Finally

Thank you for visiting my blog about Graz. As you see there are really nice possbilities to explore Graz. It was relly funny to write about the city where i come from. These have been only a few points which makes Graz very interesting and exciting. There are many many more things you can say about Graz. And also many more things or places you can visit. But the best would be to visit Graz by yourself. In my opinion it is a really nice place to live and a place where you can have a lot of fun. You will meet very nice and funny people. I love this city and i really enjoy going back there in the end of May!

I hope this blog was quiet interesting. Thats it

Thank you and goodbye

Transportation System in Graz

Graz has an extensive public transportation network which makes it easy to navigate the city without a car. The city has a huge bus network with more than 20 buslines and also a tram network consisting of six main lines, two of which run from the main train station to the old town before. Line number 1 from Eggenberg to Mariatrost, number 3 from Geidorf to the main train station, 4 from Andritz to Liebenau (Murpark), number 5 from Andritz to Puntigam, number 6 from St. Peter to the main train station and finally number 7 from St. Leonhard to Wetzelsdorf. Every train in Graz stopps at the Jakominiplatz and on the Hauptplatz. Furthermore, there are seven night-time bus routes, although these operate only at weekends and on evenings preceding public holidays. The tram in Graz is also called "Bim".

As you see you have many possiblities to travel through Graz without a car.

See you

Typical austrian food

Food is very important in Austria. There are really strict controlles on the different products, like meat, vegtables or fruits. Austria has a really big food tradition. The country is very rich of different kind of meals and drinks. It also depends on the state. Every state in Austria has different products. But now to the really traditional dishes

First of all there are three main dishes everyone in Austria knows

The "Wiener Schnitzel", Gulasch and Schweinsbraten. 

The famous Wiener Schnitzel, consisting of a thin slice of veal coated in breadcrumbs and fried, for example, is thought to have originated in Milan in the 16th century, from where it was taken to Vienna. From this time until now it is very popular. Austrian goulash is eaten often with rolls, bread or dumplings. Made of beef, red onions, vegetables, spices and ground paprika powder. And finally Schweinsbraten, roast pork with Semmelknödel dumpling and cabbage salad.

There are also very delicous desserts in Austria, like Apple strudel, cream cheese strudel and Kaiserschmarrn. The Kaiserschmarrn is a caramelized pancake made from a sweet batter with flour, eggs, sugar, salt and milk, baked in butter. Its a really good dessert.

Of cource there are also very good drinks originated from Austria. Austria has really good wines and beers. Well know wines come from Styria, Burgenland and Lower Austria.

But Austria is a land of a rich beer tradition. There are really many different types of beer. Among Styrian breweries, in the south, are the popular Gösser, Puntigamer and Murauer brands. 

There are many many more really good Austrian dishes, this is only a small selection of typical Austrian food and drinks.

Thats it for now. See you soon.

Graz by bike

Graz is know for its good bicycle network. In Graz there are more than 100 km of bicycle roads. And the bike is also the fastest transportation vehicle in Graz. You can reach all interesting and important points and places in a few minutes. As example i need around 15 minutes from my appartment to the university. The bus also takes at minimum 15 minutes...most times longer. If you go by bike it is also very good for you health and you look at the environment. The city of Graz trys to increase the bicycle rate to 14 %.  According to a survey more than 1/3 of the biker go to work by the bicycle. 

Upcoming events in Graz

Graz offers different festivals all over the year. The next festival will be the springfestival which takes place between 20. - 24th of May. This event is a well known electronic music festival. You can buy tickets to enter the different locations.  There are different types of tickets. You can purchase tickets only for one day or for the whole periode. The four day pass costs 68,-- Euro thats around 85 Dollar.

There are also other important festivals in Graz. In the summer there is the Jazz-Summer festival from July 9th to August 1st. There will act some really good jazz musicancs. In the past years there were Jazz stars like BO DIDDLEY with The Debby Hastings Band or the Buena Vista Social Club presented: IBRAHIM FERRER. 

Between 24th of september and 18th of october there will be another typical styrian event. The Steirischer Herbst. It is an international festival of Art. Last year more than 45000 people visited the different exhibitions.

As you see there are many possiblities to visit a festival in Graz. 

See you

My favorite places in Graz

Graz has some really nice places. One of my favorite place in Graz is the Stadtpark. There you can meet some friends, make enjoying walks or you can just relax. Take some blankets and lay down. You can stay there the whole day. Arround the Stadtpark you will find some really nice restaurants or cafes. 

Another favorite place of mine is the Schlossberg. Everytime i am on the Schlossberg it is very enoying. It is such a nice place. You have a great view all over the city and it is a really relaxing place. It is also a very romantic place. Go there by night and it is very touching. And it is also a good place to find some calm. Sit down and relax in the sun. You will really enjoy it.

These are only two places which are really nice. There are many more you should visit, like Schloss Eggenberg. 

Thats it for now

My favorite Pub

Now i want to talk about my favorite Pub in Graz. The Pub is called The Office Pub. Its located in the centre of Graz in the Trautmannsdorfgasse. It is a really nice pub and you can have a lot of fun there.

Every Tuesday there is a Quiz in the Pub. Called PubQuiz. It is very funny but very challanging. The questions are really tough and cover many areas. In the quiz there are five rounds. The first round is the picture round. 10 different pictures and you have to name what it is. The second round is the general knowledge round. 10 different questions. The third round is called Blockbuster Round. This time you are given the first letter in each of the words in the answer. You can also win the accumulator, which could be anywhere between €5 and €500, by answering all the questions in this round correctly. But a wrong answer in this round and you lose all your points for the round. The fourth round is the anagram round or music round (every last tuesday in a month). The final round is Connections round. There are nine "real" questions which lead to number 10 and the answer to "what is the connection?" The maximum score is 50 Points. 10 points for each round. This quiz is very funny. You have to try it!

But you can also visit the pub for some concerts. These concerts are really nice. And you can have lots of fun in this Pub. 

See you

Shopping in Graz

Hi

Today i will write about place where you can go for shopping. There are many possibilities in Graz. First there is the Center of Graz, where you can find the Herrengasse and Sporgasse. There you will find very nice shops for clothing, dining, electronics and so forth. There you will also find the biggest department store of Graz. It is calles Kastner & Öhler. In this department store it is possible to look for clothes of different designers like Armani or Hugo Boss. This department store has a huge range of different articles. 

Graz has also a lot of shopping centers. There is the Citypark, the Murpark, Shopping Nord, Shoppingcenter West and also a small one center ost. In this shoppingcenters you will find a lot of different stores. But the biggest shoppingcenter is located outside the city of Graz. Its calles Shopping City Seiersberg. It is the second biggest shopping center in Austria with more than 85000 square meters.

So you see, there are many opportunities where you can go shopping. See you

Trips outside of Graz

Hi.

Today i will write about trips you can make outside of Graz. A very nice location not far away is the Lipizzaner  world Piber. It is part of the famous spanish horse riding school. The entrance fee is 11 Euro for an adult, students pay 8 Euro. 

Another nice location outside of Graz is the Riegersburg. It is located in the east of styria. One car hour away from Graz. The rock is visible from far away. The Riegersburg is 850 years old build on a vulcan. This bulkwark has never been conquered in the history. Its a very nice experience at Riegersburg because many shows will take place.

A further possibility is to visit a thermae. And after the thermae you can visit a Buschenschank to eat and drink something.

These are only 3 interesting things you can visit outside of Graz. There are many many more

Accommodations in Graz

Today i want to write  about accommodation possibilities in Graz. Graz offers many types of hotels, hostels and B&B accommodations in all price classes. If you want to stay in the center of Graz the cost are higher as in other districts. I want to make a rating of hotels and hostels which might be interesting for you

Priceclass to 45 $ per person and day

Nearly in the center of Graz you will find the Hotel called Weitzer. It is a four star hotel which offers a night for 45$ per person without breakfast. The breakfast costs 15 $.

Another option is a youthhostel like the youth hostel Graz. Here you pay 42 $ for a doubleroom but breakfast included. 

A privte Room for a night costs around 30 to 45 $. In most of them breakfast is included.

Over 45 $

For 65$ per night without breakfast you can stay at the only five star hotel in Graz. The hotel is called Hotel Wiesler. Many international Stars stayed there.

Thats it for today...next time i want to talk about trips outside of Graz. See you!

Gastroguide Graz

Today i will write about restaurents and pubs in Graz. Because Austria has big gastronomic culture. In Graz you will find a very good kitchen. In Graz there are many different types of restaurents. Like Italian, Greek, Japanese, Chinese, Indian and many other restaurants. Of course you will find restaurants which offer very good austrian kitchen. Typical austrian dishes are Vienna Schnitzel and Schweinsbraten. Really good!! But if you stay in Graz you have to go to a Buschenschank. You will love it. There you will get very good vine and meals consisting of bread.

But now to the restaurants and Buschenschanks. I will do a rating.

$$$....means expensive; $$ moderate, $ cheap
!!!...excellent; !!...very good, !...good

Restaurants & Buschenschank & Pubs

Landhauskeller $$$;!!! 
Altsteirische Schmankerlstube $$;!!
Gamlitzer Weinstube $;!!! (very good Styrian vine)
Zu den 3 goldenen Kugeln $;! (many different types of Vienna Schnitzel) many students go there
Buschenschank Sattler $;!!!
Flann O'Brain $$;!! (many beers, also good food)

I think thats enough for now. Next time i want to talk about tours outside of Graz.

Professional Sports in Graz

Hi,

Now its time to talk about professional sports in Graz. About sport clubs and famous sportstars from Graz.

A world champion which came from Graz was Jochen Rindt. He was world champion in the Formular 1 in 1970. He tied through an accident in a race. We also have an olympic champion. His name is Harald Winkler and he won the golden medal in the wintergames 1992 in the "four-man bob".

Graz has also professional sport clubs in basketball, icehockey, football (soccer) and so forth. I will write about a football club. The clubs name is SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz

The club was founded 1909, that means this year the celabrate 100 years SK Sturm Graz. The SK Sturm Graz is a two time winner of the Austrian championship and three time winner of the Austrian Cup. The biggest internatinonal success was to reach the quater finals in the Uefa Cup and of course the three time participation in the UEFA Champions League. In the Champions League the club reached to next round by beating really strong european teams like Glasgow Rangers, AC Monaco and Galatasary Istanbul. This was a really good time for the club. In this time Sturm Graz was the richest club in Austria. But than they fall. Because they made bad transfers and lost a lot of money. But now the club is becoming better again, with a really good young team. At the moment they are 4th in the Austrian Championship. 

Thats it for today. See you soon!

Sports in Graz

Today i want to write about sports in Graz. In Graz there are many possibilities to make sport. Wether you go for a ride with the bike or you can just walk or run near the river Mur. Near the river Mur it is very nice because there are no cars and other vehicles. The only vehicles you will find are bikes. I can run many kilometers beside the Mur. From the north to the south of Graz you have more than 20 kilometers to run.  Another nice opportunity is to walk on the Schlossberg wether you take the stairs or you just walk up the street. Sometimes it is challenging but if you are on the top you will enjoy the great view over Graz. Or you can sit down at the bar and drink something. Very nice. Enjoy your ride in Graz

See you.

Nightlife

Hi...now lets talk about where you can go out at night

There are many different things you can do in Graz. First you can join the inner city of Graz. There you will find nice pubs like the Flann O'Brain or The Office Pub. The Office Pub is really cool, because every Tuesday there is a Pubquiz which is really tough. You play in teams and you can win a little money, but the real reason why you go there is because you will have a lot of fun with your friends. Another nice location in Graz is the "Bermuda Dreieck". There you will find some nice cocktailbars.

Of course there are many other locations where you can go. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays there are some events in different clubs. Nice events are Disco Brasil and Russian Style Disco in the Postgarage. 

Or you can just visit a concert in Graz. Sometimes there are really nice concerts from artists like Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and so. These events take place in the Grazer Stadthalle. But there are also smaller locations which are really nice. Like the Orpheum. Many artists will come there because of the flair of the Orpheum. A lot of austrian comedy stars visit the Orpheum, but also some international music stars.

Places to go

Hey,

Today i will write about the places you have to see in Graz. The first location is The Schlossberg.

The Schlossberg is 123 meters high and is located in the center of Graz. On the Schlossberg you will find the landmark of Graz "The Clock Tower". The Schlossberg is a really nice place. You can see all over the city and is a very nice location for a romantic walk. You can reach the Schlossberg wether with the Schlossberg-Train, another option you can take the stairs or you can just walk up to the top.

Another nice place is the Hauptplatz where you can also find the town hall of Graz. This is the seat of the mayor. Built in the Middle Ages as a trapezoidal market square, the Hauptplatz was the centre of public life. And it still is. All trams of Graz stop there. The big shopping streets lead to the square. And it is the meeting place if you want to go out at night.

A newer sight is the Mur island. It was a project for the cultural city of europe 2003. Now it is an attraction. It was build by the New Yorker artist Vito Acconci.

Also the Sporgasse is very nice. Sporgasse is like a picture book of art history. Therefore, it is not advisable to look only into the nice ground-floor boutiques. From Gothic window frames, Renaissance and Baroque buildings to historicists – all styles are represented

And you should also visit Schloss Eggenberg. Schloss Eggenberg was built in 1625. Today, Styria's most splendid palace is used for cultural events. And sometimes as setting for films. 

Source: http://www.graztourismus.at/

Thats it for today. See you soon

Graz

 

Today i will write about my hometown Graz

As i mentioned before Graz is the second biggest city in Austria. It is also the capital city of the state styria. Graz has 17 districts and its area is about 128 square kilometers. These districts are: Innere Stadt, Saint Leonhard, Geidorf, Lend, Gries, Jakomini, Liebenau, Saint Peter, Waltendorf, Ries, Mariatrost, Andritz, Gösting, Eggenberg, Wetzelsdorf, Straßgang and Puntigam.

Graz is a student city. In Graz there are six universities with more than 25000 students. The Karl Franzens University is one of the oldest universities in Europe.  The university was founded in the year 1585 by Karl II von Österreich.

In the year 2003 Graz was the Cultural Capital of Europe.  In 1999, it was added to the UNESCO list of World Cultural Heritage Sites.

Thats it for now. See you

Austria

Hi..now lets talk about Austria

In Austria there live more than 8 million people and the area is around 84.000 square kilometers (that is around 32.000 square miles). That means Austria is nearly as big as the US State Maine.  Austria is located in the center of Europe. It's neighbour states are Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Slowakia, Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. In Austria there are nine different states which are Burgenland, Styria,  Carinthia, Tirol, Vorarlberg, Salzburg, Upper and Lower Austria and finally Vienna which is also the capital city of Austria. Vienna is also the biggest city in Austria with more than 1,3 million people. Second biggest city is Graz with around 250.000 inhabitants. Other important cities in Austria are, Salzburg, Innsbruck, and Linz.

Austria is also know for its tourism. A lot of people are visting Austria for skiing or hiking. Because there are really beautiful mountains. 

See you!

Introduction

Hey everyone!

I want to start a blog about my homecountry Austria. I want to talk a little bit about the most important cities in Austria. Especially i will write about my hometown Graz. What's going on there, about the history, famous people of Graz and where you can find interesting places, like the landmark the "Uhrturm", museums, famous buildings and of course where you can go out at night.

I also want to write about my favorite sportsclub in Graz. The club is called SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz.