5:35PM- Virgin Atlantic Flight 8 from Los Angeles, CA, USA to London, UK, Europe. After saying my final goodbyes to my friends, family, and country, I hop aboard an Airbus A330, embarking on my 4 month excursion to Europe. After about 8 months of preparation including dozens of emails, stacks of paperwork, one incompetent "advisor" and plenty of formalities later, my plan to travel abroad to Europe has finally become a reality.
The first leg of my journey is a ten hour plane ride to London Heathrow Airport where I meet up with my father to enjoy my first legal beer.
Next up is a more manageable two hour flight to Munich, Germany where again, I enjoy a fine European beer (this will be a recurring theme...). Finally we get on to a small jet that takes us straight to Graz, Austria. At 8:35 PM, September 2nd, 27 hours after leaving LAX, I have arrived in the city I will call my home for the next 4 months or so.
A nice young Austrian squire named Philip takes me and my dad to my apartment which is conveniently located right near the center of Graz. Here I meet up with my roomate Kurt, an eccentric fellow to say the least. Kurt is a 31 year old Shiatsu practitioner by day and a disabled-person car driver by night. He has a respectable chin beard and indeed does have a mini growing operation on our balcony. Interesting as he may be, he is also a nice, welcoming, genuine guy who shows me around the apartment and is actually very helpful. The place I'll be living in is quaint, but comfy and I certainly will have no qualms with calling it my home during my stay here. I unpack a bit, then head to sleep after A LOT of travelling.
A nice young Austrian squire named Philip takes me and my dad to my apartment which is conveniently located right near the center of Graz. Here I meet up with my roomate Kurt, an eccentric fellow to say the least. Kurt is a 31 year old Shiatsu practitioner by day and a disabled-person car driver by night. He has a respectable chin beard and indeed does have a mini growing operation on our balcony. Interesting as he may be, he is also a nice, welcoming, genuine guy who shows me around the apartment and is actually very helpful. The place I'll be living in is quaint, but comfy and I certainly will have no qualms with calling it my home during my stay here. I unpack a bit, then head to sleep after A LOT of travelling.
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| My building/street. |
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| Moving in! |
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| My room- small but comfy. A bit bigger than it appears. |
September 3rd, 2010
I get up on the earlier side and head over to my dad's hotel to grab a quick bite to eat before heading out. It's an OK day, a bit overcast but not terrible-- typical European weather for this time of the year. We stroll around the city and check out some of the sites and shops. Graz is an absolutely amazing city (town?) with plenty to see and do. The people are welcoming and friendly and mostly everyone speaks English (thankfully).
After walking around for a bit, we stop at a local restaurant to get some lunch (and beer). Turns out the food in Graz is nothing short of amazing. The first of many good meals in Austria. After a delicious meal of something I can't pronounce or spell and a few pints later, we head back out into town.
Next up is a little trip up to the top of the historic Schlossberg mountain, which offers a beautiful view of Graz and surprise! has a beer garden at the top. Here, my dad and I enjoy a pint of the local brew and a legal Cuban cigar and absorb the beautiful views of Austria.
Next up is a little trip up to the top of the historic Schlossberg mountain, which offers a beautiful view of Graz and surprise! has a beer garden at the top. Here, my dad and I enjoy a pint of the local brew and a legal Cuban cigar and absorb the beautiful views of Austria.
(The type of thing you could get used to, you know?)
So we retreat down to the bottom and check out some the historical sites along the way, such as this clock tower, built in the 11th century.
Once we reach the bottom, we head back to the hotel and relax for a few hours and rest our weary feet after a long day of exploring my new city. After checking out what's going on back in the States and what not, we go out looking for a place to eat. We stumble upon this little restaurant in the Old Town area and duck in to grab some grub. This place reaffirms my previous notion that the food and beer in Graz is SO DAMN GOOD. No complaints with the food or service or people or anything at all. So good.
After much walking and doing the "tourist thing", we retire for the evening. Also, this is what the Schlossberg mountain looks like at night. Pretty legit. Also, a picture of a cat in a window that I saw.
September 4th, 2010
While there is still much to see in Graz, my dad and I decided to check out Vienna for his last day in Europe. The train station is just a stones throw away from my apartment (about a 10 minute walk) and the ride to Vienna is only about 2 1/2 hours. A nice little ride through the Austrian countryside, I might add. Turns out the train system is pretty easy to use, so hopefully I'll be able to move around a bit while I'm over here. Once we got to Vienna, we checked out the St. Stephen's Cathedral in the heart of downtown. A pretty impressive structure to say the least. Originally built in 1147, it's about 450 feet high and also offers an excellent view of the city of Vienna. My dad and I climbed the 354 narrow-ass steps to check out the view from the top. (It seems Europeans really want you to go to high places and see all of their cities, and I can't quite blame them for that.)
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| The Cathedral, the hike up, and the view from the top |
Next up, we checked out the Karlskirche, a Baroque style church and beatiful Viennese landmark. Not only was it magnificent from the outside but the inside had huge marble slabs that from the floor to the huge vaulted dome ceiling, with gold leaf decorating the entire interior. Another impressive building with another panoramic view of the city. Just as gorgeous as anything I've seen so far.
Keeping up with the theme of the trip so far, we stop a local pub to see what they're serving up. More delicious beer of course! Also a slew of locals who enjoy their Viennese soccer and do not speak a word of English, but do know how to pour a fine beer.
Next up is the last site of the day and it's a breathtaking one. We decide to check out the legendary Belvedere, two huge and wonderfully ornate palaces with an enormous garden between them. The palaces were originally built in 1697 after Prince Eugene of Savoy defeated the Turks. The two palaces are currently being used as an art exhibit, so we checked out the galleries and poked around for a few hours.
Keeping up with the tradition, we went to a local brewery/restaurant after the Belvedere, called Saum Brau. No surprises here: the food and beer were good as always. I tried the goulasch, which actually is a traditional Austrian dish as well (Austro-Hungarian Empire, anyone?) This place was brewing up a delicious local beer, one of the best I've had thus far.
You may see me doing this a bit while I'm over here.
Alas, after another long day of walking around, we packed it in and took the train back to Graz.
All and all I'd say Vienna is an amazing city as well. Clean, safe, beautiful, historic, captivating, with plenty to see and do. The people were just as kind, the food and beer were certainly something to write home about, and the sites were breathtaking. Certainly not the last time I will be visiting Vienna. After getting back to Graz, we headed back to my dad's hotel to relax and wind down. And here I sit starting my blog, smoking a great cigar, sipping a great whiskey, and drinking a great beer. Austria has treated me well so far, and I'm definitely starting to fall in love with this place.
Signing off after my first blog entry. Hope to keep this going. Enjoy.
Yours truly,
Eric
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