Home Flying tripsAustria Summer 2023 trip. Day 9: Queen concert in Graz

Summer 2023 trip. Day 9: Queen concert in Graz

by Natalie Kjaergaard

Our apartment in Graz was simple and charming. Located in an old building in the very heart of the town, it had low ceilings with uneven decorations, and many windows.

We normally book a two-room apartment when we travel – Flemming and I like having more space, and to sleep separately (I’m very sensitive to noise and light). At home, we have a master bedroom each. When travelling, the one who is tired most, gets the best bed.

It was first time, I stayed in an apartment located in a touristy pedestrial area full of restaurants and night life, so I was a bit nervous whether I’d be able to sleep at all. It went fine, though there was lots of noise. We had to keep windows closed at night, despite high temperatures. There were fans, and it helped.

I loved Graz for its architecture, vibrant life, good restaurants.

We would wander around for hours…

It seemed, there wasn’t a building without some kind of decorations:

In the evening that day, we were going to a Freddie Mercury concert, which was going to take place at the Grazer Schossberg – a former 10th century fortress hill in the center of Graz with the Uhrturm (the clock tower) as an easy recognisable icon of Graz:

One can take stairs up, a lift, or walk via a tunnel. We chose the latter option.

The unusual thing about the Uhrturm is that the clock’s hands have opposite roles to the common notion, with the larger one marking hours while the smaller is for minutes.

There was a platform for taking pictures with the view. By my left shoulder – the building where we stayed. It couldn’t be more central!

On top of the hill, a nice park offered pleasant walks, shadows, benches, restaurants, and magnificent views.

The ruins of the fortress were turned into a concert hall, with a roof that could be pulled over in case of rain.

The concert was great. Everybody was singing along and dancing – we didn’t expect that! The atmosphere was cheerful, and people were happy.

The only thing I didn’t like was that the band used dancers – and the Queen never did that. They danced good though.

After the concert, we walked down the hill, admiring the views of Graz by night:

Our neighbourhood was full of life (without going wild), and we also had a couple of drinks there before going to bed:

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6 comments

Randy Sanders 7 August 2023 - 21:06

I’m amazed anyone could come anywhere near as good as Freddy singing! His voice was generational. And dancers?! Ahhh, that’s cheesy. No one, besides maybe Mick Jagger or David Bowie, could come anywhere close to commanding a stage with dance like Freddie!! ☘️

Natalie Kjaergaard 7 August 2023 - 21:14

It was probably good to bring dancers in anyway – entertining, but took the focus away, in my opinion.

Hans 10 August 2023 - 11:14

Always nice to read your adventures. Was it difficult to get the permit for flying microlight into Austria?

Natalie Kjaergaard 10 August 2023 - 11:27

Thank you for reading, Hans. My aircraft complied with the GEN 1.5 of AIP Austria, thus no permission was required.

Hans 10 August 2023 - 13:00

Well only aircraft from the neighbouring countries can enter without a permit (see GEN 1.2 and the “Gästeflugverordnung”) but I wonder if Austrocontrol ever bothers to check… 😀 I edit the EMF broschure MLA flying in Europe and have been trying to get a respons from Austria but they never reply. Since the process is quite strict it would be better if they remove it if it is never applied. Thanks again!

Natalie Kjaergaard 10 August 2023 - 14:05

I knew you were the editor of the “MLA flying in Europe”, and wondered over your question 🙂 I also contacted Austrocontrol way before I entered Austria, but they never replied.

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