Banks and Bergs

This is a photo of the side of the Minutillo’s house where we enter our apartment. The door under the carport is our front door and the window to the left of the carport is the downstairs bedroom. The two roof windows above on the right side of the tree are in the boys’ room.

The past few days wehave continued to set up the house and put in order the daily things needed tolive in a new city. On Friday, 15 February, we went to the local Wetzelsdorfbranch of the Raiffeissen Bank. We have to have an Austrian bank account forthe Fulbright organization to deposit Robert’s grant money, which is in Euros. Unfortunatelythe clerk informed us that we had to go to the main branch downtown in order toopen up a Konto or Account. He spoke no English. I was pleased that I was ableto converse with him in German and find out what to do and where to go!

We hopped onto the tramand 15 minutes later were standing in front of the Raiffeissen Bank Zentrum.The kids really didn’t want to go in with us, you know banking is boring, so wegave them a shopping list for a few extra school supplies that had beenoverlooked and sent them down the street to Libro, the local office supply shop.Afterwards they went to the Moser Bookstore and have a sweet treat and coffee.Robert and I had a lovely clerk named Tabatha help open our accounts. She spokegood English, but we had fun conversing partially in German and in English sowe both got to practice!

On Saturday, 16February, we decided to be tourists in our own city. It was a lovely 15C/59Fand sunny. We headed downtown again and this time it was to climb theSchlossberg (castle mountain). This large hill in the middle of Graz has beenfortified since the 1200’s. Sadly the only thing that remains of the originallyfort and castle are a few small ruins and the Urhturm or Clock Tower. When an armisticewas signed between France and Austria the fortress was turned over to Napoleonwho had his men dismantle the fort. He decided to keep the Clock Tower as atoken of goodwill towards the citizens of Graz. Since then the Uhrturm hasbecome the symbol of the city. In order to reach the tower one must climb up260 steps to the top of Schlossberg. There is a funicular also, but it wasclosed for repairs.

Steps to Schlossberg:
You can see where the path diverges. We went left and followed the meandering path along the hillside.

We figured it would be an easy climb after ascending to the top of York Minster, St. Paul’s, and Notre Dame! About 2/3 of the way up you can choose to continue directly to the top or take the meandering mountain trail that snakes it’s way to the top. Not being in a hurry we chose the pathway. It was a lovely ascent to the top. Once up there you could see the white peaked mountains of the distant Tyrollean Alps to the West/Northwest. There were also stunning views of Graz and the surrounding foothills of the Alps. The Schlossberg we discovered is not only for tourists, but the locals love taking picnics up to the top and just enjoy sitting on the various scenic benches provided along the paths.

View of the Tyrollean Alps to the Northwest of the city. The River Mür runs through central Graz.

We made it to the top of Schlossberg! The Uhrturm is the symbol of Graz.

Closeup of the Uhrturm Clock which still keeps time. It was built in the early 18th century.

Once back down in thecity we headed to our new favorite restaurant, Paridiso. We’ve eaten theretwice now. Since Graz is near Italy there are a lot of Italian restaurants. Thearchitecture of the city is also more in keeping with northern Italy than withGermanic styles. Many of the buildings are Italian Rococo and pastel in color. Grazis also known for it’s red-orange tiled roofs! The Center or Altstadt of Grazis an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The kids hopped the tram and went home, while Robert and I did a little shopping. We meandered into Graz’s “Macy’s”, which is named Kastner and Öhler. The 19^th century interior was accented with modern merchandise and displays. A nice blend of old and new. The main foyer opens up to 5 floors of shopping. Robert needed some cologne and we had fun trying all the different European fragrances one can’t find at home. He eventually purchased a lovely cologne called John VarVados. We then meandered down the Sporgasse, a local narrow street with quaint boutiques, and ended up at The Graz Dom Cathedral. As the sun was setting low in the sky we walked back up the Wetzelsdorf Strasse from our tram stop to our home. The sky looked like blue and orange/pink cotton candy against the silhouette of the mountainside!

Speaking of mountainsides, after having “home church” this morning (haven’t found an English speaking church yet), the boys headed up the hillside behind our house. Mr. Johannes had told us about St. Johann (John) and Paul Church, which sits on the edge of the hill behind the house. It’s a historical site now, and there are stunning views of the city and the mountains in the distance as well. You can just see the old church building from our garden. It was another lovely day with temps like yesterday and the boys had a grand time doing some “brother bonding”. Liam took lovely photos of the scenery and the outside of the church building. A sign requested not to take any inside photos. The boys were gone over 2 hours and really enjoyed their “mountain hike”…the first of many!