Staribacher Leibnitz

... stairs behind me and decided to take the risk, no way I wanted to tackle those stairs with my bag and I wasn’t feeling particularly well. I thought “At least if I get stuck, I can nap until someone sets me free.” I fantasized about snoozing in the elevator, head on my bag, and snapped to as the door began to close... on me.

Got to my room. Opened the door and was greeted with a stench of cigarettes, and something ...

... a mountain in the city which has an awesome view and a beautiful clock tower, which is Graz's main landmark. From this point you can see the whole layout of the city and the mixture of new and old architecture.

The next day, Opa's friend Werner and his wife Inger invited us to lunch. Opa and Werner have been friends ever since preschool! We drove not far away to the countryside, to the south of Steirmark (Styria) which is the state or ...

... around-it really was pretty cool. Some of the clocks went off for about five minutes at least-we thought it may have been due to the fact that it was 6 o’clock but they also did it an hour later at 7 so it must be a regular thing there. We walked down the stairs after spending about an hour up at the top and grabbed yet another pizza (makes number five of the trip so far but they are a cheap option when you are out!). Walking back to the van, we ...

... for breakfast (much like how we savour our caffeine fix first thing in the morning...). We weren't too sure that what we got was actually what we ordered, but we hung around for one more round before walking to the station.
Noting that Leannes train was running 20mins late, we settled into the cafe/bar at the station and proceeded to have a couple more rounds ...

... a shopping mall next to the hostel, just because staying in the room doing nothing is really boring.We take our umbrellas but it's useless, by the end we get completely soaked because of the strong wind.
We stay at the mall till night. When they close we go back to the hostel and we ask in the reception for some table-games; they have lots and lots of them but the great majority are in german. Perfect... Tonight is ...

... heel actief stilstaan. Na 30 minuten kwam het verlossende woord: voor ons stond een defecte trein stil, de weg naar Wenen was geblokkeerd. ..NS zet bussen in...

Maar de OEBB is de NS niet. Zo kunnen Oostenrijkse treinen bijvoorbeeld niet achteruit rijden. Daarvoor moet dan eerst een locomotief uit Wiener Neustad komen. Dus waren we niet om 23u thuis, nee, we stonden om 23.30u opnieuw in de middle of nowhere. Met een kleine vertraging van 1,5 uur ...

... of the Obvious. But the museums were nice, and I hadn't seen them on my first visit in 2001.




I stayed with Nathan's friend Christine, the first time I have stayed with a friend-- in a real residence-- since I left home. Walking into an apartment with pictures and a coat rack and signs of people living there for more than, say, 4 days was honestly jarring. It is a totally different world than my current backpacker life. But I have ...

Evo ga, još dva dana i letim za Madrid. Ne znam jesam li uzbuđenija zbog letenja, zbog Madrida ili onog što me čeka poslije - tri mjeseca putovanja BEZ IKOGA! Znači bez ikakve odgovornosti prema drugim osobama, bez ikakvoga pritiska i s mozgom puštenim na pašu :)

So, two days more and I am flying to Madrid. I dont know if I'm more excited about the flying (high ;D), because of Madrid or the fact that I will travel all by myself :)

... usual pasta dinner using my one burner gas burner and strung our washing out to dry.

Thursday 4th June. We headed into Graz to check out the sights including the castle on the hill which we went up to via the funicular train up the side of the cliff. The views were great from the top and the castle was interesting but was really only the buildings as very little was on display to nee but the gardens were lovely and the 13th century clocktower impressive. This castle ...

... with them! I wonder why? Eventually the top honcho baggage man appeared with a lackey in tow. He said there was no sign of my bike, but one option remained. If I could accompany him to the arrivals lounge, and the lost luggage section, then there might be a chance... Entering the aladin's cave storeroom of lost luggage I stared around the gloomily lit area. My eye spotted a flash of yellow bike ...