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:
