Friday June 29 : Augsburg, Germany

Leaving Graz, I was now on my way to visit Henny's elder sister, Martina and her husband, Heiner. (I had got to know Martina and her family when we were both at school a few decades ago, and in recent years we have regained contact, thanks to the internet.)

Martina and Heiner live in the village of Gammertingen-Mariaberg, south of Stuttgart. To get there, the train route runs through Salzburg, Munich, Augsburg and Ulm.

I stopped overnight in Augsburg, as I had in the previous year. On this occasion, I had a few hours in the evening in which to see a little bit of the city. Walking into the old part of town (of course!), I found myself in a long and very wide street, Maximilianstraße, with an impressive old church at one end. Augsburg having been a big trading centre in olden times, I wondered if this may once have been an enormous market place?

Maximilianstraße, Augsburg

Saturday, June 30 : Mariaberg, Tübingen

After leaving Augsburg, I changed to a local train at Ulm and made it into Mariaberg early afternoon, where Martina met me.

Mariaberg is an unusual village: most of it is an institute looking after people who are mentally handicapped. Heiner is part of the institute's medical team. As he needs to be constantly on call, they live in a large apartment block, close to his place of work.

Today, Martina took me back there, but only for a short time. Martina's son, Urban, wanted to visit an outdoor event with rock bands and various happenings, that was taking place in the nearby university town of Tübingen. So the three of us drove to Tübingen for the rest of the afternoon and early evening, and Martina showed me around this very beautiful old town while Urban went to the fest.

After climbing up to the Schloß (another castle-on-a-hill in the centre of the old town), we spent some time by the river Neckar, where one can see an unusual boating tradition unique to Tübingen: a type of punt, called a Stocherkan, which is propelled like a Venetian gondola, pushing it along by thrusting a long pole down into the riverbed. These boats can take a dozen or so passengers, seated facing each other along the sides. On this occasion, we saw several boats that had been hired for a wedding party. Not an unusual occurence, apparently. They leave the church, leap onto a Stocherkan, and float off down the river to a hotel where the reception takes place! The bride and groom had one boat to themselves, specially decorated, into which they climbed, bridal train in tow, trying not to fall into the river! This pair succeeded - just - and floated off with much laughter towards the reception. Once again, would have made an interesting video, if only my camera had been working...

Sunday, July 1 : Mariaberg

My visit had coincided with something a little different from the day-to-day life in Mariaberg. Today it was the village's annual Fest day! An "open day", where all the areas of the handicapped people's facilities are on show, as well as various exhibits, flea-markets, food and drink stalls, musical performances etc. The event attracts a large number of people from all over the surrounding districts.

It all started off with a festal church service under a huge tent. Martina and Heiner were singing with the choir, accompanied by a local brass band. They all played and sang very nicely. But as soon as the church proceedings were over, the screens came down along the side of the tent, revealing numerous food and drink stalls: the whole thing transformed instantly into an enormous beer tent, which remained crowded for the rest of the day! From "God Is Here" to "Gösser Bier" in five minutes!

Elsewhere, it was interesting to see some of the exhibits of woodwork and metalwork made in Mariaberg's workshops by the handicapped residents. Some beautifully crafted pieces... I might have been tempted to buy something, had it not been for the restrictions of my luggage.

That evening, Martina and I played a duet, for the first time in about 35 years! She is a superb flautist, but on my previous visits, there had not been the opportunity for us to play music together. (Last year, she had met me in Graz, and the only piano we came across there was being used by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe!)

Monday, July 2: Mariaberg to Munich

Today I would have to leave Mariaberg, as I needed to start heading back towards Vienna for my flight home on July 4. But Martina was not working until the afternoon, so we picked up where we left off last night, playing duets for flute and piano: Schumann's Waldszenen (that is, some of the easier parts of it that I was able to bluff my way through sight-reading!), and another Schumann piece, Abendlied. Finally, we resurrected a sonata by Handel, which we had first played together in 1970! Déja vu, indeed! I could have happily played music for the rest of the day, but Martina dropped me off at the train station at Gammertingen on her way to work. We said auf Wiedersehen just before 2pm, when a train appeared which, after changing at Ulm, would get me to Munich by 5pm.

I had chosen to stop in Munich on the way back to Vienna, as I'd never seen much of this city. I'd passed through the city on a couple of previous occasions, but only long enough to have a beer at the Hofbräuhaus (and if I did anything else after that, I don't remember!). Martina and Heiner recommended a visit to the Deutsches Museum, for its collection of musical instruments, and an example of a 1950s-vintage computer, taking up an area the size of an average living-room.

On this evening, I found a hotel not too far from the station, then wandered downtown. I stuck my head inside the Hofbräuhaus, to see if it still looked the same as it did 20 years ago when I last visited. It did. Still full of drunken tourists. I settled for Bier and Nürnberger Bratwurst at the Ratskeller in Marienplatz, which was quite pleasant and, surprisingly, seemed to be populated by Germans!

Tuesday, July 3: Munich

After a stroll through the town in the morning, I spent the afternoon at the Deutsches Museum.

And of that, I spent at least two hours just in the musical intruments section. Martina was right... I have never seen such a huge collection of instruments anywhere!

Every conceivable instrument ever invented, plus some fascinating hybrid inventions (e.g. a keyboard triggering a mechanism featuring a rotating 'bow' which plays a violin!). Many of the traditional instruments, like harpsichords, date back to the 17th century. And there is a modern section with classic synthesisers and elecronic gizmos. (You know you must be getting old when you see a synthesiser you used to play not so long ago, like the Yamaha DX7, is now a museum piece!!!)

As for the rest of the museum... I saw as much as I could in the time remaining. It closed on me at 5pm. Yes, the old computers were interesting (the 1950s room-size computer comparable to the CSIRAC on display at the Museum of Victoria in Melbourne). But the museum also houses entire small ships, aeroplanes, space capsules, and all sorts of communications technology from early radio artefacts to modern media. I'll have to go back one day when my video camera's working - photography IS allowed!

On the way back to my hotel, I had a look inside the Frauenkirche, the landmark church with twin towers that dominates views of the centre of Munich. While I was there, an organist started to practice. There was to be an organ recital the following day, so it might have been the recitalist preparing. He played something that sounded 20th century French, and I noticed there was a Widor piece on the program the next night, so it may have been that. A massive sound! It's a very tall church, with huge reverberation - I timed an echo of nearly ten seconds after one loud chord. I could see the organist up in the gallery. (With the tremendous noise he was making, it would have made another great video shot, if only...)

Wednesday, July 4: Munich to Vienna

Suddenly, it's my last day in Europe. I board the 10.23 train via Salzburg to Vienna, where I arrive at 15.30. My flight takes off tonight at 23.20, so I have 5 or 6 hours to kill before heading to the airport.

Stash bags in a locker at Westbahnhof. Stroll up to city centre, about 2 or 3 kilometres away, along Mariahilferstraße. This is Vienna's main shopping street, so has nothing of any great interest to me, but at least it's a part of Vienna I haven't seen before. I take my time, browsing through a couple of CD stores, and that kills a couple of hours.

It's a weird feeling. I have no hotel to go back to, the next time I go to bed it will be in Australia, but that's nearly two days away, and I'm strolling the streets of Vienna with all the time in the world. I'm in a strange sort of limbo.

pic from Soryang's website

I reach the city centre. Suddenly, I find myself listening to some rather excellent piano playing. A busker with a difference! An beautiful young asian lady, at an upright piano on wheels, is playing virtuoso piano music in the middle of one of the many pedestrian-only streets that make up the heart of Vienna! I listen for a while - she plays beautifully. I took note of her website, which was written on a sign by the piano: www.soryang.at. (Later, visiting her website, I discovered her guestbook has comments from others who, like myself, chanced upon her 'street concert' and were surprised and delighted by it.) Eventually, I throw a few Euros in her hat and move on. Well, that lifted me out of the feeling of limbo for a while!

I take the U-Bahn back to Westbahnof, collect my bags, and hop on the 8.00 pm airport bus. Bye-bye, Vienna.

Check in early. Time for a beer. Flight scheduled to take off at 23.20. It does.

Thursday, July 5: Up in the air

Change planes at Bankok, from Austrian Airlines to Thai Airways. Four hour wait. Change a few Euros into Baht. Drink coffee. Find an internet terminal, send some emails. Drink a beer. OK, next flight.

Friday, July 6: Sydney - Canberra

Touch down Sydney at 6.30 am. On time. Good, I have 2 hours to make my domestic connection to Canberra.

But I soon know I'm back in Australia. The transfer service from International Terminal to Domestic can now only be used by Qantas passengers already checked through to regional destinations. Those of us arriving on non-Qantas flights now have to go outside, get on a bus to Terminal 3, join a massive queue to check in to domestic flights. By the time I reach the counter, my flight has closed. They put me on a later one. Wait around and drink coffee. Coffee's terrible.

Get home to Canberra at 10.30. I had left Munich at 10.30 on Wednesday. Allowing for the 8-hour time difference, that means I have been travelling for 40 hours exactly. Consider going straight to doctor to have clothes surgically removed. Instead, I manage to peel them off carefully, have a shower and a nap.

At least I now have the weekend to rest before going back to work to start saving up for my next trip!