August 2, 2010
Another long travel day. We drove back to Bologna to return the car, but when we are literally one block from the car rental, we are turned back by policemen saying “there is a manifestation”. Manifestation? Is that a riot, or, terrorist attack, or what? We went around in circles for about 20 minutes. Finally I parked the car about 5 blocks away and let Dongsok walk on foot to the agency. He returned with driving directions and we managed to get to the rental office this time. It seems the “manifestation” was a commemoration of the 30th anniversary of a terrorist bombing attack that killed 85 people. Terrible. The trains were running again by the time of our booked trip to Vienna, through Verona, Innsbruck & Salzburg.
We have learned our lesson about trains: with all our luggage (still hauling too many CDs, having failed to sell many in either Italy or Switzerland, unlike Holland), we booked first class tickets for just 10 Euros more each, and had spacious quiet seating with plenty of luggage storage room. And a great meal on the Austrian train between Salzburg and Vienna. Serious bread and goulash!
Our friend Augusta Campagne, a Dutch harpsichordist who has taught for many years now at the University in Vienna, met us at the train station with her car and brought us to her apartment. How lucky we are to have so many friends in Europe to visit with! We had fun catching up; she has a daughter similar in age to ours, and we’ve “traded” daughters several times over the past few years.
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