K & L's Travel Blog

Today we returned to one of the places we visited in 1985, Mariatrost Basilica. On that trip, we traveled for 3 1/2 months to fulfill an itinerary that counted as credit towards my German undergraduate degree. My professor, Henry Stern had studied in Graz, and it was one of our favorite places from that entire trip. I remember the church’s baroque splendor and relics, the steep steps that were part of the devotional climb, but most of all I remember the lovely walk we took back towards Graz.

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We get a bit of a late start, leaving the apartment about 11:00. We gathered up a few questions for the tourist information, so started our day there. Basically, they reassured us we had the right information and seemed to approve of our itinerary, which started today with a rooftop restaurant atop the K & O department store. They offered a EUR 7.50 Tageskarte (most European countries offer basic meals at cheap prices for working people during the week) that consisted of 3 tacos and a small salad. While the tacos were different than what one would get in the US with barbecue pork, cole slaw and sauerkraut, the flavor was great. The real reason to go there is the view, though.

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We walked a bit before hopping the #1 tram to Mariatrost. It was a beautiful ride through tree lined streets and wealthy neighborhoods. We passed the little lake we visited as part of Dr. Stern’s itinerary. Once there, we opted to walk up the very steep road instead of climbing the steps. At the top there was a great restaurant with an outdoor terrace. We sat and drank a Radler, a non-alcoholic drink of beer and lemonade that is popular in hot weather, and it is very hot and dry today. Kitty sat at the table while I went around to photograph the church.

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The waiter gave us directions for our walk home, and told us it would take us about an hour. Given our slow pace and my photography, it ended up being about a 2 hour walk, all gently downhill. We met lots of people along the way. Every time I asked for directions, folks said simply to continue straight away. One lady was so delighted that we had asked her, she engaged us in very detailed, blow by blow description that was basically go straight ahead. We chatted about Graz and I told her how we were returning after many years. We talked about climate change and the evils of capitalism.

Back in the streets of Graz, we spy a woman with a baby carriage. We ask if we can take a photo, and she responds “Of my baby?” “No, of your dogs.” We all had a good laugh. By the time we got home, we’d walked for over three hours and were both exhausted. We decide to eat at the family restaurant next door. It’s really quite good and was the perfect choice. It was an early night to bed after I processed the photos. Tomorrow we hope to get to the open air museum that is about 1 hour outside of town.