"On the Trail"

The Journals from the Road

Tuesday, July 17, 2001: Cooler Days - Innsbrook to Feldkirch, Austria (train)

Frank here…

I awoke on the train with a view of much different terrain. The mountains were plenty and very, very green and the air felt a lot cooler. Jacqueline met me at the train station and we immediately decided to do some site seeing before going to her cousin Amaru's place in Feldkirch.

Some of the city had very bland looking architecture which was of Gothic style; the Baroque buildings looked glamorous in comparison. We also visited the Basilica, then St. Jacob's church that had ceilings that had paintings which fooled the viewer into thinking that the ceiling was concave - very impressive. We also saw a statue of the famed Franz Josef. I was especially excited to see it because I saw the Franz Josef glacier in New Zealand earlier in this trip. As we strolled around, it was quite noticeable to me to see the much paler faces and much more clothed bodies compared to southern Italy. Innsbrook held the 1964 and 76 winter Olympics, which is close to my heart because I have been a downhill skier for 35 years.

We took a train to Feldkirch where I met Jacqueline's cousin Amaru. We connected and had an extra special respect for each other right away. He has been through many challenging journeys as well. We even jammed music together. He brought out his Peruvian zambonia (something like a pan flute) and played some music for me. Then I got to play his wife's guitar while he borrowed my harmonica. He played for his very first time and was a natural.

We talked in a combination of English, Italian, and Spanish before, during and after our Chinese dinner at a local restaurant.

Austria is cool… literally.

-"Walk a mile in my shoes" (I do not know the author)

-Frank Pollari

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