Pilgrimage

This was billed as a 'free' weekend, meaning no rehearsals or concerts were scheduled. Most everybody has taken off for somewhere, Budapest and Vienna being the most popular destinations. A few brave souls have ventured as far as Venice (but you really need three days to do that). I deliberated Budapest, which I have never visited, but decided that it was too far and too much hassle for a short weekend trip. I also considered going to the Salzkammergut, one of Austria's most beautiful areas, but it's hard to get to hotels without a car. Why go off so far afield anyway? There is certainly enough to explore right in my backyard here. I opted to make a day trip to the curiously named town of Mürzzuschlag. It lies northeast of Graz, about half way to Vienna. Its main attraction is the Johannes Brahms Museum. The composer spent two summers in M-schlag and composed, among other things, his Fourth Symphony here. He loved to walk in the woods above the town and extolled the beauties of the landscape. On my way there I passed Frohnleiten, which I visited just a week ago (it seems like a month ago), changed trains in Bruck an der Mur and was in M-schlag in an hour and a half. There is a terrific special rate for weekend train travel in the Stieremark; you can travel anywhere in the province (albeit on the slower regional trains only) for the low price of 11 euros ($16). What a deal! After the charming and overly pretty-fied town of Frohnleiten, M-schlag is a shock. It's just plain ugly. It seems that every old building in the center of town has been pulled down and has been replaced with ghastly glass and metal boxes, circa 1960's. The town square is a parking lot. What a pity; the Mürzzuschlagers could have learned something from their neighbors down the road in Frohnleiten. The only thing worth looking at is the lovely Baroque church and its graceful bell tower. The Brahms Museum, privately owned and operated, is actually in the house that the master occupied during his summers in M-schlag. It has interesting and informative displays of the composer's life and his travels. The most touching object is a piano that he actually played on. Playing it was verboten, but I did put my fingers on the keys that he touched (see photo). I undertook the two and a half hour hike along the Brahmsweg, a hiking trail that supposedly follows Brahms's own wanderings in the hills. I'll second his assertion: the landscape is magnificent. Unfortunately, after a sunny beginning to the day, it clouded over (it does that a lot in the Alps). I was able to combine both Culture and Nature in one excursion. An added delight to the day was running into an older couple I know only slightly from the program, Evangeline and Beaumont Glass, in the museum. They are a friendly, cultured and elegant couple. We sat in the salon, a small concert hall of the museum, and chatted for a long while. Later we shared the train ride back to Graz. As I had an hour and a half to kill waiting for the regional train for the return journey, I was forced to visit a local café and had no choice but to devour a slice of Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte with coffee. It's a rough life here in Austria.