Sunrise woke us up at around 5:00 AM – yikes that’s even early for Blogger Hubby. We got up and closed the curtains even more for a little bit more sleep. We followed the same routine as yesterday with breakfast in the diningroom. There is an omelet station at the back of the dining room but we found that it took a LOOONG time to get an omelet so we reverted to the menu which was just fine.
This was going to be a busy day for us. Blogger Hubby had a scheduled Bike Tour of Linz while I went on another city tour. In the afternoon we chose a tour of Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic. Another choice for this day was an All Day Excursion of Salzburg which many people took. That tour lasted about 9 1/2 hours. We had just been to Salzburg a few years earlier and didn’t find the need to go back for just a day. In addition to our afternoon tour of Cesky Krumlov, the two other afternoon choices were a shortened version of Salzburg or going to the Austrian Lakes District (which we had done by car a few years earlier). We wisely saved a few of our Czech money when we were in Prague knowing that we were going to visit Cesky Krumlov. I’m getting ahead of myself – let me get back to Linz.
We docked right in the city center and it was easy getting to the main square using a pedestrian bridge to get over all the traffic on the road.
What I remember most about Linz is the Plague Column in the center of town. We have been fortunate in our country that we never really had plagues though perhaps the native population may feel differently because of the many diseases that the Europeans brought to the New World when they explored it. Nevertheless, most of Europe has had to deal with plagues over the centuries and it is estimated that about 25 million people died. The column, built in a Baroque style, was erected in gratitude by those who had survived a variety of disasters and protection against war, fire and the plague. The Column is located in the centre of the main square (Hauptplatz).
We walked by where Mozart, upon visiting Linz with his wife, wrote in 4 days the Symphony No. 36. To this day that symphony is know as the Linz Symphony.
To me, there was nothing else really remarkable about Linz. Our guide was so-so (kept telling us how much better Salzburg was) and I ended up leaving the group early and heading over to one of the bakeries in the square to get myself a slice of the Original Linzertorte to bring back to the ship, as if I didn’t get enough to eat there! Our tour guide mentioned that a number of bakeries claim to be the original in making the Linzertorte but the bakery I went to had a big old sign out front indicating that it was them.
As like the day before, I ended the tour with a lemon gelato that I bought. I enjoyed every lick as I walked back to the ship.
While I was on my tour, Blogger Hubby did a bike tour of the city. They actually passed me going back to the ship and it looked like they had a lot of fun.
Next up – Cesky Krumlov, CZ
Here are a few more photos of Linz:
Air, Land & Sea 
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