We were the only two in the shuttle and the driver didn't speak much English, so we spent most of the time enjoying the scenery. I noticed that the Czechs marked their roads with solid white lines along each side with nothing in the middle, but when we crossed into Austria it switched to a dashed white line down the middle with nothing on the sides.
I'd never actually heard the owner of the pension tell our driver where we wanted to go, so I was encouraged to see a sign welcoming us to Linz. He asked us if we wanted to go to the train station, and in a few more minutes were were there.
We stopped in at the ticket office and found that the once daily direct train to Spittal would be leaving in 10 minutes, so we bought tickets and dashed off to the platform. I also noticed that the station offered free WiFi access, so I used the iPhone to check email and found a couple responses from the pensions in Zell am See. I got off a quick reply confirming our plans to go to our preferred pension, and was able to send a second note telling #2 that we wouldn't be coming. As I pressed 'send' the train started to move out of the station.
There was some kind of problem with the rail line, so we had to transfer to buses at one point. It was unfortunate that the rails were kaput, but I give the Austrians bonus points for efficiency -- it was less than five minutes from when we got off the train to when our bus was loaded with luggage and people and rolling out of the station. Hopefully to the proper destination.
After a 45 minute ride we transferred back onto a train and shared a compartment with an older Austrian woman named Heidi. She was quite the world traveller, having been to several places in the states ("New York, San Francisco. Seattle, yes. Las Vegas, of course!") as well as South America, Asia, and a little bit of Africa ("Only Gibralter, Kenya, and Egypt"). We enjoyed visiting with her during the final portion of our train ride.
Our pension in Spittal was across the river and outside of town -- about a 30 minute walk. We found a path through a cornfield that got us off the main road and then took us past (and through) several farms. Our room looked out onto very steep pasture used for a cow and some sheep. From our second story room we could look eye-to-eye with the cow at a distance of maybe 30'. We could hear her breathing as she chewed her cud and watched to see if we'd do something useful (e.g., give her something to eat).
Our room made a great first impression when we walked through the door -- quiet, an excellent view, and attractive linens on the bed. Unfortunately, the substance was a little different. The sheets were polyester, it was a smoking room (as was the entire pension), and Beth found ashes in a variety of disconcerting places (e.g., the drinking glasses). It was not one of our favorite places to stay, but it provided a place to stay for the night.
The map below shows Cesky Krumlov at the top, Linz, Austria just below it, and Spittal an der Drau at the very bottom.
View 2009.09.23.location in a larger map
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