sunny sunday afternoon

it was finally a nice sunny (though still not too warm) afternoon with nothing but time to explore.

▼ Domkirche zum heiligen Ägydius

 i have walked by this church so many times. it looks beautiful at every time of day and is lit up at night. there are three main buildings, i am not really sure how you get into all of them or even if you can, but i made it into one part. gorgeous marble floors (a wide variety of color square tiles), beautiful wood pews with inlay designs, and like many old churches, tons of gilded adornment, giant vaulted ceilings, and beautiful afternoon light streaming through the windows. really cool to be inside, totally alone, and so quiet (the click of my camera sounded loud to my ears).

Inside the one of the parts of the Domkirche zum heiligen Ägydius

This area of the river in particular is filled with many cries for help. Many of the trees and surrounding areas have "help" signs (can see one pic in a previous post) and the bridge has numerous articles taped to it regarding the building of a dam that would also result in the removal of "8000 trees" from the river bank area. Candles are also lit at night and people gather in an effort to stop this from happening.

Graffiti on one side of the bridge

Graffiti on the other side of the bridge (depiction of the center of Graz with Schlossberg left background)

"Fortress Europa" graffiti near Schlossbergplatz

The Russian steps built during WWI leading up to Uhrturm

 there are three paths to take from this point. on the left is the beginning of the Russian stairs (currently their is a gate blocking the way due to "winter weather" and potentially icy conditions but that didn't stop all those who wanted to (me included) from just hopping the gate and climbing the many steps up the side), in the center is the entrance to the Schlossberg elevator that goes straight up (for a small price), and to the right is a tunnel that goes through mountain to the other side where there is another walking path and their is also access to a concert hall that is also inside the mountain.

Rooftop view from Russian steps

A look back on the City Center

these were absolutely tiny, but i thought they looked so pretty, like miniature roses all growing on the rocks.

seeking the warm rays

soaking in the sun

Schlossberg side passageway

Schlossberg tram

pause a moment and watch

 i sat on this one bench here for a while and watched the flow of people that crossed this bridge. one of my favorite observations was the variety of shoe colors. its kinda hard to tell in this pic but the guy is wearing bright blue shoes and the girl is wearing read shoes but there were shoes of every color, green, white, black, purple, gold, spotted, etc. that walked across. :)

Schlossberg side cafe

Schlossberg

one of my favorite places to sit in the afternoon is up by the columns (slightly to the right and in the middle of the photo) where you can look out over the river down below and across the city. it is a great place to catch some warm sun rays and watch the sun setting over the distant hills.

one of many little rooms in the castle walls

pretty old wood door on the Schlossberg

tangled tree

Guarding the front of the Schlossberg "fearless and loyal"

Can you tell what time it is? Sun dial on the side of the building

this building is on Karmeliterplatz, a large pedestrian square that in the winter houses a small public skating rink that was usually filled with lots of kids trying not to bump into each other. at the moment, the rink is being thawed for the coming of spring!

Graz's never ending graffiti messages to the world!

i hope you had a fabulous sunday!