Linz Day 3

Today was a much less productive day for me but not so much for Michael.  Today was competition day!! Semi-Final Round! 

We took the morning pretty easy...ate a late breakfast...took our time..played around online...researched train tickets to Salzburg....

We eventually made our way over to the Brucknerhaus to listen to Phillip (the other tuba player in the quartet) in the solo competition.  Unfortunately,  we had some mis-communication on what time he actually played and ended up missing it.  Afterwards, Michael went to practice at the Musikschule and I hung around the Brucknerhaus enjoying the beautiful weather, people watching and taking pictures.  

The Brucknerhaus

The Danube!

Interesting art...

I sat by this fountain for quite a while just relaxing while Michael practiced :) 

This cute puppy played in the fountain for a while.  So cute!!! 

I got tired of sitting so I decided to go to the music school to find Michael and see how much longer he wanted to practice.   

This was on top of a closed bakery.   I thought it was kind of creepy...

 After the practice session,  Michael and I headed back to the hotel and had a Bible study.  It was very nice since we were not able to go to church over here.  After that, it was time to go back the the Brucknerhaus for the semi-finals!  The quartet named themselves the "Maize and Blue Quartet" for the Univ. of Michigan's colors so they decided to make their clothes match.  How do you like it?? I'm the one that went shopping for the guys.  I think it matches U of M's colors very well! :) 

Michael is all ready to go!  

This is where they performed inside the Brucknerhaus 

After the performance Michael and I went out for some gelato while the judges made up their minds.  It was nice to get away from the stressful competition atmosphere.  On our way back we found out the news................................................................

They advanced!!! Yay!  They are one of four groups that are going on to the final round.  As part of our celebration we went to an outdoor cafe with the group for fun desserts and whatnots.  We passed this very pink building on the way.  It's actually their "Car Culture" museum.  You would never see a pink car museum in America.  

It was interesting though because the further you got from it...it seemed to disappear... 

This is on the other side of the Danube.  It's the Ars Electronica Center.  It's the "We're an up and coming city in Austria" thing that we think is very tacky.

Ars Electronica Center 

So along this trip, Michael has been carrying my camera bag later in the day when my back starts to hurt from walking so much.  He is awesome.  He likes to make Seinfeld references while carrying it.  What an awesome fiance` :)

"It's a European Carry- All!!!"

While we were at the restaurant, we watched the England vs.  Italy soccer game with all the locals.  That was really fun!  And I don't even like soccer!  The whole square would yell when they got close to a goal.  So fun!  At the end of the game when Italy won,  the owner of a Pizzeria down the street got in his orange VW bug and drove through the main square blaring his horn with someone holding a giant Italy flag out the sunroof.   It was hilarious given that on the side of the car was a decal for his pizzeria.  I regret not getting a picture! He went by too fast.

Afterwards we went to the tram station and went on our way home.  Here are some lovely night photos of the square.  

We watched the game at the restaurant with the blue tent on the far left.  They had a flat screen outside :) 

The people go home after the game.  

Today was a nice relaxing day and we had an awesome ending.  Michael's group advanced and we had a very authentic Europe experience watching a soccer game with everyone.  I'll never forget this night :)