Day 12 - Train to Linz, Austria

Linz. This picture was taken down the hill from where my family stayed in '63ish. The green sloping area in front is where Aunt Heli learned to ski.
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I had a long day of traveling via Eurail today. My train departed at 8:04 am but I was in a first class cabin (all by myself)! It was wonderful. I had one stopover in Frankfurt. As I waited with a bunch of other people, someone started speaking over the intercom. Unfortunately, it was in German so I watched the faces of the others around me. When they started looking confused and talking with each other, I realized that our train had been canceled. I walked around and asked other passengers if they were waiting for ICE 27. Some nice Germans (Germans have been super nice to me on my trip) told me that I needed to get on the next train and go to the next station, get off and wait for another train to Linz. I did that but at the next station, the train I was on still said Linz. After asking around, I was told to get back on the train and wait for Passeu, then get off and board another train to Linz. It wasn't so bad, though the second trains first class wasn't as nice (poor me). It took over 9 hours in total but I finally made it to Linz and at the same time that I was originally supposed to be there.

I should mention that I am staying with Helene and Rene Moos. I call Helene "Aunt Heli" because in 1960ish, she was a exchange student with my maternal family in New York. In 1963, my mother, my Aunt Betty, Uncle Bill, Gram and Grampa went over to Austria to visit Aunt Heli in Linz. Aunt Heli calls my grandmother "Ma Fisher" and my grandfather (who passed in 1980) "Dad Fisher". She's literally been apart of my family for longer than I have. In 1981, my grandmother (fulfilling a promise to my grandfather) took my older brother, Mike, and my cousin to see Aunt Heli in Austria. I still have a postcard that Mike sent me from there (bet you didn't know that, huh, Mike?). Anyway, it's always been a dream of mine to come to Linz, meet Heli and see what my family saw so many years ago. When I was planning my trip, I emailed Heli and asked if I could stay with her. Even though we've never met (actually, she thinks she met me when I was around 2), she whole heartily agreed and has since become my "Aunt". I have been most excited, this whole time while trip planning, to come to Austria and stay with Aunt Heli and Rene.

bet you didn't know that, huh, Mike?

Anyway, when I got to the Linz station, I walked toward the info center with hoards of other people. Vaguely, I wondered if I could recognize her but as I turned the corner and from a great distance, I saw a woman standing there and I just knew it was her. We both waved and when I got to her, she hugged me and said she knew it was me, even without the backpack on. We chatted about my trip on the way to the car and hugged a couple of times more.

When we got to her house, I met Rene, her husband. He's a retired law professor. Actually, there's not an American equivalent for what he did. He got to the highest ranking position for professors in universities and was asked to become a law maker. It's hard to translate it to english, because we just don't have that position. This way ensures that only the smartest people are making the laws and not just people wanting to get elected (though they do have elected officials here as well). We chatted while Aunt Heli made dinner and they showed me the house (which is beautiful!). I will definitely have to take some pictures of Rene's garden because it's amazing (and a lot of work, I'm sure). Their home is also filled with lovely art work (which I probably won't post here out of respect - you'll just have to take my word for it). Oh, and the view from the backyard is incredible. They live on a 'hill' and you can see all of Linz and the surrounding Alps.

It's hard to describe how this feels. I instantly felt like I was with family (and indeed I was) but we'd never met and have only emailed a few times. There's great emotion attached to Aunt Heli in my heart because of the history she has with my family (long before I was ever thought of). And the fact that she knew my grandfather (I was 2 when he died) and met my great grandmother... well, you can imagine... it's just very moving for me.