K & L's Travel Blog

We awaken early—Kitty rises at 6:00 and lets me sleep until 6:30. We had done much packing the night before, but finished things up and were out of the apartment by 7:30. The walk down Kiraly was not hard (we successfully dodged the ubiquitous vomit), and the tram pulled up just as we crossed the street. We are feeling a bit pearly victorious with our progress thus far. The tram goes over the river, through Buda suburbs and then into shabbier and shabbier outskirts. I smell wood smoke and then coal burning and there are roosters crowing. It’s us and two other tourists who disembark into this dismal landscape. They are seeking a bus. The train station itself is beyond dismal. It’s actually being held up with scaffolding on one side. There are two men cleaning, and otherwise it is deserted.

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We had planned to eat our breakfast at the station, but only see a dimly lit, dirty little bar on one end. There are a couple of men sweeping. We see the “waiting room” and go inside. It has fallen into disrepair, though it has two lovely large monitors that display train times and state-of-the-art speakers, over which a woman’s shrill voice loudly calls out train departures and arrivals in a never-ending loop.

Other tourists enter, equally shocked by the dismal surroundings. We form quick solidarity with a couple from Quebec. It’s a bit hellish it’s so run down. I put on my earphones and listen to the blues version of “Sitting on Top of the World.” Kitty ventures out with the Quebecois and finds coffee and cinnamon buns. There’s apparently an updated Metro station just out of view with amenities. I understand now why Google Maps kept recommending the Metro for our journey here.

We are all thrilled when the Vienna train finally appears on the monitors and we scramble for the track and get on without incident. We get to Vienna Hauptbahnhof with just enough time for lunch, and spy a Wienerwald, one of our standard German fast-food places. The roasted chicken is excellent—better even than what we had in Fuego. We sit with an elderly woman and her grandson. Their ancestors are from Austria and Greece. They had walked 19000 steps around Vienna the previous day. And her with a cane! Our former pride in our measly 17000 steps is tempered by their accomplishment.

We wait on the platform and our wagon pulls up right in front of us. Passengers pile out, including a group of about 8 drunken and rowdy young men. We are really over the drunk and rowdy young men after our time in BDP, and are feeling more and more like bitchy old ladies. We find our seats and see that they had served as yet another party central. There are bags of empty beer cans (I’d say at least 50) and spilt beer everwhere—all over the table, seats and floor. The boarding time chaos is exasperated by our cleaning efforts. Luckily, the toilet paper is the consistency of paper towel and there is no vomit to contend with. An odd man approaches me looking for a free seat as I’m cleaning and I tell him “you need to sit somewhere else!” I have found my assertive voice and my “don’t-fuck-with-me-gentleman attitude” that rarely emerges.

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We get into Graz right on time. The train ride is beautiful and we are both feeling more in our element. The Styrian mountains are striking with expansive stands of firs and poplar and other trees changing colors. The train moves slowly up and down the grades and through tunnels. It looks like a national forest most of the way. Kitty naps and I write. 

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It’s hard to tell how far our apartment is from the train station so we ride a taxi for the 3 minute ride. Given how tired we are, it’s probably a good choice. We are early, but our host arrives within minutes. The 19^th century apartment is spacious and lovely, with high ceilings and living room, full kitchen, and roomy bedroom. It feels especially large following our studio living, and will take us some time to adjust. The apartment has some quirks. The furniture is sparse and it’s not exactly built for comfort. Having actually lived through the shag carpet era, I never can quite understand the attraction. This apartment boasts a shag throw rug, and, wait for it, a brown shag rug headboard. Still, it’s hard to complain about style as it is clean and will suite our needs well. There are even two tables for a potential jigsaw and our computer work. 

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We unpack our bags and go to the grocery store across the street for supplies. Luckily, there’s a cute restaurant with a beer garden right next door to the apartment. We enjoy a couple of Gösser beers before ordering dinner. We start with a pumpkin soup that is quite different from the flavor we would have expected in the US: there’s no sugar, so the taste is more like roasted pumpkin seeds. Kitty orders the local specialty, fried chicken, and we have a nice, large green salad. I can see how beer and dinner at the Lendl may become a standard routine over the next week or so. We are to bed early, though I am up for hours listening to podcasts and reading. It feels really good to be back in Graz.