Graz is only two hours from Portschach and we had never been. So we decided to take a weekend trip there. It is the second largest city in Austria. We stayed in the Schlossberghotel. Just at the north end of the old town. The building dates from the 1500s and was originally an artisan wood workshop for the aristocracy. Now a boutique hotel known as the art hotel. The owner has commissioned over 100 works of art specifically for places in the hotel. Our room has several. Here are a couple hotel pics.
After we arrived we checked in and went for a walk. We stopped for a glass of wine in a plaza near us but it was also home to the amazing staircase up the Schlossberg to the clock tower and where the castle used to be. There is a lift and a funicular if you don’t want to do the stairs.
We decided on a place for dinner. Schmidhofer im Palais. We had a nice time. We enjoyed the ambiance. Not fancy. Good people watching. I had fried burrata with tomatoes and watermelon and branzino.
We woke to pouring rain. it was predicted. But it was a deluge. We had breakfast and stayed in for a while. We finally donned our raincoats and went down the street to the Graz museum. Mostly history of Graz but a special exposition had some art too. It was interesting. Graz was bombed during the war by the Americans. 30% of the city was destroyed. I delved into it a bit and found that Austria is a neutral nation. The Russians liberated them and in order for them to remain independent they agreed to that. They are not members of NATO.
After the museum it had cleared so we went for a walk to check out the Murinsel. Built in 2003 in conjunction with the European Capital of Culture celebrations. They have an outdoor arena where they screen movies.
Then we walked into the altstadt where we explored a shopping street and visited the main square. There were some exquisitely decorated and painted buildings. The sun had come out and so had the people.
Time for lunch! Luther chose Steirisches Wirtshaus, a very traditional restaurant. There was a great outside garten but it was very wet so we stayed in the outside, undercover area. I had forelle, which is trout served whole. One of my favourites. So good.
This concludes my trip report on our short trip to Graz. I really liked the city. Tomorrow we head back to Portschach. Our home away from home. Our house sitter sent us pictures of what we are missing. I miei pomodori.
Back to Portschach tomorrow. Ciao for now!
Hi Carlo, Pörtschach is a resort. Graz is a real town. It is quite nice. I didn’t expect much and was pleasantly surprised. Austria is in the EU though, since 1995, hence their use of the Euro as currency. It’s not a member of NATO though. This surprised me. I didn’t know about the deal they made with the Soviets to remain independent. Im surprised they wouldn’t be a member of EUROCONTROL. That surely can be no threat to anyone.
Graz does indeed look more interesting than I might have thought, though I’ve been aware of it for years for different reasons. I do, however, like your temporary home base Pörtschach‘s byline:
Pörtschach am Wörthersee—
Dort, wo der See am schönsten ist!
Also, as you noted, Austria is not part of the EU. When we were in Germany and I was working up at EUROCONTROL in Maastricht and Brussels, they were also not part of the air traffic control organization. It made coordinating fast moving jet airliners particularly cumbersome. I wonder how it is now.
It was a vacation within a vacation for sure. We have another next weekend. 🙂 There was someone sitting with that woman. I haven’t a clue what was so funny. Her fellow diner must have amused her!
Hi Nancy! Thanks for including us in your and Luther’s vacation from your vacation. Graz seems like a nice place to visit. There’s a mystery that has me curious – what did the single woman at the table across from you at lunch find so funny? Looks like she is having a great time all by herself.