September journeys

Years ago, before the pandemic but also before the job at the museum, it was not uncommon for me spending the whole September travelling from a summer school to a conference, from a short vacation to a field trip. In some years, I didn’t spend more than 5 nights on the same bed. This year, it was exactly like back then, and I enjoyed at lot.

1. Tyrol

The first journey began at the end of August, with a planned field trip to Tyrol. The initial idea was to build a small team of scientists, but it didn’t work. At the end, I was alone with a colleague of the GeoSphere Austria, who has kindly illustrated the outcrops and the local geology. My father came along to test the new van on a longer trip and to visit an old family friend in Bavaria on the way back. The weather was relatively fine during the trip, not more than some light rain, but had been quite bad the days before our journey. So bad that the road and the bridge to "the" outcrop had been washed away and we were blocked >2 hrs in a traffic jam on the highway around Wörgl for construction works of a mobile dam to hamper a flood. Nevertheless, the field trip was geologically successful, a number of samples were secured, and I got the (geological) picture of the area.. Before coming back, my father and I briefly drove to Bavaria, as planned, were we paid a visit to this still active 96 years old friend and checked that Germany is indeed less expensive than Austria.

St. Georg. Nördlingen.

II. Bavaria

A few days after coming back from Tyrol, I went again to Bavaria, but this time by train. A colleague of mine and I had been invited to give some lectures during a summer school for planetary scientists. I’ve been already some times to Närdlingen and I was looking forward to the school, where biologists, petrologists, and astronomers have the opportunity to meet and see what the others do. The train journey was long, but pleasant, I had to change in Meidling, München Ost (due to construction work, the international train was not going to München Hbf, which I had to reach by local underground trains), München Hbf, and Donauwörth. All trains on time, despite the bad name of the Deutsche Bahn. The school was as nice as expected and I met great people from all over the world, including and met again some international colleagues. On the way back home, I followed another path, changing in Donauwörth, Nürnberg, and Meidling. As I was in Nürnberg over lunch and I had never visited the city, I used the time for a short walk through the pedestrian, being enough to catch a free organ concert.

III. Vienna

Even though I commute every day between WN and Vienna, this time it felt like going abroad, because I attended a conference at the university, jointly supported by the German, Slovakian and Austrian mineralogical societies. It was a nice conference, where I met again some former and new colleagues, strengthening the ongoing scientific cooperation. As part of the conference, I gave a tour through some halls of the museum. Even though the number of participants was very limited, there were very interested participants. The organizer of the conference, as acknowledgment, gave me a personalized bottle of wine. Very appreciated. Despite the international environment (and the number of Italians, which made me constantly switching from English to German to Italian), I could go back to my old office at the university, currently empty, doing some work. A weird feeling, as I spent there nothing less than 6 years.

Nürnberg. A postcard corner.

IV. Italy

My parents wanted to go back to Italy before the outbreak of winterly temperatures and I wished to accompany them, so that my father can share the long drive with me. The best time was immediately after the conference, over a weekend. I stayed in my hometown less than 48 hours, but we did a lot of work in the garden and in the house in that time. On Sunday, after celebrating my mom’s birthday, I travelled back to WN, alone and by train. Every journey to Italy makes me feeling more and more "Austrian" or at least foreigner. A lot of unnecessary stress was caused by the introduction of a new digital ticket for regional trains… where one has to check in before travelling, like for a plane. It forces people to have a smartphone and internet connection, it doesn’t give the claimed flexibility, and leaves people insecure whether the ticket is valid or not. Ou course, as always, the ticket was not checked. As every time, I was sad to leave my parents and our cat, but I was happy to come back to Austria. 

My calendar is pretty busy for the next weeks, even in the weekends, where I’ll have to spend hours on trains between the country side, Vienna, and WN. The next "real" trip will be in a couple of weeks, going one day to Salzburg, by train of course! for a workshop on geological, artistic, and historical aspects of rocks. Very much looking forward to it.