Day 49

Guten Morgen,

This morning we packed up and had to say “dober dan” (good bye) to Ljubljana and Slovenia. Ljubljana is a beautiful city in a beautiful country. We can imagine it being just as beautiful in summer, and a breathtaking picture when it snows in winter. It felt like a country that knew where it was going as well. With a vision, a plan, and everyone working hard.

We drove to the city of Graz in Austria this morning. Graz is the second largest city in Austria, with Vienna being the largest.

We have to say, we do love Austria. It is so clean, with an eclectic mix of old and cutting edge modern buildings.

It is funny to see pedestrians standing at the corners of streets, waiting for the light to turn green so that they can cross the road. Very different to Sicily where every intersection was a chaotic test of your survival skills.

Our hotel is fantastic, right in the heart of the city. An old building with very modern rooms. And great Wifi.

This afternoon, being Sunday, most of the shops were closed in Graz. We wandered around the Old Town and marveled at the remarkable condition of the old buildings.

In the town hall we found a double spiral staircase. That is, two spiral staircases side by side. As you climbed it you could switch between stair cases where the spirals intersected. What was more remarkable was that this wasn’t some ultra modern design made of parts cut on a five axis CNC machine. This was five hundred years old, the design and calculations made on paper, and each stone cut by hand.

It was nice to be able to wander in a proper pedestrian area, like we did in Ljubljana. You can walk freely and not have to worry about being run over by a scooter. There are bicycles, but as long as you stay away from the bike lanes you are pretty safe. And stay off the tram tracks.

Now that we are getting closer to winter, and daylight saving has ended, it is getting dark very early. By 4:30pm the cars have to turn their lights on and street lights start coming on. By 5:00pm it is properly dark. So we had no choice at that stage but to stop for a drink at a bar.

Dinner was at a very busy Austrian restaurant serving robust home style meals. Roast pork and venison with potatoes and cabbage and lashings of gravy, although Koro was suspicious that his gravy may have been from a packet. And a shared apple strudel to finish.

We are looking forward to a home cooked meal when we get back to New Zealand, some sausages on the BBQ with potato salad. We wonder who might want to fire up the BBQ in exchange for a bottle of Ouzo when we get home?

A funny thing about the different countries we have visited. In Italy and Greece, and even in Spain on our last adventure, Koro felt very tall, because a lot of the men seemed very short. But in Germany and Austria, Koro always feels short, because there are so many tall people, especially tall ladies. Noeline Taurua could come over and recruit some very tall Austrian girls for the Silver Ferns. We are sure that Uncle Lance would be quite willing to help.

We have enjoyed Graz so much we have decided to stay another day and do some shopping. Grandma needs a belt because her jeans keep slipping down. Already we have seen some in a window, and Grandma has said “I’m not paying that much for a belt!”. Buzzy Bee will be on hand to make sure Grandma buys a good quality belt regardless of the expense.

Happy Birthday to Helen and Happy Birthday to Tilly. Hope you both have a happy day.

Love to you all from Grandma and Koro and Buzzy Bee. XXX OOO.