Austria: Adventures in Graz Part One

Down in the southeast corner of Austria lies the quaint city of Graz (pronounced Grah-tz).  It is situated on the Mur River pictured above.  The clocktower sticking out in the top left of the picture is one of the city's main icons and is at the top of the fortification that is over 10 centuries old.  Graz itself has a very rich history which dates back to the Copper Age!  Just so you can be informed readers, the Copper Age began at about 5,000 BC between the Neolithic Period (or Stone Age) and the Bronze Age.  So yeah, it's old.  Over the years, Graz has experienced some destruction from wars as did much of Europe, but its old town is still in pretty good shape and only about 16 percent of the buildings were damaged during WWII.  

I came here to visit my dear friends, Irma and Brian, along with their 3 exceptional boys: Theodore, Henry and Felix. 

Irma and Brian live on this quiet street in a 500-year-old house that used to belong to Irma's grandparents.  Irma's sister, Centa (the one who had the birthday), also lives in the house.  She has been in Graz for a few years, working on her doctorate in English literature at one of the city's universities. 

This is their backyard where I played a few solid rounds of hide-and-seek with Theo, Henry and Felix.  

On my first full day in Graz, we all took a stroll down the block to their wonderful farmers' market.  Thanks to this beautiful market, Irma and her family are able to eat fresh, local, seasonal foods every day without hardly ever having to go to a supermarket.  

Pussy willows are in season and were being sold in sweet little bunches. 

We kind of slept in after staying up waaaaaay too late the night before for Centa's party, so most of the farmers were already packed up by the time we got there.  We still managed to get some good veggies for supper though. 

Irma and I spent a lot of time just walking around the city.  It's absolutely beautiful and highly walkable.  This mural was a few blocks away from their house. 

We walked over to the Schloßberg (pronounced Shloss-burg), Graz's iconic hill dominating the old town with the old fortress and clock tower on top.  

Irma and I were gazing up at the path to the top of the hill when all of a sudden, I heard someone calling my name.  There weren't many people around so the chances of another Amanda hanging out in the quiet square were pretty slim.  I turned around to see my old friend, Victoria, running in my direction!  I know her from living in Ithaca, New York!  Imagine that! What are the chances I'd run into literally ANYone I know while strolling around Graz, Austria!?!?!?  Amazing!  That's the two of us in the picture above.  

After Victoria and her boyfriend left, Irma and I started our climb up the hill to the clock tower.  The views of the city were stunning and the red tiled rooves were neat to look out on.  

And in case we were feeling down from climbing so many stairs, someone left a merry message to lift our spirits.  Thanks. 

The first signs of spring were already popping out in Graz! 

At last, we made it to the clock tower! This is actually the city's symbol.

The hill itself has been hollowed out and contains an extensive system of tunnels that were built during the Second World War to protect the people of Graz from aerial bombing.  A few of the tunnels are still open for people to walk through.  One of them even leads to a very hip nightclub that holds up to 600 people in its venue space!

World War II was obviously a very tragic time for the Jewish population of Graz.  Many of the homes have little bronze tiles set into the pavement near the front door, which indicate who used to live there and where they went. 

Theodore thinks this is the most beautiful building in all of Graz.  What he doesn't realize is, it's the side of a building that houses a business dedicated to fulfilling your erotic fantasies.  Apparently Graz has quite a few of these destinations, which are well advertised with graphic posters in the windows.

Moving on... we saw these four people attempting to transport a heavy couch using this rather unstable bicycle.  Needless to say, it didn't work. 

Irma knew all about Graz's many secret green spots hidden in the center of buildings.  

We walked through a church to get to this little courtyard. 

Like many great cities that have rivers running through them, Graz has a bridge where people thoughtfully attach their "locks of love."  I liked the one with the Buddha on it. 

Fritz has titled this photo: Reflecting on World Peace

Don't worry.  If you left your sunglasses at home, you can get yourself a new pair at this sunglass vending machine.  I must admit, this is the first time I've ever seen one of these, and I kinda love it.  So random!

Some of the buildings in the center of town have such incredible detail artfully worked into them.  Why don't people make buildings like this anymore?  

Irma and I climbed the Graz Twin Spiral Staircase which was erected in 1499 and is one of the most significant staircases of its kind.  There are a few other twin spiral staircases, but none as detailed and as well crafted as this one. 

It was such a full and lovely day with my dear friends.  In fact, Irma and I got so caught up in wandering around the city together that we completely forgot about our 5:30 yoga class!  One of our main intentions of this visit was to go to Irma's cool yoga class on Tuesday night.  Oops!  As Irma said, we crammed soooo many things into our short visit, staying up until 2am chatting both nights, and yet we somehow managed not to do most of the things we had planned to do.  I'm not sure how this happened, but I do know it was a wonderful visit regardless!  I love spending time with this crew!  My life is better when Irma is in it!