By Anthony Dylan Anak Frankie Jurem
Vienna was a lovely place to visit. Time flew faster than we bargained for as there was just too much to see. We had to prioritize to experience each one so that we had a chance to fully enjoy the moment.
We left Vienna for our next destination by train. This utilized the first train ride ticket of the four trips for which we had planned. The experience was great as we had some good seats despite not purchasing any reserved seats. We hopped onto the OBB Train RJ75 on a sunny day towards the second largest city of Austria, Graz. It is also the capital of the Austrian state of Styria. Graz has a population of 306,000 people with the largest foreign nationals being Croatians and Romanians. The ‘Innere Stadt’ or inner city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Our chosen hotel was The Radisson Hotel. It was convenient as it was a short walk from the train station. As soon as we had our check-in done and freshened up, we went out towards the old city. The walk was straightforward from the hotel and took us about 15 minutes to our dinner place. That was about 1.2km away. Graz seems to have quite a number of university and college students around and the streets were busy with bicycles.
Our dinner was at a Styrian restaurant. ‘Der Steirer’ is known for Styrian or ‘Steirisch’ cuisine. We opted for a light meal, and we ordered a ‘Steirer’ salad with leaf salad, cabbage, scarlet runner beans or ‘Käferbohnen,’ potato salad and pumpkin seed oil and Beef goulash with polenta. All of which are renowned in this restaurant. Pumpkin seed oil with its deep green colour and very nutty taste is a specialty of this region.
After a delightful dinner and with the weather looking good with sunlight still available, we took a short walk into the city passing over the Mur River and then doubled back over the iconic ‘Murinsel Graz,’ a structure created on a curved bridge over the river which also housed a café. At night, this structure would emit a blue hue against the background of a swift river current.
Our second day in Graz began with a good breakfast and even more tasting of the pumpkin seed oil over our bread. The dark green colour and the nuttiness swayed us away from the traditional olive oil served in the restaurant. We walked towards ‘Schlossberg’ or Castle Hill passing over the Mur River.
This time we had a choice of taking the paid elevator or walking up the crisscrossing stairways. At our count it was no less than 260 steps up before hitting an inclined pathway. We opted for the stairway, and the experience did not disappoint. We also came across a snake on our path and waited for it to slither away safely before continuing up. The views form the top overlooking the old city of Graz was worth it.
The clock tower (the Uhrturm) and bell tower (the Glockenturm) were also worth visiting as these were all from the 18th century. Making our way down was also through the other set of stairways which took us through the gardens. The walk was not difficult as we made our way from the foot of the hill towards the old city. The old city was not busy and that is the beauty of Austria and especially with smaller cities. Vienna was the same. It was busy but not as suffocating.
Our first stop was The Grazer Burg. This place has a unique building, ‘Doppelwendeltreppe’ with its double spiral staircase. This ‘staircase of reconciliation’ consists of two opposing spiral stairs, which merge briefly on each floor, part and then rejoin. The Graz Cathedral nearby which existed since the 12th Century was also a wonderfully preserved Catholic Cathedral dedicated to St Giles.
The streets had an air of old gothic architecture and stoned pathways. It was a delight to stroll around the old city. We also visited the ‘Stadtfarrekirche,’ or Church of Holy Blood is the main city Catholic church and ‘Stiegenkirche’ which was the first Catholic Church in Innere Stadt. Along the way, we also had a taste of some local snacks and one which was seen most was the ‘Wagner Brezen’ We bought one out of curiosity. The pretzel had a light colour unlike the golden-brown ones we get back home or seen around. We also had vegan ice cream from ‘Die Eisperle.’ They are only available in Graz and with only four outlets.
The main square, ‘Hauptplatz’ is the middle of the city and from here you can head towards ‘Rathaus’ or Town Hall, ‘Kunsthaus’ which is the Art Museum. We had done that the day before, so we decided to check out ‘Glockenspiel.’ The Glockenspiel is a clock which portrays a sweet maiden and hearty lad clad in traditional costume pirouette three times a day (11 am, 3 pm & 6 pm) up in the gable of the building on ‘Glockenspielplatz’ square. The mechanism’s cheerful twenty-four bells play three different melodies. Unfortunately, when we reached there at the time, a notice was seen informing the public that the clock was under repair.
We then decided to hop around the ‘Eurospar’ supermarkets instead to get some local groceries to pack back home. One was the unique Pumpkin Seed Oil, Kurbis Kernol’ and the other was Styrian Runner Beans, ‘Käferbohnen’ We also bought some baked goods and cans of sardines before we headed back to the hotel. Dinner was at ‘Don Camillo’ where we had pretty average pizza. To be honest, it is just the same as in Malaysia taste wise.
A good night’s sleep was the order of our last night as we prepared ourselves for the next train journey to the city of Salzburg. The streets below were abuzz when we got back as you could see the population of Graz all heading back on their bicycles mostly. We cannot wait for the next destination, which would be the home of ‘The Sound of music’.
