). Flying over Austria we could see Germany out the left-hand-side of the airplane. About the only unexpected observation I saw was that the population density was much lower that I thought it would be.

Austria on the ground looked a lot like what I have seen of upper-state New York. Mainly the area around West Point: lots of trees, rivers, open fields, rolling hills. Manfred's father was waiting for us (me and Manfred) at the airport. His father is quite a character. He looks a bit like Sean Connery. An interesting person to meet. The first few nights we stayed with Manfred's brother, Franz --- the only one of his three brothers that did not visit us in Irvine, CA.

On the second or so day we went for a bike ride along side the Danube river. After a few miles of riding we all of a sudden came across copious people (1000+) who did not have a stitch of clothing on them! Everyone was nude. There were 13 year old, 25, ... even 60 year old women-naked! Families were naked. It is the most flesh I have ever see at once. So many beautiful nude girls in one place; I still have not recovered! Obviously, Austrians are not ashamed of their bodies. Indeed, it is not uncommon to see a partially nude woman on a billboard or even in the newspaper. In that respect, Austria is a paradise. Also the majority of people in Austria are not overweight, even though they eat a lot of fat- another mystery.

Speaking of billboards, that is the one complaint I have about Austria. They clearly have some allowed zones for the things. Advertisers cram so many boards into such small areas that it is impossible to read them all-sensory overload. That really detracts from the Austrian landscape.

I clearly should have done some homework before visiting Vienna. There is so much history there. Somehow the Austrians have preserved the architecture from the past. So many old buildings with stories to tell. Catholicism is big time in Austria. The church must have collected billions of dollars over the years to build and maintain the cathedrals. They are impressive.

Manfred grew up in Linz, Austria. It's about a two-hour train ride west of Vienna. It rests on the banks of the Danube river. There is a steel factory on the east side of the town. The most inspiring part about Linz to me was that Johannes Kepler lived there. He is one of my favorite Mathematicians/Astronomers. We spent most of our time in Linz. Manfred has three brothers. The two that live in Linz both visited us while we were in Irvine, CA., so I felt I knew them both. I enjoyed talking to them. One of his brothers, Gerhard, showed me around Linz and the surrounding country side. The other brother, Wolfgang, has a private-pilot license and is working on a Ph.D in Physics. I had a thousand questions to ask both of them. I also noticed that their English improved several orders of magnitude while I was there.

On one day we went hiking in the Alps. It was hard for me to enjoy this. My numerous running and other injuries did not allow me to walk pain free. It was also raining. I am pretty sick of Los Alamos and this part of the Alps is not that much different than the area around Los Alamos. I have had enough of mountainous regions, and in particular, of snow. The Alps are beautiful though. A bit more jagged than the Rockies. I guess they are not as old as the Rockies.

There is one aspect of Austrian society that dumb founds me. The Austrian's political philosophy is definitely a socialist one. College is free; public transportation is heavily subsidised; there are very generous unemployment benefits; grocery stores for example are only opened from 9:00am-11:00am and 1:00pm or 2:00pm-6:00pm, (9:00am-12 noon on Saturdays); most people get a total of five weeks paid vacation. (We would not want anyone working too hard. Would we?) To pay for all of this Austrian's certainly pay more taxes than Americans (I need the numbers). Gas is nearly $4.00/gal. Yet the standard of living is the same as ours. An advantage of the liberal social policies is that there are few homeless (I saw none). Crime is clearly low. Another observation is that Austrians seem to be quite honest. The Sunday paper for example is put in plastic bags. One could just take the paper with out paying. I saw no one do that. I also saw no evidence of social classes. Everyone seemed pretty much equal. They have the advantage over the U.S. of having a homogeneous society. I am puzzled as to how their government make ends meet. We can't afford their social programs. How do they do it? I am told that our military budget is 24% of our budget. That amounts to $1000 per year per person in this country. I am sure the Austrians pay only a minute fraction of that for their defense. That must be part of it.

It took 24 hours to return to my apartment. Like the trip to Taiwan, the experience of seeing a different way of life, different ways of thinking has been put into feelings and etched into my memory. You can't take a picture of that!