Dewi's Trains,
Trams & Trolleys

Graz

Graz

We had a pleasant train-ride to Graz from Innsbruck

.

We arrived, went into the Info bureau in its temporary shed (the station is being rebuilt), where  Eufron found that the girl behind the desk had a Canadian boyfriend, and was going to visit him the following week in Toronto. After the high temperatures in Innsbruck, we were looking for a hotel with comforts: but she told us there was only one 5-star hotel, and that had no specials. So we got the usual list of hotels, decided on the Mercure, out near the cemetery. Of course, we purchased 24-hour transit passes, and a  no. 6 tram was waiting, so off we went.

There was no problem finding the hotel; it even had a Billa supermarket on-site. It had air-conditioning (which we'd wanted because of the heat - everybody said "This hot weather is most unusual for Austria"). The room was clean, with spartan (but not flimsy) furniture, and the air-conditioning worked, though not very well. We cleaned up, went out to Glockenspiel Platz in the pedestrian area, to see the Glockenspiel of course, which we did see operating at 6pm. We walked around corner to MehlPlatz and had dinner outdoors at a cafe which had local-recipe dishes on the menu (Steyrer Pfand'l: a hamburger pattie on cheese pasta).

Off then to the Schlossbergbahn, i.e. the funicular up to the schloss, using our 24 hour passes. We looked around at the buildings at the top, and WALKED down. At several levels, there were rest points with benches. At one such we passed a couple in VERY close embrace!

All innocent-like we caught a tram back to Jakomini platz to catch the no. 6 back to the cemetery near our hotel. To our horror we found that the no. 6 stops by 8 pm! Finally we discovered that the no. 36 bus replaces it in the evening. To our relief, we found the 36 bus stop and took the bus back to the cemetery, with bus driver and passengers and even a little girl very helpful.

After that, we felt we deserved drinks in the lounge, which led quickly to sleep.

After breakfast buffet, we went back to Bahnhof (no. 6 did run in the morning) and took train for Vienna. The route was via the Semmering railway, a world heritage site! Wonderful views.

Click on thumbnail for larger picture. For most, I can provide higher-resolution photos by email, if needed.
 

	Graz tram, near St. Peter graveyard. Photo 1074_02 on 20 Jun 2002
	Passage near Mehlplatz, Graz Photo 1075_25 on 21 Jun 2002
	Tram near Jakominiplatz, Graz. note the interlaced (4-rail) track: the route selection hs already taken place, but both tram routes run on same track. Photo 1075_24 on 21 Jun 2002
	Brunel award, inside Hbf, Graz Photo 1075_18 on 21 Jun 2002
	Mural in the castle, Graz Photo 1075_22 on 21 Jun 2002
	Clock tower in the castle, Graz Photo 1075_21 on 21 Jun 2002
	Tram in front of Hbf, Graz Photo 1075_20 on 21 Jun 2002
	Tram in front of Hbf, Graz Photo 1075_19 on 21 Jun 2002

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This page last updated on 27 Sep 2010 21:24:52.