Linz is the third largest city in Austria after Vienna
and Graz. After the end of the Second
World War (1945), Linz had a reputation as a dusty steel city, which it owed to
its largest employer, the steelworks of today's Voestalpine AG. However,
through improved environmental protection and numerous initiatives in the
cultural sector the city gradually gained a new image. Linz is now considered as a city of culture,
although some of the structures of the old industrial city are still visible. The city is also one of the greenest cities
in Austria.
Miraculously the sun appeared for the first time since Budapest and we could dispense with our coats. Our first visit was to the Roman Catholic New Cathedral in Linz, also
known as the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, which is the largest,
though not the tallest church in Austria.
The tallest church by a very small margin is St Stephen's Cathedral in
Vienna.
After visiting the cathedral we went to a coffee house to try some Linzer Torte. The recipe for Linzer Torte is considered the oldest known cake recipe in the world. Personally, I found this cake rather dry and was glad of the coffee and water served with it. We then spent the rest of the morning walking around the Old Town of Linz.
We then left the city to visit a family owned cider farm
where we were given a substantial lunch of organic cold cuts and bread produced on the farm. This was washed down with the farm's own apple
juice, cider and perry. Finally we tasted two of the farm's schnapps varieties before returning to Linz.
Aha! I can add comments on my desktop (just not on my laptop for some reason).
ReplyDeleteI did the same as you in Linz and went to a local cafe for Linzer Torte. I published a photo of it in my blog and Deb commented that it was the oldest cake in the world. I replied that it hadn't tasted that stale.