Graz, Austria

Tuesday, June 7: Schönbrunn palace and zoo

Today we said goodbye to our wonderful host teachers and host families in Graz and boarded a charter bus back to Vienna for one last day of sightseeing before our flight home. Unfortunately, our bus driver programmed his navigation system incorrectly, causing us to arrive at our hotel in Vienna much later than expected. Once we finally reached our hotel, we quickly dropped off our bags and headed out to Schönbrunn palace, the summer residence of the Habsburgs. After viewing the palace and enjoying the magnificent palace gardens, we stopped by the imperial bakery to experience how a traditional Viennese Apfelstrudel is made. Our final stop was Tiergarten Schönbrunn, the imperial menagerie that is considered to be the world’s oldest zoo. All that’s left now is a group dinner at the hotel and a good night’s sleep before catching a very early flight to Paris to make our connection to RDU. While we all wish we had more time to spend in Austria, we are also really looking forward to seeing our family and friends back home. Servus aus Wien und bis bald! ~Frau Greene

Final group photo in Graz

Schönbrunn palace

palace gardens

the Glorietta

Strudel show

Master strudelmaker certificate

Schönbrunn zoo

Monday, June 6: Lurgrotte cave

This morning my alarm woke me up at 6:10am just like every other morning I have been in Graz. I began my regular morning routine, but I couldn’t help but notice that the dynamic was so different. I realized that this was one of the last times I would be in my room and my last day with my exchange student Meli. In this moment, I decided to make this a great last day. We started off the day with an hour drive to Lurgrotte and I made the big mistake of drinking a huge water bottle on the bus. Little did I know that I would have to hike 30 minutes to get to the cave entrance where the only bathrooms were located. This hike would’ve been totally manageable any other day, but since I made the decision to drink so much water the hike was not very enjoyable. As we were walking the last stretch of the hike I caught a glimpse of the bathrooms. I had never been so happy to see a bathroom in my life. Once we had all used the bathroom and bought snacks, we embarked on our journey into the cave. Within the first five steps into the cave, it felt as if the temperature dropped 20°. The cave was a lot bigger than I thought it would be and it was filled with stalactites and stalagmites. About three fourths of the way through the tour we stopped in a huge dome where we watched an amazing light show. During the light show, lights lit up the stalagmites and stalactites in syncopation to the music. Then shortly after the light show, we hiked back out of the cave. After our wonderful tour was over, we had a bit of free time to sit around and eat our lunch. Unfortunately, not many of us remembered to bring our lunches, so we had ice cream from the shop. After about 30 minutes of free time we decided to walk back to the bus stop because there was a grocery store. On our hike back to the bus stop we were caught in the middle of a torrential downpour. Luckily, everyone made it back safe and sound and we were all glad to reach the grocery store. After everyone bought and ate the food from the grocery store, we walked back to the bus stop and waited for the bus to pick us up. As we reached Graz, a group of us decided to go shopping. Most of us went shopping for our families, while others finished the trip by buying new stylish clothing for themselves. After about an hour of shopping, I went home and had a family dinner with my host family. We ate a ton of food ranging from toast to T-bone steak to fish. Once I had finished this wonderful food, I decided I needed to run to work off all of the dinner. The spectacular views I had of Graz on this run really provided me with a great ending to this amazing day and it was a perfect way for me to wrap up a great trip. As soon as I got home I took a shower and packed my bag. Packing my suitcase was probably the saddest thing I had done all day. I couldn’t believe that this outstanding trip was over. I have so many great memories from this trip and it is something that I will never forget. ~Olivia

Semriach

Walking to the Lurgrotte

Arriving at the Lurgrotte

Lurgrotte ticket office

Heading off to the cave

Cave entrance

Inside the Lurgrotte

Lunch time

A storm rolls in

Caught in the rain

Sunday, June 5: Last full day with host families in Graz

Today, my exchange family mostly relaxed, especially due to the inclement weather during the first half or so of the day. When the rain died down a bit, most of the family traveled to the Puch museum. Johann Puch was an engineer in Austria who famously made bikes originally made for the mountains. The bikes were designed so that they had pedals to start up the bike, but the bike would assist with a battery in going up mountains. His brand, though, eventually merged with Steyr, and they produce a lot of automobiles too. The museum catalogued this, and also showed the interesting insides of a lot of the cars. After that, I went with Matthew to some other Graz museums. We started at the Kunsthaus Graz, which is the modern art museum. What seems to be universal about modern art, regardless of country or continent, is that I don’t really understand a lot of it. A lot of the paintings were really cool, although I didn’t really get some of the sculptures. There was also a short film about snakes historically, or at least that’s what I got from the film, because it only showed random pieces of footage with really disconcerting music. I think that the point of this modern art, though, was that it was universal, regardless of language, country of origin, or background. In addition, we visited the science museum, too, and looked at frogs and turtles, studied snakes, and used a typewriter a lot. We finished off the afternoon by going to a relatively old cafe (especially by American standards) and had some great things. Matthew got the best Sacherwürfel in Graz I’m pretty sure, and I had a fantastic hot chocolate that tasted like the essence of chocolate itself. It was really nice overall, and the day was relaxing. ~Danny

Puch Museum

a Puch mountain bike

Kunsthaus Graz

Cafe Sacher

Sacherwürfel

Science Museum

Saturday, June 4: Atop the Schöckl

Report #1:
Today, the Austria exchange group traveled to the Schöckl, a mountain in Graz with an elevation of 4,741 feet. While cable cars run up and down the mountain, allowing for an easy journey up, there are also multiple trails that lead up the mountain as well. About half of the exchange group, along with their Austrian exchange partners, opted for the easy cable car option. However, the other half of the exchange group (myself included), agreed that we really have been eating way too much, so therefore decided to hike up the mountain. Okay I like hiking, I really do, but this hike was almost as bad as the spoonful of 100% liquid cocoa I put into my mouth at the chocolate factory because I didn’t read the label. The trail just went straight up, and the path was made up of just rocks and roots. Luckily however, being the quick thinker I am, I paused many, many times to “take a photo”, which granted me a 5-10 second break from the hiking. I would also like to thank Mother Nature for the rain that occurred halfway through the hike. I’m being completely serious when I say this because it gave me another one-minute break while I put on my rain jacket. After about an hour and twenty minutes of trekking up the mountain, we finally reached the summit. Even though the journey was hard we prevailed, and the views along the way were also very rewarding. At the top we were greeted by our cable car classmates who were finishing up their lunch. Following their lead, the hikers went to the one other restaurant on the mountain to eat and get warm. Contradicting the purpose of the hike, I decided it was time to eat a cheeseburger. While enjoying our meals, several dogs and their owners walked into the restaurant. Even after well over a week of being in Austria, I still forget that it’s completely normal and acceptable for dogs to be allowed in most shops and restaurants here. Anyway, contradicting the purpose of the hike even more, the hikers then ordered some chocolate cake to share. It was so good! Now that our stomachs were fully satisfied, we decided to check out some of the stuff on the mountain. Between the two restaurants, there is ride called the “Hexen Express”. It’s not really a roller coaster, but there’s a metal track that winds down some of the mountain. A cart comes with room for two people, one behind the other. The person sitting in the back has access to two levers. By pushing them both down the cart goes faster, and by pulling them back the cart brakes. Basically everyone just pushes down the levers as hard as they can so they can go really fast on the straights and curves. Eventually the the ride comes to a stop and the cart enters a track that brings you back to the top. After that the exchange group decided it was time to head back to town. While we were really tempted to hike down the steep, rocky mountain, the group made its way toward the cable cars. The view was amazing as we made our way back towards the base of the mountain. You could see all of Graz! Overall the day was great, and I’m excited to see more! ~Rachel M.

Hiking up the Schöckl

Atop the Schöckl

Restaurant atop the Schöckl

Well-deserved chocolate cake

Riding the Hexenexpress

Cable lift back down the mountain

View from cable lift

A video of the Hexenexpress experience

Report #2
My day started out very different from the majority of the exchange group. I was awoken by the sunlight shining through my bedroom window at 9:30, approximately the time the rest of the group left for the Schöckl. Instead of going with the rest of the group, my exchange student, Paul, along with Isiah and his exchange student, Gabriel, and I decided to play soccer with some other guys from the school. At 11:00, the four of us began the treacherous 1/4 mile journey to the pitch. After a long and hard 3 minutes we arrived at the field. Once the others found their way to the field, teams were selected, and the game began. We played for an hour and a half or so before the match was decided via golden goal. After the game reached its conclusion, Paul and I made our way back to the house for lunch. Paul’s younger brother Emil is being confirmed into the church on Sunday, so many of Paul’s relatives are in town to attend the service. After eating lunch, a projector was set up in the living room. Once the set-up was completed, the entire family gathered to view photos and videos of Emil’s childhood. The room was constantly filled with reminiscent smiles and much laughter. Soon after, Paul and I joined the rest of the exchange group for dinner at Gruberwirt. That concludes the very busy, yet very enjoyable last Saturday with our exchange students. ~Sam

Friday, June 3: Hallstatt and Salt Mine

Today we went to Hallstatt and a salt mine. That was cool. The scenery was spectacular and totally breathtaking. I must say I was very claustrophobic in the salt mines because we were deep in a mountain. It was very interesting to learn the history of these mines, and to see the oldest European wooden staircase ever found. In the mine we saw videos demonstrating the disturbing working conditions, age range and culture of the enslaved miners in the mines all those years ago. I also got to eat some of the salt right out of the mountain, before cleaning and packaging. There were these miner slides in the mountain that we got to slide down. I got to a speed of over 36 kilometers per hour, which was pretty good for my first time. To get out of the mine, they put us on this super fast train and shot us through this tiny, claustrophobic tunnel, and it was as uncomfortable as it was fun. After the salt mine, my group and I went to a bakery, where I had an espresso and an obnoxious amount of baked goods. They were very good. Corey squared up with an angry swan, and it was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. Of course, naturally, this whole time we are all speaking perfect German. The Austrians (Paul, Gabriel and Felix) tried to convince us that a stone in the water was very, very important and satanic. So that was quite funny. We found some American Fanta and when the Austrians tried it, they thought it was pretty gross. I also explained how many of the ingredients in Fanta are carcinogenic. We had a very good time drinking our soda and looking out over the beautiful mountainous range. All in all, it was a pretty cool day in my opinion. ~Isiah

Hallstatt

Salt miner

Hallstatt

Funicular ride to salt mine

Finding our way to the salt mine

Entering the salt mine

Salt mine shaft

Salt mine slide

Going down the slide

End of salt mine tour

Walking back from salt mine

Viewing platform

Lunch break

The view from the mountain

Thursday, June 2: Schlossberg and Styrian Armory

It has officially been a full week since our arrival in Graz, with just four days until the majority of us fly back to our (hopefully) open-armed families. Each day is filled with more activities than the previous, whether it be with the whole group, or just with our own exchange students. The day today, for me, at least, began by hitting the snooze button on my alarm a few extra times and enjoying a relaxed breakfast before heading off to school with Margarita (my host student). Since her first two classes were free periods, I got an early glance at what “come late, leave early” feels like, and I can easily say that I’m already looking forward to such senior privileges. We came in late, sat through a French class, and left early for free time in the city before visiting the Schlossberg. The Uhrturm (clock tower) at the top of the Schlossberg was surely captivating, but even more impressive was the view of all of Graz. We could see each café we’ve eaten at, all the trams we’ve just barely avoided, and, of course, all the clothing shops we’ve raided. We were lucky enough to be able to visit the Schlossberg before the ominous rain clouds unleashed their downpour, but the luck didn’t stay when it was time to visit the Zeughaus (armory). Athina, Brett, Felix, and I tried our best to dodge the rain drops, but blatantly failed. To add to this lack of luck, our tram missed the Zeughaus station, forcing us to have to once again run through the rain and jump over puddles down a block before meeting up with our group. Although seeing the medieval weaponry of Graz was enticing, the frozen toes and soaked shoes could only be forgotten with a nice cup of hot chocolate and croissant in a nearby cafe called Graf Leopold. As the day came to an end and the sun reappeared, I treated myself to yet another beautiful view of Graz after going on a run through Margarita’s neighborhood, this time seeing the Uhrturm in all its glory from below. ~Ruhi

Visit to 6th grade English class

Conversations with 6th grade English students

a quick game of soccer with the 6th graders

enjoying the soccer game

a visit to the school snack bar

snack time

a bit of political conversation

a ride on the Schlossberg funicular

Schlossberg clock tower

view from Schlossberg

Schlossberg scavenger hunt

storm clouds rolling in

the rain begins

happy despite the rain

entrance to Styrian Armory building

Styrian Armory tour

medieval fashion

interesting medieval protective gear

Styrian armoury tour

trying out some medieval weaponry

cocoa to the rescue

the sun reappears

Wednesday, June 1: Akademisches Gymnasium and Uni Graz

Today began just like Monday. I woke up and headed to our exchange students’ school in Graz, Akademisches Gymnasium. I got to sit in on one class I had been to on Monday (German) and one class I had not (French). Observing the classes our exchange students take is really interesting to me because it allows me to see how people learn in other countries, and really as far as I can tell there are more similarities than differences. Their German class seemed especially similar to our English classes at Cary Academy. After sitting in on classes, Cary Academy students gave a presentation to an English class at the school about North Carolina and some of the cultural differences and similarities between Austria and the US. The most interesting part of this presentation was the time for questions afterwards. The questions from the Austrian students ranged from intriguing political inquiries all the way to, “why are there so many fast food restaurants?” and surprisingly each question was equally challenging, yet interesting, to answer. After the presentation the CA group walked to the University of Graz to see the campus and do a tour of the facilities. The tour was very similar to many I have been a part of in the US, but also highlighted the big differences between colleges in Austria and colleges in the US. After the tour was over we had the rest of the day free with our exchange students. My exchange student and I, along with a group of friends, went to an Italian restaurant in downtown Graz. Being pretty close to Italy, the Italian food in Graz is great. After lunch William and I continued our righteous quest for the Spear of Destiny (in German “Heilige Lanze”) which we are sure is hidden somewhere in Graz, and visited yet another Catholic church in the city. Seeing all of these amazing old churches really gives a new perspective on just how young the US is as a country, given that most of these churches are upwards of 100 years older than our country. Later in the day, a group of people went to a place in Graz that is sort of like a ropes course. Sadly, because it rained earlier in the day, the place was closed. Instead of climbing we played both frisbee and soccer (occasionally simultaneously) and had an all around great time. Overall it was a great day! ~Matthew

morning at the Akademisches Gymnasium

Visiting a class

Presentation to 9th grade English class

a little tech help from CA

Presentation to 9th grade English class

Conversation with 9th grade English students

Through the park to the university

University of Graz

university tour

reading room at university library

university lecture hall

post-tour ice cream stop

back at the Akademisches Gymnasium

Grazer Dom, one of the many churches in Graz

interior of a church

Tuesday, May 31: Riegersburg and Zotter chocolate factory

Today, the exchange ventured to a castle, as well as watching a bird show and going to a chocolate factory. First, at 7:45 we departed to Riegersburg Castle. After about an hour and fifteen minutes we arrived and had to surmount the hike up the mountain. The broken cobblestone pathway made it difficult; however, we overcame. While strenuous, it provided a beautiful view of the surrounding farm land and hills. Once we reached the top, we went into a museum about witches and how they were hunted and prosecuted in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The sheer amount of executions based on them having magic and the excruciating ways that they were killed or tortured into confession made me thankful that we live in the 21^st century. After the tour of the museum we endeavored to climb back down part of the mountain to go see a show about birds, specifically birds of prey. In this presentation they brought out a number of different types of birds from owls to hawks. My personal favorite was the bald eagle. The presentation featured the birds soaring to great heights, waddling around, and a number of facts about birds. After the presentation about birds of prey we had free time to get lunch at a café just outside the castle. We climbed back up the mountain to return to the café, and got some food. I had bratwurst with kraut, which was delicious. The café had a beautiful view over the surrounding land. Finally, we were able to go to the chocolate factory, which is what we had all been waiting for. When we first arrived we were escorted into a room and learned about the company, its history and its operations. After the brief video we went to try all of the chocolate in the factory. We were given fancy ceramic spoons and were told to pace ourselves so we didn’t eat too much in the beginning and not be able to have any in the end. It opened with the unrefined chocolate paste, 100% chocolate, which I did not find very appealing to my palate. But we soon reached a room filled with different chocolate pastes ranging from 100% chocolate to around 20-30% chocolate. My personal favorite room was the next one which had all different sorts of hot chocolates. White chocolate hot chocolate was surprisingly delicious. We concluded the tour of the factory and proceeded to go to the factory’s animal farm, which also featured solar fields that provided around 60% of the factory’s power consumption. It started to rain as we were walking around so we went back to inside the factory’s gift shop and bought chocolate and stayed dry. We then rode home for an hour and a half and parted ways for the evening. ~Alex

Riegersburg

pigs in the moat

Learning about the witch trials

Enjoying the view

Riegersburg

Birds of prey show

a bald eagle in Austria

Birds of prey show

a turkey vulture

Birds of prey show

Leaving the Riegersburg

Zotter chocolate factory

In the chocolate theater

Chocolate factory tour

Chocolate tasting

Buying some chocolate to go

Animal park at chocolate factory

storm clouds rolling in

Monday, May 30: First day at the Akademisches Gymnasium

I was awoken today by the sound of a 5:30am alarm. 5:30. About 3 hours earlier than I had woken up before on this trip. I fixed my hair, walked downstairs, and was greeted by a nice hot cup of tea. After devouring a delicious breakfast, my exchange student and I departed for the train that would take us to Graz. Today was the first day we went to school with our exchange students. Anto and I arrived at school at around 7:30 with Alex and his exchange student Hannah. Anto and I began this marvelous day with German class. In German, we listened to a student giving a presentation about Unterm Rad (Beneath the Wheel) by Hermann Hesse. This story was generally about an academically talented boy’s adventure through school. At the end of the report, the German teacher quizzed the other exchange students and me on the plot summary and other specific details. This provided an excellent challenge for us along with improving our interpretive listening skills. At 8:30, German ended and we transitioned into Psychology. In this class, we learned about social psychology, which was a complex topic to understand for us. At 9:25, Psychology ended and our entire exchange class started a tour of the school. I got to see a biology lab, the library, the teacher’s lounge, and much more! After about an hour of touring, we all headed to a welcoming party, made by our exchange students. There were a lot of authentic Austrian candies, cakes, and breads: I had a huge amount of cake, brownies, and apple juice. The party ended with a city scavenger hunt, in which exchange students and friends traveled around the city and helped each other to completely fill out a sheet of obscure questions. With nine people collaborating together, we finished with ease. After school, my exchange student and I hung out with Leo and his exchange student Valerie at their house, where we played ping pong, swam in Valerie’s pool, and ate goulash. Having fun with exchange students and a close friend was a great end to the first school day. ~Chris

Akademisches Gymnasium

welcome from the principal

welcome sign

welcome party

scavenger hunt in Graz

a break from the scavenger hunt

scavenger hunt in Graz

prizes for scavenger hunt

another beautiful day in Graz

One last report from the long weekend

Sunday consisted of a mix of everything really. We stayed the day in Slovenia, and went to Ljubljana (Laibach). Going to Laibach for the day was really fun and interesting because it provided another perspective on European cities. Laibach is the capital of Slovenia, and yet, it was only as large as Graz. It was really interesting to find out that even some of the larger cities are fairly small and compact. Furthermore, Laibach has one of the largest pedestrian-only streets, and it was one of the main places for shopping and necessities. Something else that was interesting about going to Slovenia is that the price discrepancies in Europe are much greater than they are in the US. In the US, things are often pretty consistently priced. In Europe, however, simply traveling a couple hundred miles (the difference between 1-2 states) can cause prices to almost halve. In Slovenia, a cappuccino costs around 1,30€. In Austria, that same cappuccino would cost 3,20€. This is the same with everything, water, food, even certain products from stores. Everything was cheaper, and that was different, because in the US, I can expect to pay around $8-9 for a burger at a restaurant, and that won’t really change anywhere I go.

Driving back from Laibach was also something new. Unlike the German autobahns, there are speed limits on the Austrian and Slovenian ones. Nonetheless, it’s 140km/h or around 85mph, so more than you can legally go in the US. Something else I found out involving automobiles and Europeans is that pedestrians don’t really stop too much for cars. I’ve noticed that when crossing a street with an approaching car, as long as the car is far enough away, that you can get into the street without getting hit, you cross, and the car must stop. This was different from what I’ve experienced before, because in the US, we stop and wait for cars to stop and let us pass. I guess we’re too paranoid about other drivers and Europeans just kind of trust each other not to hit pedestrians. ~Cory

Ljubljana (Laibach)

Slovenia