Linz

We chose Linz as a base to travel the Danube from Passau to Melk so we didn’t research the town itself. The train up to Passau and river cruise back on Thursday was great, but the boat to Melk only runs on Saturdays, so we had Friday free to explore Linz. We are very pleased we did because it is a very interesting place. A combination of old and new. We purchased a Linz card which gave us free transport and entry to several museums.

The centre of town is the Hauptplatz with its Trinity column.

Mariendom The New Cathedral

We started with the Schloss Museum. It is a combination of natural history, Austrian history and technology built around the original Linz Castle.

Next we caught the train up to Postlingberg. It is an old castle and church which sits high on a hill overlooking Linz.

Church of the Seven Pains of Mary

View from Postlingberg

The ARS Electronica Centre sounded intriguing so we headed there next. It is difficult to describe. A little like the Questacon, but more interested in the uses and possibilities of technology, than how it works. There is ‘Deep Space’ a room which uses the walls and floor to project 3D images of the Earth, Solar System and the Universe. It was fascinating, but a pity the presentation was in German. Still we knew enough to follow a fair bit of it. They have a Biolab with tissue culture, centrifuges and an electron microscope (Claire felt quite homesick seeing all the Schott bottles lined up!).

The Fablab looked at the use of computers and laser printers to create handicrafts. There is an Australian artist-in-residence who has developed Oribotics, a combination of origami and robotics. He has created origami flowers with motion sensors that open, close and change colour when they sense movement. My description doesn’t do it justice.

The city lights up at night, it is lovely along the river.

ARS Electronica Centre

Lentos Art Museum and the river boats.