Hiking in Kirchdorf an der Krems

I made a compilation of a little hiking adventure I spent with other USTA friends in Kirchdorf an der Krems, a city about a half hour outside of Linz.  The leaves are changing, the temperature is cool and fresh and it's been absolutely gorgeous.

Kirchdorf an der Krems from Christina Crawford on Vimeo.

Life in Linz

What do you think when you think of Austria?  Besides Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Alps, Mozart, the Sound of Music, Hitler, the World Wars or mistaking it for "Australia"?  While Austrians are already aware of these stereotypes, the "cool city-dwellers" (so they think) who live in Vienna, or the posh or outdoorsy types who live in the small but beautiful city of Salzburg, seem to forget about Linz, right in between the two of the must-see cities of Austria.  On an international level, Austria is forgotten, but on a national level, Linz seems to be forgotten, despite that its the third largest city in the country.  Perhaps because Linz is not known for any of the said stereotypes (except for Hitler-Linz was his birthplace).  At any rate, the city has definitely grown on me the past few weeks here.

For one, when I speak German to a local Linzer, they always seem to reply and continue the conversation in German, which is a gift to have in itself, despite them hearing in my accent that I'm not a native speaker.  Here, the people don't switch to English as they do in Salzburg or Vienna, where so many internationals visit.  Based on past experiences, most people I've met switch to English not only to ease the language barrier, but mores because they, too, wish to practice speaking English.  However, this doesn't seem to be the case in Linz, which I'm grateful for.

Linz is also different from other cities in Austria in the fact that it somewhat breaks the mold of the "energy conservative" way of life as well as the traditions of classical architecture.  With the newly constructed, contemporary, brightly illuminated museums here, the Ars Electronica Center and the Lentos Art Museum definitely give Linz a modern vibe.  Located at the center of the city, the two glass buildings are opposite each other on the Danube river, so they reflect off of the water at night, which definitely give so much color and light to the city.  The Lentos Art Museum is a long rectangular shaped building that is lit up a deep-sea blue, and the Ars Electronica Center is very tall and square with changing shades of neon-rainbow colors.  The colors change constantly in different patterns and speeds.  You can also control the rhythm of the building's color changes via bluetooth  by syncing a booth outside with whatever device you have to play music.  Once they're synced together,  the colors and speed patterns change according to the pace of song you choose to play.  I don't know of any other cities in Austria that would have voted "yes" to use this much light and electricity for the sake of pleasure, even though it's in the name of art.  The rest of the city's architecture is very traditional, including a big, gorgeous Gothic church, the tallest in Austria.  Then the outskirts of the city center around the Danube river are the very industrial parts of Linz, home to many large factories and shipyards of Austria, including a large steel factory, one of the top materials the country exports.

Speaking of energy conservation and environmental protection, I never realized exactly how far Austrians go to recycle. Literally.  In order for the residents of my apartment building, and the many surrounding ones, to recycle just our glass and plastic, we have to carry it all to the appropriate recycling containers which are about a 10 minute walk away.  For the paper waste, there is a large bin that is just right outside our building, fortunately.  And then there are bins for organic waste.  So, when you're peeling those potatoes or tossing out that banana peel, you better make sure you put it in your separate, personal organic waste basket, and then you can dispose of it in the organic waste container outside the building.  For all the other waste, you can dispose your small 2-liter plastic trash bag in one of the six containers that are available for the whole 55 apartments to share, with each of the six containers having a capacity of a maximum of two 2-gallon, "American-sized" trash bags.  Quite a system they have worked out here.

So that's just a little about Linz for now!  More to come soon about what I've been up to.  I'll end it with some Google images of the city:

                                                           Ars Electronica Center:

Lentos Kunstmusem: