Flooding Excitement...

The Po River is the largest river in Italy and our local Tanaro River flows into the Po. For the last few days, there has been flooding due to all of the rain that our friend John brought with him from Seattle. As I write this, it's been a dry day and the excitement is dying down. The excitement included closing the schools in anticipation of possible flooding (today little Chiara is very happy about that) and being warned yesterday that a surge might occur and it would behoove us to put things "up" in our little apartment.
I escorted John to Milan yesterday for his early morning flight and on my way back, the train went over the Tanaro at several points. I didn't know anything about the flooding but the river really got my attention as the train seemingly skimmed over the water and tall trees were almost submerged. Hmmm, I wondered to myself, what's up? When I got home, Kim told me that the upstairs neighbor had come by and warned that a water surge could occur around noon; I found Kim putting things up high and dismantling the apartment. Alessandria has a history of a large flood in 1994; at that time, the apartment we are in was completely submerged. Hmmmm, I wondered again.
By now you've figured out that all is well; the water did minimally flood into parts of Alessandria but not our area. Rita came by while our upstairs neighbor Roberto and I were attempting to clear out the drain in front of our apartment. She asked me if I wanted to go take pictures of the river for the blog? The upstairs neighbor commented that I might want to wait until later in the day, when the river is past its potential surging point. But, let's hand it to Rita, she wants you all to know our news!

This is the Tanaro earlier this year, no flooding at that time. Notice the water levels around the arches.

Here's yesterday's level at around 6:30 PM.

The area near the river was blocked off but no one seemed to mind...

Lots of water...the rushing sound of it was quite loud.

It was the event of the week. When I strolled over, there were people everywhere and cars were doubled parked.

Here's Chiara with Rita, tipping her hat to the Alessandria school system and their commitment to protecting the children.

An Austrian Road Trip....

While in Austria, we got to take a trip to a small village in Eastern Austria called Bildein. The village of Bildein is located in the northeastern part of the Güssing district at the Hungarian border and a stone's throw from where the Iron Curtain stood. It's where Linde's parents lived and raised their three daughters as they operated a guest house on the "free" side of the curtain. I have been hearing about Bildein for many years from Kim, Linde and Jean. They have stories that would curl their parents' hair. Little things like being in their early 20's and trying to smuggle a young man across the Iron Curtain as border guards aimed their guns at the car and then through the (open) car windows. The story goes that he had to get out and they roared away while a Joan Baez cassette proclaimed their indignation....

The land is so beautiful: rolling hills lush and green. It was very hard to imagine that this area was a place of such misery for so many. I have an image of a bunch of bureauocrats and cigar smoking military men just willy nilly declaring their lines. Luckily Linde and her family were on the free side. She grew up in the shadow of that curtain.

Here we go...

Here are a few scenes at the guest house...

Linde seems to related to everyone in the village. So many people are her cousins, or aunts...Why, here's one now.

While others worked...

we took long walks. We were introduced to "walking sticks" and quickly became fans of their use. Used properly, you also get an upper body arm workout.

Shadows of ourselves.

They have hit a stride.

A few sights along the way....

This is an old guard house.

Later, we drove to a sweet little town that has these straw houses The houses are from the 1700's and were moved here to preserve them. Straw houses are cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Kim would not let me rescue this innocent little guy...

Mud is used a lot. Here they were sprucing up around the foundation.

Then, we drove to Hungary, 5 minutes away. We saw signs advertising the "Iron Curtain Museum". Linde had never been to it so we decided to go explore...This small town of Pernau, Hungary is just a couple miles from Linde's home and it was behind the curtain.

This line and marker is the border between Austria and Hungary.

The Iron Curtain stood between 1948- 1989. The man who created this museum, Sandor Gorjak, served for 27 months (1965-1968) as a Hungarian border guard. He says on his informational board that he didn't want the world to forget what took place here. He grieves for the many who lost their lives here or were imprisoned for trying to escape. Many border guards also made those attempts and didn't make it.

Linde shows us Bildein and the line of the Iron Curtain. She spoke poignantly about all of the suffering that took place--starting actually with WWII. She spoke how the Hungarian villagers were very religious and just wanted to practice their faith, own a few cows, support their families and work their land. This was not allowed.

Land mines were used. Linde remembers growing up and periodically hearing explosions.

Guard tower.

View from the tower.

Mr. Gorjak speaks to visitors...

Linde writes in his visitor's book.

Later, we had a wonderful lunch at a small dining house operated by a very happy and lively woman, Judit Boroshaz. The food was great, the day beautiful, and I couldn't have been in better company. I have learned so much.

Many thanks.

Vienna and Friedensreich Hundertwasser

Vienna is a city of great beauty from antiquity to these modern times. We've shown you many pictures of the older Vienna, now we move to a more contemporary artist:

"Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser, born Friedrich Stowasser, (December 15, 1928 – February 19, 2000) was an Austrian painter, architect and sculptor. Born in Vienna, he became one of the best-known contemporary Austrian artists". Like "Cher" and "Siegy", he just goes by "Hundertwasser". Kim and I went for a long walk and documented a few of his sites... While we were very happy to see his influence; many Viennese seem to say, "ho hum...him again?"...or worse. Below are a few pictures, beginning with Kunst Haus Wien.

So sweet...

The front entrance..

This fountain was very cool; I want one just like it...

Another front entrance shot....

Below are a few pictures from Hundertwasserhaus village.

A very famous bathroom worth the .60 Euro they charged to enter.

Perhaps you'll remember an earlier blog where I wrote about Vienna's famous incinerator. This is it below, closer up; it is also a Hundertwasser. Can you spot the hat? It's his trademark--representing the style of hat he wore.

This was a really fun day. Given the contrast between his buildings and other "traditional" buildings his art made us smile a lot . May I never think "ho hum" should I get to see them again in the future. Thank you.