Tuesday, 23rd July, 2019
We woke up on time at the Time Hotel! Today our driving itenarary was not too far; just under two hours to Graz where will be staying with Jozo and Adriana, friends from Gerry’s past in Croatia and now living for the last 16 years in Graz.
We had a good night’s sleep – beds (yes we had two single beds which we pushed together) and pillows were really good and that is so important. Last night I thought that we were the only ones in this new hotel but at breakfast we met other guests. The young lady waiting on us at breakfast was ever so attentive and it was a pleasure seeing her smiling face! Breakfast was excellent and specially prepared for us: croissants, bread rolls, yoghurt (though I missed the Greek yoghurt) and fried eggs sunny side up and fresh coffee to go with it all.
By 10.00 we were on the road again – according to our TomTom navigation system, we would be driving 196km before we arrived at our destination in Graz – this was a pleasant drive; no heavy traffic and good roads with tunnels and forested mountains.This morning we crossed two borders: from Croatia into Slovenia and the. 25 minutes later into Austria. At the Slovenian border, we bought our vignettes to drive both in Slovenia and Austria: our 25 minute drive through Slovenia cost us €15,00 (the minimum tariff is for 1 week) and €9,20 for a 5 day vignette for Austria. We stopped here for coffee and also to get some gifts for our hosts in Graz and then back on the road for a short drive to Jozo and Adriana’s home
We arrived just after 1.30 and after spending some time catching up we had lunch which Jozo had prepared: a vegetable soup concoction between Croatian and Austrian cuisine and it was delicious, green salad and fresh bread baked by Adriana.
After lunch Adriana took us for a short walk around visiting the church of Herz Jesu Kirche (church of the Sacred Heart) which is the largest church in Graz and has the third highest church tower in Austria. The stained glass windows are breathtaking especially the round stained glass behind the organ. There was also a small farmers market with local produce just outside the church for a special collection
When Adriana left us on our own, we decided to walk to the park and make our way to the Masoleum of Emperor Ferdinand II, however the walk was too long in the heat so we took some time to recuperate in the park before heading back to Adriana and Jozo along the Technical University
We just had some time at home to relax for a bit before we were out again – Adriana had a whole program prepared for us! We were taking the tram to the city centre and from there we walked around taking in the Landhaus, a beautiful renaissance style, once a stately home but now home to the Styria parliament. The courtyard with all its arches is really magnificent to admire.
Walking further, we took in the view of the Town Hall, Rathaus on the main square. The town hall has an impressive neoclassical facade and in the square there is a large fountain dedicated to Archduke Johann who was a prominent figure in the development of the Styria region of which Graz is the capital city.
From there, Adriana took us along part of the Old Town and onto the River Mur which flows through Graz and here we could admire the Murinsel, a floating island built as a temporary project when Graz was the European Cultural City in 2003 . On the way to the River Mur, we stopped to admire the St. Franciscus Church with also a very tall tower.
Finally we had reached the point of admiring the Schlossenberg which we reached by taking the elevator right up to the top. This of course is the main tourist attraction if the city as one can have. Magnificent view over the whole of Graz!
We took quite some pictures from the top of the Schlossenberg before we decided to quench our thirst and enjoy a drink on the terrace. We then returned back to the Old Town by taking the elevator – we could have taken the slide down but that was not for us pensioners – the young people would have thought that we were senile……
Once we were back in the Old Town, we took a taxi back home – here we enjoyed a glass of wine with some cheese and local sausage – for Jozo it was a late so by 11pm we had gone to bed. – Adriana has planned another sightseeing tour for tomorrow!
