Non-French TidbitsAustria 1989

By Jim and Emmy Humberd

We arrived from Yugoslavia, drove through Graz, Austria, and headed north toward Salzburg. This year, the toll for two tunnels through the mountains was 120 Schilling.

No other country honors church steeples like Austria. Their steeples are single onion, double onions, very pointed, octagon, bishops miter, some with multiple round parts, and most have clean, brightly colored blue, or red, or green shingles, each so carefully maintained, one after the other.

We passed many Austrian Alpine houses that were mainly white or cream, with brown roofs. Some houses have a decorative bell tower, and many have a cross at the top of the roof. The town of Hall in Triol is colorful. There are three special towers, one is octagon shaped, with windows clear to the top. Looks like a small castle. Could be apartments and a restaurant in the building, but we're not sure.

As we walked around in Hall in Triol, we saw a huge man who sure looked funny. Don't know if he was just dressed to be funny, or if he thought he was dressed as an Alpine climber. He had a very tiny (for him) hat with a feather, short pants, and a huge belly that stuck far in front of him. Wonder if he ever got close enough to a door to reach the door knob. He hasn't seen his shoes (among other things) for many years.

As we walked around the city of Innsbruck we met a group of high school kids from somewhere in America. They were members of a band, and were to have a concert later in the day. We were rather surprised to see a huge Triumphal Arch, erected in 1765, right in the middle of Maria Theresien Strasse.

At a cemetery near a church with a well-kept steeple, over each grave there were crosses made of metal, covered by a little metal roof, decorated with elaborate metal curlicues, and with a photograph of the "occupant" mounted on the cross.

We stopped at the side of the road to enjoy the scenery, and noticed a helicopter sitting next to big piles of plastic-wrapped mattresses, perhaps waiting to be taken up the mountain, to a ski resort hotel. Moments later Jim heard the engine start, then saw the men leaping onto the piles of mattresses to keep them from flying away with the wind from the helicopter blades. Men, plastic, mattresses, and dirt, flying in all directions!

Books by Jim and Emmy Humberd:
Invitation to France
Invitation to Germany
Invitation to Italy

French Video Immersion