March 18, 2012

• The SchloossMuseum

  (March 10, 2012)

  It was a Saturday with Nothing to Do, so the whole family decided to go to the Linz Castle. It’s no longer a castle where someone lives; instead, it’s a museum. In 1800, there was a fire that burned part of it. They rebuilt it with a glass bit. (Think of the Louvre with the glass part on it–does not match, but it’s still cool.)

  Here’s part of the new part.

  

  And two views I swiped from the internet of the rest of it.

    

   

  The museum is about a block away from our apartment. We had been walking by it almost daily, and I never noticed the sign.

  

   

  And where does this sign point? Up a whole lot of steps! I have found that Linz with its cobblestone streets, curbs, and stairs isn’t very handicap friendly.

  

  This was only the FIRST set of steps. After this, there were three or four more sets, some of metal, some of stone. Michael said there were 84 altogether. I was proud of myself for not being out of breath at all at the top. Yay for having to climb 8 floors to get to my apartment every day!  The view from the top was pretty nice.

        

   

  We nosed around the entry way where they still had a nativity set on display. This is the Austrian Joseph and Mary. Who went to…Rome? Well, somewhere with pillars and ruins.

      

  We bought our tickets, and this was the first time that someone did not speak any English at all. She finally was able to communicate that not only did we need to pay 3 Euros for the audio guide, we also needed to leave a 10 Euro deposit.  The two older ladies who worked there and I did a lot of smiling and nodding and pointing to get our messages across to one another.

  We headed to the basement where the Special Exhibit was, a display of Bolivian artifacts. They were interesting enough.

         

   

  It was here that another employee who spoke no English let me know there was no photography at all in the museum. He wouldn’t be very good at charades, that man.  So, sadly, I have no pictures of the Roman costumes and coins, the medieval weaponry, and more.  But I did sneak a picture of the family checking out the fish tank which might have been the only thing Michael and Rachel enjoyed about the whole museum.

   

  

   

  I enjoyed the museum, though, even though the audio guide was the most random and dull one I’ve ever come across. The focus of the guide was to tell you all about Austria, which sounds like it should be fascinating, but it was not. I cannot think of a single thing I heard that was worth remembering. (And that is because I remember none of it!) For example, I typed in the number on the Lantern Fish display. I got five minutes on water purity, general ideas of conservation, and about two unhelpful sentences about the fish. “Lantern fish are called ‘lantern fish’ because the males have scales they shed.”  HUH?

  We almost needed a real guide as the museum felt like a labyrinth. You would think you were all done on a floor, and then, there would be a door. Upon entering, you’d discover almost an entire wing of the museum. I found this delightful. The kids not so much. They were ready to be done so they could go home and sit around on computers. Too bad for them. You will be cultured!

  One of the things the museum seemed to focus on was “Archeology isn’t all Indiana Jones.”  And with the museums I’ve been to, I see that more and more. At a different museum (with a different audio guide), the narrator was discussing a hoarde of silver coins that were found 400 years or more after they were hidden. They were telling all sorts of things about what must have happened, how the coins were lightly filed down and what that meant, and more. It’s like a big mystery, and no one can tell you if you made the right guess. 

  I felt like a minor archeological detective myself. All the information was in German, and my pocket dictionary wasn’t equipped to handle words like “jousting lance” and “reliquary.”  There were these metal stick things in the Roman section. “Hmmm,” thought I. “Could those be hair pins?” Then, I looked at what else was in the display. There were tablets and writing. “Ohhh! Those must be styluses!” I said to James, “These are styluses.” He said, “Huh. I thought they were hair pins.”

  There was also a lot of art including an extensive display by Johann Baptist Reiter who painted in the 1800s.  I liked his stuff so well, I bought this postcard of his self-portrait.

  

   

  I would not mind going back to the museum and taking my time looking at the displays. Except, I think I’ll have to go by myself. 

   

  • 2:14 pm
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