A lot of our posts, well mine anyway, are about trips to some of the great cities of Europe. I'm afraid that we are giving the impression that there isn't all that much to do here. But in light of how much fun we've had over the past month exploring things right in our backyard (with the help, mostly, of our great friends, Loulou, Renato, and Carlo), it is time to correct the record.
And I'm not sure where to begin, but maybe just a list of things/places that we've visited recently:
- The wine region and visits to a Buschenschank: The area south of Graz towards Slovenia (45-60 minutes) is filled with small wineries and their associated Buschenschanks (guest houses that serve cold meals along with wine). Loulou took us to one overlooking the Slovenia foothills with a Spielplatz (playground). The kids were entertained, playing for hours without interruption, and the adults, including Loulou's great parents, enjoyed wine and conversation. It was magic, I tell you.
- The Graz Armory: The armory used to store the weapons to defend Graz was basically abandoned in the early 1800's. It is now an usual museum in that it only has weapons from one era, but a lot of them! We spent a rainy afternoon there with a family we met here. The tour was in English and we went to our favorite pizza place off Hauptplatz for dinner.
- Zotter Chocolate: In any Graz store you can buy local "handmade" candy. We went to the factory, which is about 45 minutes away. We passed on the 1.5-hour tour (not very kid friendly, which is surprising), but stood alongside a conveyor upon which many varieties of chocolate bars would pass. All you can eat for 3 euros. That's a deal. And, yes, we bought our favorites on the way out!
- The Schloss Riegersburg: I must say, this is one striking castle (Schloss), perched up on top of a volcanic rock outcropping. We never made it into the castle, but enjoyed walking around the grounds and stopping enjoy a local beverage while the kids did, what else, enjoyed their time at a Spielplatz. But my absolute favorite part of this castle is that it has two moats and one of them are filled with ferocious animals instead of water to deter would-be attackers. And for all of you Monty Python fans out there, yes, the animals are rabbits!
- Bird show at Schloss Riegersburg: The bird show consisted of two handlers that retrieved a variety of large birds (owls, buzzards, eagles) and had the birds fly from one handler to the other. The fun part is that the handlers would stand right behind an audience member and the birds would fly RIGHT AT the audience members (see video below, which will not do this justice, I can tell you!).
- A local Buschenschank: Who knew there was a Buschenschank right here in Graz? That's right, there is on about 2 km from our apartment, up on one of the two residential hills. You might guess that they have a great Spielplatz there, with a really long zipline. You'd be right and you'd also be right that our friends, Loulou, Renato and Carlo introduced us to this place as well. Another night of kids playing and adults enjoying each others' company. And the bonus (besides the proximity) is that this Buschenschank served hot dishes as well as cold (and fresh, hot out of the oven, Bretzels!). Interesting fact: we actually came here 8 years ago when we first visited Graz, so says Sue, who remembers these kinds of things! So, when I said, "who knew?" we did, but didn't remember.
And although there's probably more that we haven't discovered, that's probably enough! Some pics (but not nearly enough) below.
Russ
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| This is what happens when you wait too long to take the picture of the beautiful Slovenian countryside while enjoying yourself at a Buschenschank :-( |
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| Grace getting ready for battle at the Graz Armory! |
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| Is this not just a beautiful castle (Schloss)? |
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| Schloss Riegersburg on a beautiful day! |
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| Don't mess with these rabbits (actually, they are hares and huge, some 20 pounds I'd guess)! |
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| Kids striking a pose at Schloss Riegersburg :-) |
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| What's a bald eagle doing here in Austria? |
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| Spielplatz at the local Buschenschank right under our table. Grace, Henry and Carlo are on the "merry go round." |
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| From 2004: Russ with colleagues and Grace (look at the camera, sweetie!) at the re-discovered Buschenschank :-) |
Glad you found so much to do close to home. Wonder if you are getting anxious to come home or should I say leave? Hope to see you soon.
ReplyDeleteKim
Yes, and this past weekend we went back to Schökel, one of our earlier close places and enjoyed it again (but I'm getting ahead of myself -- need to blog on work trips to Poland and Romania first).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, we are entering, no doubt, an emotional time of being anxious to return, sad to leave, stressed about the packing, etc. And I'm sure we will all be in different phases at different times, which will hopefully prove interesting and not frustrating to those of us out of sync.
(Kris) The stess of packing....ugh! I feel your pain. I hope the kids can adjust again. I was thinking the other day of how different Sam's school day is from Henry's. I wonder what all day school will be like for him when you get back home. The adjustment will be tough. I have complete faith that Grace will take the older sister role and help him adjust! :-)
ReplyDeleteReally wish we could have visited. One more thing that simply isn't in the cards for me right now.
About the blog - that has got to be the smallest bald eagle I have ever seen. We have soo many here that it's difficult to believe they ever held an "extinct" status.
Good luck with the upcoming travels back to the states.