Tom`s travels: Vienna & Graz (6-8/01/2018)

After leaving Bratislava by bus we reached the capital of Austria in just an hour due to the closeness of the two cities. Our friend Joana, who was living there, and Emil came to pick us up at the station and accompanied us to her place where we could leave our stuff. After that, we headed into the city center and met with Jira. We got off at Karlsplatz and admired the classical Viennese architecture in the buildings surrounding the square including the beautiful Baroque church, Karlskirche. The church was already closed as it was already 7pm, so we decided to walk around a bit and admire the city center. We walked past the impressive and world-famous State Opera House and continued along Kärntner Straße, one of the main shopping streets of the city, all decorated with Christmas lights. We then reached the Cathedral of St Stephen, an imposing mix of Romanesque and Gothic. Walking along Graben street we passed by the Plague Column, a beautiful baroque trinity column built in 1679 to thank the stop of the Great Plague. Further on the facade of the church of St Peter peeked out from one of the side streets though we continued onwards as it was already closed. We ended up in Michaelerplatz where the Hofburg, the former imperial residence of the Habsburgs, stands. Made up of many buildings it is incredibly large and imposing; after walking around it we then decided it was time to have dinner. We found a place not far in the area and had a typical Austro-Hungarian dinner. After that, we ended the night by heading to a bar located on top of a hotel called 25 hours which had an incredible view over the city. The following morning we woke up early and after breakfast headed again into the city center. We decided to visit the Kunsthistorisches Museum, a world-famous art museum. The entry ticket had a quite hefty price but was well worth the huge collection kept inside. We saw some incredible paintings by famous artists such as Rembrandt, Brueghel, Titian, Caravaggio, Durer, and others. After two and a half hours inside the museum, which could have easily become four had I been alone, we headed out to have lunch. After eating at an Asian place, we then took the metro and headed to visit Schonbrunn Palace. As it was late afternoon we decided not to enter the palace itself as it was nearing closing time and instead headed behind to visit its immense gardens. Due to the time of the year they were not at their best however it was still pretty enough and gave us a beautiful view from the top of the hill where the Gloriette building is located. After the visit to the gardens, we took the metro back into the city and visit the Rathausplatz with the impressive and eclectic Rathaus, or town hall on its western end and the Christmas market with the ice rink at its center. We were quite tired so we eventually headed home had dinner, talked for a while and then went to sleep.
The next morning we woke up early to catch the train headed to the city of Graz which went through the Semmering railway, a Unesco site due to it being the first mountain railway in Europe to be built in the standard gauge track. The view from the train was great, passing through valleys, hills, mountain passes, and tunnels. After reaching our destination we left our luggage in the baggage deposit and headed on foot. We decided first to head out of town to see the Eggenberg Palace, one of the best examples of Baroque palaces in the region of Styria. Entrance to the palace itself was paid and as we were just day tripping we decided to skip it but instead proceeded to visit its gardens for free. After hanging around for a while we decided to head into town; after nearly one-hour walking we finally reached the historic center and crossing the Mur river entered the Franciscan Church which stood right after the bridge. Originally dating to the 13th century it holds a Gothic interior, yet the bell tower, which is unusual for a church of the Franciscan order was built during the 17th century as it served as a defensive tower due to its close proximity to the walls. Walking along the old town streets we then reached and entered the Cathedral, built in the Gothic style during the 15th century, it now passes a complete Baroque interior. Right next to it stands the Mausoleum to Emperor Ferdinand II, which was however closed. Nearby we entered the grounds of the Castle, built during the 15th century, it was refurbished several times during the following centuries. Particularly interesting is the double spiral staircase built at the end of the 15th century which granted a nice view of the cathedral. After descending the staircase we walked through the streets and passed by the Glockenspielplatz, with the house holding the Carillion which gave the name to the square. Next on we passed the Landhaus, the renaissance palace holding the regional parliament. Inside is the Styrian armory, the world's largest historic armory, which was however only possible to visit through guided tours. We visited though inner courtyard which was freely accessible and included beautiful arcades and an interesting well. Not far from there we then reached the Hauptplatz or the city's main square. It was easy to spot the castle hill from there with the prominent clock tower towering over the city. We decided to head there by using the lift which had been built inside the rock and would bring the visitor in a few seconds to the top of the hill. After reaching the top we had a great view over the whole city and despite the not so great weather still managed to see all the main landmarks from there. As the name Castle Hills suggests, there used to be a castle here since the 10th century, which was later modified and refurbished to meet more modern standards by northern Italian architects during the 16th century. The fortress was never conquered during its history, though it was nearly completely demolished by Napoleonic forces. The only remaining structures are the Clock Tower, one of the city's most iconic landmarks, and the bell tower located a little bit to the back of the hill. After admiring the view as the sun set and day turned to night we descended the hill through a small way among the trees, we ended up again in the city center and walked around a little more. Finally, we headed to the bus station where we took our ride to the next city: Maribor in Slovenia.