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This video clip was taken on August 1, 2007
during my trip to Austria, my home country. I
started my day off with a quick hike with two
of my friends through the Raabklamm (Raab
Gorge), a deep river valley that is cut into
the surrounding limestone cliffs and features
numerous wooden bridges and trails that snake
through the narrow valley. Then I had a
lovely Austrian lunch at a rural restaurant
and made friends with some freely grazing
cows.
Finally I went on an excursion to the Styrian
provincial capital of Graz. A city of about
250,000 it is the second largest city in
Austria, and was designated a UNESCO World
Heritage Site in 1999. Graz has one of the
best preserved medieval and Renaissance city
centres in Europe. Its location surrounding
the Schlossberg (Castle Hill), framed by
mountains on three sides is beautiful. I
explored the main shopping street
Herrengasse, the Main Square (Hauptplatz)
with its stunning City Hall, and walked
across the newly built Murinsel (Island in
the Mur River). I also took the
Schlossbergbahn (the Schlossberg funicular)
and explored the main sites on this famous
hill including the Uhrturm (the clock tower)
which originally dates back to the 1200s and
was preserved due to a ransom payment by the
citizens when Napoleon ordered the castle on
the hill destroyed in 1809. Beautiful 360
degree views open up from this elevated
location.
My fascination was captured by the many
beautiful hidden courtyards that grace Graz's
old quarters. I also explored the
Bermuda-Dreieck (Bermuda Triangle), the main
entertainment district of Graz and punctually
at 3 pm I had a chance to see the carillon on
the Glockenspielplatz (Carillon Square). I
capped off my visit with an exploration of
the narrow side streets that lead off the
main square to the embankments next to the
Mur, the river that flows slowly through this
city, and one of the main rivers in the
entire province of Styria.
I am actually a travel writer who loves to
explore international destinations as well as
my chosen home town of Toronto. On Youtube
you will find hundreds of video clips from a
wide variety of destinations. Feel free to
check out some of my 700+ articles and
interviews on
http//www.travelandtransitions.com. My
personal travel stories are located at
http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_p
hotos.htm and my Austrian travel articles
will be published in the next few weeks.
Also, my FREE travel ebooks containing
stories from my trips to destinations such as
Sicily, Havana, Mexico City, New York City,
Chicago, Florida, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa,
Vancouver, Halifax and many others are
available right now at
http://www.travelandtransitions.com/ebooks.ht
ml (more).
Tags : travel austria graz |
