Friday, December 01, 2006

Chant d'automne

Nature is beautiful at this time of the year. Three times a week I'm going to Hallein by train (as I'm teaching at a secondary school there) , which is a 20 minute journey. Here's where the Alps start. On the train from Linz to Salzburg I see mostly flat land (and a lake), with the mountains looming far behind in the distance. To Hallein, I'm going past the mountains. They are to the left and to the right of the train and change every day. One day the sun is shining, and I see the crisp edges between the sun-lit side and the shadow-side, with white patches of snow crossing the sides at the top. On other days it's misty. Then the lower part of the mountains is hidden in fog. Only the peak shows, peeking out of the fog. It never ceases to amaze me.
The mountains are even more beautiful when you go from Linz to Graz. Then you literally go over the mountains, with steep cliffs at one side of the train occasionally. This must be the sublime nature that the Romantics adored.

Tomorrow I'm going to a medieval market in Amerang (between Salzburg and Munich, in Germany). The last market for this year. I'll miss them during winter.

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