Month: March 2017

We didn’t want to go all the way to Vienna today so we went about half way. We took the bus from Klagenfurt to Graz. Before we left Klagenfurt we went to the bakery for coffee and pastries just like yesterday. 

At our hotel in Graz we looked at a brochure of things to do around Graz. In the town  of Thal about 4 km from Graz we could visit the Arnold Schwarzenegger Museum!  His original home houses the museum. We decided to skip that this trip. 

We are not staying in the center of Graz so after checking in and resting a bit we took a tram into the center. 

The mountain in the picture above was used to shelter 40,000 people from air raids during World War II. Before the war 6.3 kilometers of tunnels were built into the mountain. Today there is a children’s train ride in the tunnels; – The Fairy Tale Express. There is also an elevator to the top. Duke and I avoided the stairs and took the elevator. 

For dinner we ate in the building next to the building with the dancing clock figures below. The restaurant is called Glöckl Bräu. 

Duke really wanted sauerkraut so he had sausage and sauerkraut. I had wiener schnitzel with potatoe salad. They started out by bringing us pretzels with our beer. 

We spent today in Klagenfurt, Austria. We started out with one of my many ideal European experiences, coffee and a pastry at a local bakery. 

We have a map of Klagenfurt with all the local sites marked and explained in English. We walked all around the town checking out the remnants of the walls, the churches and the notable buildings. 

I especially liked this watering truck. 

Klagenfurt is on the eastern shore of Lake Wörthersee. In the 1500s the local nobility built a canal to move goods between the lake and the town. We walked along the canal a ways and then sat and enjoyed the beautiful day. 

According to Wikipedia, Klagenfurt was the first town in Austria to create a pedestrian only area in the center of town. We spent a lovely hour at a sidewalk cafe drinking coffee and people watching. I signed up for the online New York Times crossword at the beginning of this trip. Duke and I work on it throughout the day. We don’t always finish it but it is a fun thing to do. Today we used the free wifi from the H&M store near us to finish the last few clues that we needed help on. 

Before going back to our room we wanted to find a grocery store to buy some fruit and water. We had walked by this building a few times but didn’t realize it is a very big three story shopping mall including a grocery store. So we got some water and even managed to weigh and tag our fruit before checking out. 

You can see the outside of the mall behind the statue. 

For dinner I had potatoes, sausage, and onions with an egg on top. 

Duke had braunschweiger and dumplings. 

It was another great restaurant. 

This morning we left Venice by bus and headed north and a bit east into Austria. We spent most of the day traveling. Austria is a new country for both Duke and me. The mountains on the Italy – Austria border were beautiful. We went through lots of tunnels. 

Klagenfurt is a nice town. The town symbol is a dragon. Our hotel is right behind the dragon in the picture. 

We have had almost no one on this trip mention Trump to us. But today as we were having our welcome drink in the bar one of the staff asked us about him and what he is going to do. She said they are afraid of another war. 

The rooms at this hotel are very nice and quite ornate. 

We had a really good dinner. Duke had venison ragout with cranberries. 

I had a steak with roast potatoes. And now that we are in a German speaking country we decided to have beer!

It was a nice restaurant with a great ambiance. 

Today we had a wonderful day in Venice. This morning we bought stamps and then bus tickets for our bus trip tomorrow. 

Then we wandered towards San Marcos square. On the way we stopped by the beautiful Rialto Bridge.

Venice was founded after the fall of the Roman Empire. People came here to avoid the barbarians in the rest of Italy. Venice became a center of trade between the east and the west. For 400 years it was the richest city in Europe. When we went through  the Basilica it was easy to see some of the results of that wealth. 

Thanks to a recommendation from my friend Marty we made a point of stopping at Cafe Florian on the square. It was established in 1720 and bills itself as the oldest cafe in Europe. We sat at an outside table in the square, listened to the live band and drank some wonderful hot chocolate. It will be a moment that is a highlight memory of our trip. 

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For dinner we started with octopus salad. 

Next we shared clams and pasta. 

We had mixed fried seafood as our main dish. 

And finally ricotta flan. 

It was a lovely day. 

This morning we caught the high speed train from Florence to Venice. 

We found our hotel and then made our way through the narrow streets and canals to Plaza San Marco. Venice is like no other city I have ever visited. We took the water taxi back to our hotel. 

We had a great dinner at Osteria La Lanterna da Gas.