26.Sept.08
We tried for about an hour, but had no luck trying to hitchhike to our next city. So we moped down to the train station and hopped on for a two hour ride to the home of Arnold Schwartzenegger; Graz! The citizens used to be very proud of their little Arnie, even named a stadium after him, until he refused to repeal the death sentance on that reformed gang member some years back, then they changed the name of the stadium and renounced him as their child.
We arrived to Graz and took the tram to an apartment complex where after a few flights of stairs met the most awesome Couchsurfing host we have ever had; Klaus. Klaus instantly greeted us with a very comfortable room, and a delicious home cooked meal! Klaus is retired and lives alone in a very nice apartment right in the middle of the city. We had some great conversation over dinner with some local beer and wine, then headed out to meet a huge group of Couchsurfers at a nearby pub. It was too smokey for us, but the people were great. When they all decided to go to some dance club we decided to call it a night. Klaus, Jess, and I wandered back home where we got to meet Klaus’ girlfriend Lisa before going to bed.
27.Sept.08
Klaus prepared us a terrific breakfast of the usual favorites; meats, breads, cheeses, butter, and jams which we ate along with his girlfriend who made for some likewise great company. He certainly knew how to pick the best of everything, and after our stomachs full and taste buds thoroughly satisfied we headed out o explore the city. A massive blue-lit modern elevator took us to the top of the hill where sat the city castle.
The view from the top overlooking the red roofed city with its tall church spires was exquisite. The castle itself was measly, and mostly destroyed by that smelly little man Napolean, talk about small mans complex, he had to knock down every city wall he came by; probably due to his hatred for things taller than him. Anywho it was great atop the mountain and Klaus showed us some wild red berries, which grow everywhere, and are edible with a sweet taste and slimy texture. We headed back down the long way through switchback staircases through a very lovely garden with many wild fruits and berries to be picked and eaten. We meandered through the winding city streets stopping in the usual ornately decorated cathedrals and preserved monuments which make this city yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site (making this like the 30th UNESCO site we’ve been to on this trip). The city is postcard perfect.
The modern museum (in a large, especially out of place, blue alien spaceship structure) was having its 10 year anniversary, all entrance plus tours were free. Of the many modern art museums we have been to this one was pretty neat. There were lots of weird, freaky stuff and some very clever exhibits. We took a small tour of some exhibits, and though we understood the German it was kind of boring because describing arts complexity seems to be a bit trite, as art is largely an emotional expression. How can there be a ten minute description of how this particular artist decided to bend the mirrors of this specific exhibit to express a reflection of the degeneration of society…what a load of bull shit! It just looks cool, that’s about it and maybe there is some deeper meaning, but if it the art piece doesn’t show the message itself, why should it need to be described? Anyway, cynicism aside it was a particularly neat museum.
After the art exhibits we decided to wander the city more. Atop the castle earlier we had a view of a beautiful looking gothic cathedral in the distance. We decided it is something which must be seen up close. It was a bit of distance away, but the walk took us through some neat parts of the city. The cathedral was in fact even more beautiful up close than afar, though the innards left something to be desired.
After stopping at a market for dinner ingredients we hopped on a tram back and were soon home rolling out home made tortillas and cutting up veggies for our famous Quesodillas! Klaus’ girlfriend Lisa joined us later and they drove us out to a small hamlet nearby where we sipped local beer and watched live jazz in a room smokier than the stack of a coal plant. A long and extremely fulfilling day!
28.Sept.08
In the morning, after another killer breakfast, we decided to make a day trip to Maribor, Slovenia. It was only a two hour drive and we stopped by Lisa’s cute cabin off in the woods. A rainbow of flowers in full bloom surrounded by lakes teeming with ducks and fishies; a perfect little oases for nature lovers, did I mention Lisa is a sex therapist; how awesome is she!
After our pitstop dropping Lisa off we headed out again towards the Slovenian border coming to the terrifying realization that we had forgotten our passports!!! Too far along to turn back we just kept going and hoped we could convince the border guards to let us through to Slovenia, although our worry was getting back in to Austria! We found ourselves praising the almighty EU however for completely disintegrating any trace of a border crossing. Without a guard in sight we merrily drove through into a new country, though it would be nice to be getting passport stamps for all the countries we visit, oh well, it is a new world. To our extreme luck there was an adorable wine festival taking place right along the river and in front of the oldest grape vine in the world (no joke).
Tons of live music, cheap glasses of local wine, free fried potatoes, delicious sausages, traditional Slovenian costumes, free samples of home made moonshine, and wave after wave of smiles, laughter, and cheering; what more could one ask for? We explored the city a bit as well and wandered along the river, taking in and fully enjoying a new country we hadn’t even planned on visiting. Slovenia rocks!
Lisa had prepared us an awesome dinner of chicken and noodle dumplings upon our return. Do better hosts even exist? I cannot imagine anyone more generous than Klaus and Lisa, considering we are total strangers and they treat us like close family. As if things couldn’t get any better, Lisa whipped out of the oven a dessert made of peaches wrapped in baked sweet dough, which we ate with vanilla ice cream. A recipe Jessica vowed to repeat many times when we have a kitchen of our own! We played some cards then headed back to Klaus’ place for some red wine, conversation, and comfy sleep under our thick down comforter.
Our stay in Graz was exquisite. The only downfall was my fun little Acer laptop completely pooped on us. The fans stopped functioning, I can only assume due to a short circuit. So now we are without a computer, how sad. Alas it was only a small speck of bad during two days of greatness. Klaus and Lisa will be missed, they were such unbelievable hosts.
Graz Flickr pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157607567312512/
One of the best blogs yet…your exuberance made us want to be there, and that was before I even found out about Lisa being a sex therapist. Was she of any help, Dave?
Lots of love,
Dad and Laurie, and Jack and Betty