Discovering Linz … 3/3

Goodmorning!

A day in Linz always starts in the best of ways: with a Linzer Torte that crumbles pleasantly in your mouth 😉

I didn’t know this, but apparently this cake is the oldest in Austria, its recipe dates back 360 years, before the Sacher torte (it’s recipe is just 200 years old)! Besides, its a special cake that can be conserved up to 70 days, while the Sacher torte will last about 5 days…

After a great breakfast with this mixture of pastry and hazelnuts, covered in red currant jam and almond flakes, I’m ready for a long walk around the city!

Obviously I couldn’t walk out from Jindrak 1929 without a Linzer Torte to take back home (unfortunately it didn’t last that long…).

I walk along the “Road of Nobility” where there are lots of antiques shops, a road that is pedestrian for part of its length; it’s fun to see the road blocks covered in welcome signs in lots of different languages!

Before 1705, “The Road of Nobility” was called differently; its name was “Pig road” because it was the street that ran out of the city walls, all the way to the country side! When the countryside became a residential area, the street changed its name.

At the end of the street there is a large building: the Government building of Upper Austria!

You can walk in as you please; so here I am, inside this splendid renaissance building: It was partly destroyed by a bad fire in the 1800s that involved the entire city and in this building destroyed the library, the archives and an art gallery.

As I walk around the rooms, I stop in front of the wonderful windows of the renaissance hall from which I see all the streets of the old town, and the building where the Symphony of Linz took form in 1783!

Guess who composed it? Mozart obviously! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdMU1uz6FwQ)

I continue to wonder about the Landhouse until I discover a beautiful cloister, with Tuscan columns; a place that in 1579 was a school (you can still see some of the student’s signatures on the walls) and that has a fountain of planets dedicated to Keplero.

I then wonder around the little streets of the centre, and finally head up towards the castle, from where there’s a wonderful view of the city and the 11 hills that surround it on the blue Danube!

But its lunch time so where shall we eat? In that lovely place I told you about in the last article: Restaurant Stadtliebe .

Here every dish has a traditional style, but served in a modern environment and with a contemporary twist!

Both the indoors and outdoors are pleasant and comfortable, the service is impeccable, the waiters are kind and cheerful, so nice that I stopped to ask if they were actually the owners! I never met such well-prepared employees!

There’s lots on the menu, from vegetarian to classic cuisine, all well presented and served with attention to detail!

Another Austrian tour is over; I head back home, filled with even more love for this beautiful country!

Ph. Andrea Zangrando