Wednesday 6th June– Graz

Today I had the opportunity to go to spend the day in Graz so of course, I took it. It did mean an early start though, I was up at 6.20am and in Graz before 8am. Franz Josef dropped me off and I spent half an hour reacquainting myself with the beautiful old city. Happily, I could remember where most things were which made me feel a lot less like a tourist and lot like a little piece of me belongs there. That is, of course, until a customer service person approaches me with a string of local German and I look blankly back at them.

The first task of the day – find somewhere for breakfast. After a bit of wandering I settled in at the Opern Cafe (cafe near the Opera House) and ordered myself a traditional Graz breakfast of ham, cheese, two rolls, a soft boiled egg and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. Graz was currently 9 degrees outside, it was grey and cloudy and I was in no hurry to leave the warm cafe. So I didn’t. I stayed there with my breakfast and my book for two hours and by the time I emerged Graz had turned warm and sunny.

   

Today was going to be a very slow lazy day. I had a lot of time to kill before meeting Chris at 5pm in the afternoon, so after my breakfast I wandered through the shops, window shopping at Zara and H&M.Then it was nearing lunch, so I headed over to the Schlossberg, a small fort on top of the hill right in the middle of the city. My hardest decision of the day was whether to head up with the lift or the stairs. I decided on the stairs and began a very lazy descent to the top, including a 45 minute thinking stop on a bench half way up. Here I was surrounded by flowers and trees, could look over the roof tops of Graz and listen to birds chirping and church bells in the distance. Not bad.

I might note again here that this week I have really enjoyed not being a tourist with a ridiculously tight schedule, like in London. I have got so much out of just sitting and eating and drinking and thinking – it certainly makes me realise the benefits of visiting a city for a second time, once the touristy things are out of the way. Or, staying that little bit longer in  city just to sit and absorb.

    

Eventually, after my thinking stop, I made my way to the top. More views up here, plus a giant clock tower. By now it was definitely lunch time, so I headed over to the restaurant at the top of the hill. This place was so lovely, the view was great and the food was delicious. I ordered a rather bizarre but satisfying gnocchi and traditionally amazing Austrian Griessknoedel. Plus white wine, of course. Again, with my book in hand, I sat at my table for a good two hours. Absorbing.

   

At around 3pm I wandered back down the hill in high spirits. With a little bit more time left to fill up, I wandered over to the new Joanneum Quarter to check out their library and art gallery. Not much to report here, the library had wifi which was useful, and the art gallery didn’t really contain anything notable at all. And then it was finally time to meet up with some old friends from my 2005 school year, Chris and Tammy. We went to a little french cafe with an amazing hidden garden and caught up on the last 7 years! Apparently my German is still very good, which was nice to hear :) A walk through the town park afterwards and then they were gone again! Hopefully not another seven years until I see them again…

I met up with Ulrike and we drove home. Then just enough time to check emails before going out with Franziska. We had planned to go out together for a while, she is certainly the party animal and I had promised to properly embrace the Austrian nightlife again. I was at Franziska’s mercy – she leant me some clothes, she did my makeup, she told me what to do with my hair. We did have a disagreement about the acceptable amount of midriff I was allowed to show (my answer, none, her answer, plenty). We of course had to take a few of Franziska’s typical pre-night photos too ;) This was all a whole lot of fun.

   

The car ride to the party better remain undescribed for the sake of my mother, but I was certainly very glad when we arrived. This party was actually a festival with two dancing tents and lots of different bars, outside. There was a moment of dread as I realised I had forgotten my ID but this was a very silly thought, of course they didn’t check it. And then the night began. It was certainly very interesting. Lots of very drunken, smoking people (nothing here has changed). Most under the age of 20. Franziska was surrounded by a bunch of suitors all night, so I was left with her friends, only one of which really tried to talk to me (language barriers, yay!). I was happy to start a conversation myself but often found myself at a loss of what to say to these teenagers who only want to drink and smoke. This usually meant reverting to the tried and true topic – teaching people English swear words. Instant interest.

I was handed an assortment of alcohol over the night (didn’t buy one drink, hmm this clothing choices worked out well) and varied between doing some good step-touch dancing to a variety of local Austrian songs and getting very excited when something familiar came on (we’re talking Backstreet Boys and Aqua here). Soon it was early morning – there was a bit of drama finding a ride home but we got there eventually. Then I just had to get the smell of cigarette smoke out of EVERYTHING (ah Austria, how I’ve missed you). Overall, it was an evening of highs and lows and I was very glad when I was finally snuggled up in bed :)