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Copyright © 1994 by Manfred P.. All rights reserved.

May 14, 1994

Austria Impressions by an Austrian

My First Trip Back to Austria after 5 Years

by

Manfred P.

Keywords: Austria, tourist, travel trip report, travel log, travelogue.

Austria. It had been a while since I've been there; 5 and three quarter years. Since 8/24/88 to be precise. I talked with a friend just a day before departure and he asked me if I am excited. As the departure date came closer I started to look forward to it, but excited? No, not really. I guess I am no longer a little kid and it takes a lot to excite me. But anyway, looking forward to it was a good feeling.

Needless to say that I was busy to the last minute. Literally. I started packing the last night and had a terrible sleep since I was afraid I'd miss the alarm going off at 5am. I caught the bus to bring me to SFO and at 8am I was 35000 ft above the ground. I used the time to catch up on business news by reading each biz magazine on the plane. 6 hours later I was in New York where I met up with Don, my friend who'd accompany me on my trip. From NYC we had one more stop over in Geneva and from there a short final leg to Vienna. Between Geneva and Vienna we admired the snow covered Alps from the plane. The size of Vienna was surprising. From the plane we observed how the rural landscape changed to the suburbs of Vienna, 30 seconds later we were north of the St. Steven's Cathedral, and another 30 seconds later Vienna was behind us. My inner voice said: "What? That's it? Could it really be that small?" I guess so. (From now on I won't translate Austrian names such as St. Steven's Cathedral and use the German terms instead such as Stephansdom. The translations sound so artificial and far fetched.)

Outside the arrival area, a well-known smiling face dashed towards me: My nephew. He has never seen me in person, but he must have recognized my face from pictures. My dad also honored me by driving all the way from Linz to Vienna just to pick me up at the airport. A warm welcome. By bus and on foot we headed for downtown. I met my oldest brother shortly. He toured downtown with us briefly pointing out some new monuments erected in the last years and the fire damage in the Hofburg. The fire and the free roaming Lipizaner horses were one of the few mentionings of Austria in the US media.

The remaining days in Vienna looked like follows: Delicious meals cooked by my sister in law, good beer consumed in non-US quantities with good old friends, a trip to the Heurigen to get together with old colleagues from the Technical University in Vienna, strolling through downtown and along the Prater, the Viennese amusement park, making many phone calls to chat with friends whom I couldn't meet in person, and going swimming for the first time in 1994 in a lake near the river Danube. Don was particularly impressed by the more liberal Austrian attitude (compared with the US) towards using nude pictures in advertising and by the nude beach along the Old Danube. I enjoyed the fact that I was on vacation and didn't have to do anything, the food, the beer, biking and walking around leisurely, having deja-vous, and chatting with old friends. The term EU and signs advertising it were ubiquitous. Car were sold with it as the catching slogan, "the EU car". I felt not necessarily like visting Austria, but touring some part of the EU. Another thing that astonished me is how easy it was to speak German, sure I made some mistakes, but overall I think my German was pretty good.

While in Vienna I even found some impressing pieces of technology:

Not shabby.

After 3 and a half days in Vienna we headed to Linz, my birth town. My Dad lives there and two more brothers. The next day I accompanied my Dad on some business errands which also brought us into the Muehlviertel where we got to enjoy more of the pleasantly warm weather. The next day we did some more "nature" things. My youngest brother lead us on a bike trip through Marchtrenk, down to the river Traun, along the river bank to the east end of the city Traun where we resurfaced not too far from my Dad's home. Here in Linz I was mostly lazy, I simply stayed home to chat with my brothers. One day trip brought us into the Lake District to Gmunden where we visited some relatives. As always, they stuffed us with outstanding food and we walked around in the lush green neighborhood to digest some of the calories and to catch some deep breaths of fresh air, all while catching each other up on the latest events. Another day trip lead us to Hinterstoder, a village deep in a Alpine valley, surrounded by mountains. No doubt Austria is beautiful. We did a leisurely hike, just two hours or so. When we reached the snow line, my friend whom I was visiting there, Don, and myself stayed back while my two brothers -- real Austrians -- continued. Upon their return the filled us in on the little snow storm they encountered. That means we had seen everything weatherwise: heat in Vienna and Linz (warmer than CA at the moment), rain in Gmunden, and snow (from hear-say) in the Alps. My friend's mom spoiled us with Wiener Schnitzel and strawberries with whipped cream. Mmmh, I wonder how many pounds I gained in Austria. I haven't eaten so much meat for a while and not so much chocolate in the whole last year. Later that day I attended my 10-year high school reunion. More memories were being brought alive, more friends, more food, more wheat beer, more chat. Ah, one thing I nearly forgot: More smokers, the European addiction. Just another night during my vacation that I spent talking till nearly the wee hours of the morning.

By now a week had passed by. Just two more days before departure on Monday morning. This was the family reunion weekend. My brother from Vienna came with family and we formed a complete five-some. Saturday my aunt Christl had organized a relative-get-together in a grand style. First lunch, then a "coffee" that lasted for 5 hours and included everything from cold specially cured meat, onions, cheese, pop corn, wine, Gugelhupf -- a special baked good --, cake, whipped cream, and of course coffee. The weather god cooperated by providing more sunshine and warm weather so that we could spend the whole afternoon and early evening in the backyard of my relatives' house. In between all the eating and talking we played with the kids, chasing around the trees, or just stretching out on the lawn chair.

Sunday was a traditional day, family breakfast, church, then a trip to the cemetery to "visit" some of our loved-ones who are no longer amongst us, then, since it was another lovely day, we made a trip to the Poestlingberg, a mountain just north of the city overlooking it and its vicinity. It also happens to be the symbol of the city which is crowned by a church. We toured the church and the old defensive towers and walls before we sat outdoors for the last Austrian lunch. Later, while my brothers and Dad enjoyed the view I used the opportunity to play some more with my nephew and niece. Up to the point where I started sweating. The finishing touch was another get-together of my brothers from Linz and their girl friends for a photo showing session.

Sunday night we took the train back to Vienna and Monday morning more good-bye's and a friend dropped us off at the airport where I was surprised by a tight but ineffective security control. The flight back to San Fran passed by really fast even though I travelled 22 hours. Most of it tried sleeping, which helped me fully avoid the jetleg the next days. And of course, 7 hours after getting home I was already working again.

The trip to Austria had its benefits, besides from usual well-being effects of a vacation. It sure was more than a vacation, even months before departure there was never a doubt about that. The trip was partially a test, sort of a reality-check, to help me learn whether I want to remain in the US or not, or whether I should consider moving on. It was an opportunity to look from the outside in, a rare chance to put things and values into perspective. A rediscovery or better said a refresher course of the pros and cons of Europe and the US. Things start to get blurry after a few years, and memories start changing and one remembers things differently as they actually were, such a vacation takes away a lot of that blurriness.

In the main advantages of Austria I'd include

For the disadvantages I'd list

Certainly, I am not going to make a decision now. But I will work all the perceptions of the last vacation into my on-going and never-ending evaluation process. This minute, work here is still too satisfying and it also has some good side-effects so that, in this minute, I prefer to stay here. "How about tomorrow?" you might ask. Now, that's a completely different story. Why don't you ask me tomorrow.

A German Insert:

Die Reise nach Oe. hatte ihre Vorteile neben den ueblichen Urlaubs- und Erholungswerten. Es war mehr als ein Urlaub, und das war schon Monate vor der Abreise klar. Die Reise war teilweise eine Bestandsaufnahme der Vor- und Nachteile zwischen Oe. und den USA. Eine Reise, die mir helfen soll zu lernen, ob ich weiterhin in den USA bleiben moechte oder ob es Zeit ist weiterzuziehen. Es war fuer mich eine Moeglichkeit von aussen hineinzublicken, sozusagen eine etwas "neutralere" Meinung zu bilden, eine seltene Gelegenheit Werte in Beziehung und Perspektive zu bringen. Ein Auffrischer Kurs ueber die Vor- und Nachteile von Oe. und den USA. Dinge verschmimmen ein wenig nach Jahren und oft aendern sich auch die Erinnerungen mit der Zeit; solch eine Reise nimmt den Nebelschleier weg und bringt die Dinge ins rechte Licht.

Zu den Hauptvorteilen von Oe. wuerde ich die folgenden Dinge zaehlen:

Als Nachteile Oe.s wuerde ich angeben:

Ich bin nicht dabei und werde niemals eine entgueltige Entscheidung treffen. Selbst wenn ich in Oe. leben wuerde, muss ich mir periodisch ueberlegen, ob es das beste ist dort zu bleiben. Jedoch werde ich alle Eindruecke dieses Urlaubs in meinen ununterbrochenen und fortgehenden Entscheidungsprozess einarbeiten. In dieser Minute am heutigen Tag ist die Arbeit hier in den USA noch so reizvoll (und mit angenehmen Nebenwirkungen verbunden), dass ich in dieser Minute am heutigen Tag bevorzuge in Kalifornien zu arbeiten. "Aber wie schaut das morgen aus?" koenntest Du fragen. Nun, das ist eine voellig andere Geschichte. Warum fragst Du mich nicht morgen wieder?

    

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