The
trip from Bern to Graz was another one of those long haul journeys, a
good time to sit back and watch the countryside pass by while
reading, writing, listening to music and all those other relaxing
things. After the last couple of long trips on the bus, it was nice
to have a bit of room to move around on a train.
We'd
opted to spend more time in Bern and Graz as opposed to Zurich, and
much like we did with Geneva, we arrived half a day prior to our
connecting overnight train, checked our luggage, and had a walk around. The
overnight train departed Zurich a touch past half eight, and at this
stage the train was 90% empty, so we managed to find a couple of
double-seats to spread ourselves out on.
After arriving in Graz at an obscenely early hour (7:00am) - we headed to our Austrian host Chris' city centre apartment, waking him up (Sorry Chris). A couple of hours later and we were out checking the sights. A cone full of roasted chesnuts from a street side vendor provided some sustinance, before heading out for a few drinks and sampling a variety of Austrian beers.
All in all, Graz was great, it had the perfect mix of a wonderful architecture, wonderful landscapes in the surrounds, yet a nice relaxed, almost 'small town' vibe to it (though this may have been due to it being in Autumn...).
Following another day spent exploring the city of Graz, we headed out the next day on the road with Chris, driving around the Austrian countryside. We ventured to Thal, a small village outside of Graz, and the birthplace of none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger. His old house has been turned into museum, which provided a mix of genuinely cool stuff with some more tacky stuff.
Graz
Schwarzenegger Museum, Thal
(More photos on Flickr here)
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