Condividiamo il diario del nostro STEAMER Jacopo sull’esperienza ERASMUS a Linz
We left on Monday morning from Rovereto; we took a train to Bolzano, where we boarded a Frecciarossa that took us to the station in Linz.
There, some teachers and students from the Borg school were waiting for us and welcomed us warmly. Using public transport, we reached our hotel, the Trans World Hotel Donauwelle Linz, a wonderful four-star hotel equipped with top services, including a fitness area. The rooms were very clean and the beds very comfortable; furthermore, the hotel restaurant served excellent meals and there was also an area where you could have a hot tea in the evening.
On the same day we arrived, we went to quickly visit the school and afterwards for an aperitif with local delicacies at a restaurant where some students also worked.
On Tuesday, we headed to the Borg school, where they introduced us to teachers and students (some spoke Italian well) who welcomed us with open arms. After a round of introductions, we began the activities: we were made to play a game called Lupus in Fábula, while another group went to visit the school; finally, we discussed various topics in rotation with the German students. In the afternoon, we just visited the city center.
On Wednesday, we went to the school again, where we attended various lessons in different classes. Some teachers specifically explained things in English to help us understand better, and some even spoke to us in Italian: I felt very much at ease. The classrooms were very nice, like the chemistry one; furthermore, in most of the classes I was in, the environment was very clean and tidy. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the ARS Electronica Center, where we had a guided tour inside the museum: we moved from rooms with virtual reality, to music made by AI, all the way to neuroscience.
On Thursday, we visited the Mauthausen concentration camp, located on a hill 30 km from Linz. The guide first took us on an external tour, showing us the memorials, the view of the quarry and the “Stairs of Death” at Mauthausen; afterwards, we entered the camp through the prisoners’ gate. We went inside the three remaining barracks and also the laundry building, finally arriving at the heart of the camp: the gas chambers and the crematorium ovens. It was a somewhat heavy experience, but one worth having. In the afternoon, we went to Linz and spent the time in the city center.
On Friday, we visited the Mural Harbour Gallery, an open-air museum in the port of Linz, where we had the chance to observe countless graffiti works and art. At the end of the tour, we headed to a shopping mall, where we bought some souvenirs from Linz and had lunch. Once back at the hotel, we had dinner and packed our bags.
During the return journey, we had to take a bus to Innsbruck because the railway line was interrupted, but in the end, everything went smoothly.
