So anyway, Austria. It's like Germany, but different. Exactly how is it different? Like all ignorant Brits, I hadn't ever really thought about it. According to the Austrians themselves, they're much more relaxed and spontaneous and less rules-based than their disdained northern neighbour. It's all a bit chip-on-shoulder really, and you can have great fun winding up them up by 'accidentally' forgetting which country you're in. Or you can be really daring and enquire how long the resistance lasted in 1938 when Hitler marched in. (Answer: not a shot was fired.)
And as for all that alleged spontaneity and chilled-out-ness? Over the past month or so I have often reflected on this assertion while standing at a pedestrian crossing, with the road stretching clear to the horizon in both directions and no vehicles in sight, surrounded by Austrians standing stock-still and waiting patiently for the green man to appear...
Another part of the Austrian character is seen in its famously grumpy waiters, as mentioned in my last blog; especially the older male ones serving in the more traditional cafés, who seem to regard all customers as but a frustrating distraction from their life's mission of keeping all the tables clean (and empty). A curious little detail is that tips here are given rather than left: when the bill arrives, you tell them what you're tipping, and only then does money change hands. Eg they bring a bill for eight euros, you say nine, you give them ten, they return one. It has to happen in that order. You can't just wait for the change to arrive and then decide how much of it to keep.
A more positive observation about Austria is the high level of order and public trust that's on display everywhere. There are no ticket barriers in the public transport system. You just get on the bus, or the tram, or the underground train, and you ignore the driver. It's assumed that you've already paid for your ticket or pass. I've paid for all of mine, but I needn't have bothered, because I literally haven't encountered a single ticket inspection anywhere in Austria.
One more thing. A lot of the toilets are in the disagreeable American style, where the bowl has a flat raised pan above the waterline. The idea being that after completing your necessities, you stand and turn round to inspect the results before deciding whether or not to flush. I'm not a fan of this.
Graz is very much a university town: it has 8 (eight) of them, and the list of notable alumni is impressive indeed. On a less exalted note, it's also where Arnold Schwarzenegger is from. There isn't as much tourist accommodation available as in Vienna and so I find myself staying in a spare bedroom rather than an apartment, which isn't too much of a hardship. I have a balcony overlooking the garden. See picture below.
My landlord is an itinerant Brazilian trombonist. Interesting chap. His girlfriend is away travelling and I'm in her room. From the decor and general bric-a-brac, I can tell that she's an arty type, but I couldn't help also noticing a hardback edition of Nietzsche's complete works. Nietzsche! Anything by that syphilitic proto-fascist is always a red flag. When Bertie Wooster got involved with a Nietzsche-reading young lady, Jeeves moved rapidly to put a stick in the spokes of their budding relationship: "You would not enjoy Nietzsche, sir. He is fundamentally unsound." I thought about having a word with the trombonist to that effect, but it might have led to a bad AirBnB review, and we can't have that. Always thinking ahead to the next place.
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| Looking south down Herrengasse |
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| View to the south-west from atop the Schlossberg |
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| Looking up at the Schlossberg...from Schlossbergplatz |
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| Murinsel Artificial island in the river Mur |
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| Auster Sport-und-Wellnessbad Sports complex with both outdoor and indoor pools Here, unlike at the Vienna riverside, one's budgie smugglers remain firmly in place. |
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| Herz-Jesu-Kirche (Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus) |
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| AirBnB house in Eggenberg I have the two rooms visible at top left, plus the balcony. |
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| Edd vs Food #125 I totally failed to take any food pictures while out & about in Graz. So we're back to my amateurish home cooking, I'm afraid. Four-egg omelette with ham & cheese & chorizo. I thought it turned out OK. |
