Hallo! Pictures!

This is a palace that takes up like an entire block...such a pretty building.

 This is called the Painted Building...if you look closely you can see the painted figurines..all done by hand of course.

 This is yet another palace...there are just little gates you see while walking along the street, and if you go inside of them it appears to be just a courtyard. Then you realize it is something much more royal than that.

 This is what Wolfgang called the "postcard view" of Graz. My picture is of course not very good and doesn't do the view justice, but the clock tower sets upon Schlossberg. This is where one could take the tram, ride the lift, or walk up the stairs to get a great view of the city. I want to do this on Sunday...since we didn't have the chance yesterday.

 These are the 256 steps to the top of the Schlossberg. Looks worse than it really is, is what Wolfgang told us. However, he is quite a sprite old man...so I'm not so sure if we should believe him haha!

 It seemed that there were musicians on every street corner...here you see the oboe and a guitar..and that guy was dancing really strange and had a weird moustache. He was also shaking a "shaker egg." Classic.

 This fence runs alongside a bridge over the river in Graz, and there are locks attached all the way down it. At first I thought they were bike locks, but when I looked closer they actually look like "marriage locks." Or something? Couples write their names on it in the classic LB <3 DK way, and then attach the lock to the fence. Kind of cool. There were hundreds along this fence...very fun tradition.

This piece of interesting architecture was built buy an American architect in 2004, when Graz was awarded some kind of modern art achievement. It was supposed to be destroyed after 2004, but the people of Graz loved it so much that the city bought it. It acts as a connecting bridge over the river, and there is also a little cafe inside. We tried to go explore it yesterday, but there was some VIP event happening and we were too scared to make our way down into the actual cafe. Wolfgang told us that the most fascinating part about the building is the bathroom. HAHA! So we need to go back and find out for ourselves. He seriously said the bathroom was amazing.

Not too much new here since last night, other than I DEFINITELY woke up and felt like I had walked miles yesterday. Today we are all dragging a little bit. We had lessons this morning, and I enjoyed my coaching with Myron, the diction instructor. He really is like another voice teacher here, and a great motivator. I think they are serving veal for lunch, I opted for the vegetarian meal of some sorts because the whole baby-cow thing freaks me out. Tonight the staff is gone, as this is a holiday weekend for Austrians, so we are eating coldcuts and such. It has been quiet around the Schloss since no one is here because of the holiday and we have been the only group here for a few days.

Right now I am looking out the window at the little chapel across the street and there is a wedding. One wonders how expensive that may be, but also so beautiful!

Lauren