Day 4: Finally off to Graz, Austria! 🇦🇹

I boarded the Turkish Airlines flight to Vienna with a 2-hour delay. I was just relieved that I would be able to get to Austria safely.
The flight time was 2.5 hours. I was served an in-flight meal, and we arrived in no time.

It's amazing how modern times are, considering it took the Ottoman Empire months to reach Vienna for their expeditions, while we can get there by plane in about 2 hours.

And suddenly, I went from the nearly 20°C weather in Turkey to a world around 0°C, so I put on my gloves, down jacket, and scarf. The Earth is truly incredible...

Rebooking the OEBB ticket to Graz

Since the express train to Graz I had bought in advance was non-changeable, I had to buy a new one. I couldn't afford to lose any more money, so I rebooked it via the OEBB app after arriving at Vienna airport. It was originally scheduled to depart at 14:33 and arrive at 17:33, but I took the train exactly two hours later. The app is definitely cheaper than the station ticket machines. I don't know how the mechanism works, but I bought the first one for 39.9€ and the second for 44.9€. If you buy two together, it's actually more expensive than this... I wonder what's going on.
When I was buying it originally, I was debating whether toreserve a seat (3€)but in the end, it wascompletely unnecessary.

I departed from the airport and transferred once at the Hauptbahnhof, but I had plenty of room to sit. It was a slightly older train that had come from the Czech Republic. There was a place to put my suitcase, so I felt at ease. However,European trains have high floors, so it's tough having to lift your suitcase up and down.

Arrived in Graz

I was originally supposed to arrive in Graz at 5:30 PM and had a reservation at Der Steirer for 7:00 PM, but since I didn't arrive in Graz until 7:30 PM, I had to cancel my reservation at Der Steirer, which I had been looking forward to. Well, I'm just very grateful to have arrived at 7:30 PM.

I finally arrived at Graz Hauptbahnhof. First, I stocked up on food, water, beer, and other supplies at the large BILLA in the station. I'll be staying in an Airbnb apartment for the next two days.

My mother has loved German since her university days and resumed studying it after retiring from teaching. When we came to Vienna last time, I was amazed that she handled almost everything in German, so I decided to leave everything to her this time too, lol. She seems to get even more excited when she comes to a German-speaking country, and she's full of energy.

We bought some Kaiser rolls, which are said to be Austria's national bread, and my favorite cheap Brie cheese, then headed to the tram station.

This tram station was also clean, beautiful, and bright. It's a relief to see that Austria is still great.

If I could live abroad, Austria is the place I would admire most. It has history, the city is beautiful, and it has a German side to it, so it's orderly and clean. Plus, public transport runs according to the timetable.

This apartment was about a 5-minute walk from Südtiroler Platz. This location was really great! It has excellent access because many trams pass through the HBF. You can reach the Altstadt of Graz by crossing the bridge, and Der Steirer was only 3 minutes away from the apartment. (It's such a shame I couldn't go in the end.)
After riding the tram for a few stops and getting off at Südtiroler Platz, there was already a 🎄 market happening right there at the Platz!

The sight of steam rising silently under the beautiful decorations and lighting, with a few people gathered together looking happy, was like a dream.
I suppressed the urge to stop by immediately and headed to the apartment first.

The Airbnb apartment was lovely

The first hurdle in Graz waswhether we could get into the Airbnb apartment smoothly.
The instructions were written carefully, but I was worried about whether I would be able to get the key out properly, and as expected, I didn't know how to do it at first and tried various things for a while. My mother touched it and said, "Isn't it like this?" and it opened!
We managed to get the key and went into the apartment. I thought it might be the case, but although it was described as renting out the whole apartment, it meant the entire unit on the 3rd floor. It didn't say it was on the 3rd floor, sowe had to carry our suitcases up, which was frustrating.

And,a common European occurrence is not being able to open the locklol. How far should I turn it? Is the key horizontal? Vertical?

After trying various things many times, we finally unlocked it!

Then, a lovely, spacious room that had been slightly warmed up was waiting for us!
The owner is probably a man, so it's put together quite simply and chicly. Why are European homes so simply stylish? Also, it's great that it's so spacious. The ceilings are high.

It's also great that there's a washing machine! (I was fully prepared to wash what I wore in Turkey in Graz, lol)

I wanted to take my time exploring the room, but we decided to head out into the city since we were hungry!

We headed to the bustling Südtiroler Platz we had seen earlier.

The shop puffing out smoke was a roasted chestnut stand. They're common in Europe, but I'd already had some in Turkey. First, we started with some Glühwein. The mug is so cute! Thinking about it now, I wish I had brought this mug home with me. It feels like Glühwein has gotten more expensive than before. At 1€/181 yen, that's 900 yen?! It's an amount I don't even want to think about...

Well, I have foreign currency savings. I'm going to make the most of being a Sony Bank user. That said, I didn't have a huge balance in euros, so I decided to convert the dollars I saved up during my time working at the bank as a new graduate into euros to use. It's super convenient because you can exchange it right there in the app!

After getting our Glühwein, we grabbed some sausages, which felt very German-speaking region. We agonized over which ones to pick, finally choosing two, along with something like potato chips.

It was piping hot and delicious! I felt so happy, a mix of relief at having arrived safely in Graz and the joy of being at a Christmas market right away.

Since we were there, we decided to try walking as far as we could into the city, so we headed to Hauptplatz. I think this is the center of Graz, but since it was late, about half of it was closed. Still, there were lots of people, all chatting with Glühwein in hand. They were also doing projection mapping, which created a festive atmosphere.

After walking around once, we bought it at the shop with the lowest prices and the most energetic guys. I wonder if it was a Red Cross-related stand. The mug here has a watercolor painting of the Schlossberg on it, which is cute.

We wandered back to the apartment, strolling through the nearby Graz City Hall and the Grazer Landhaus.

Once we got back, we started laundry right away! When I asked the owner how to use the washing machine beforehand, I got a vague reply saying, "I think you'll understand it intuitively!" but there's no way I could understand it intuitively when I don't know German lol.

My mom mostly figured it out, and we eventually consulted ChatGPT to flip the switch! It might have been a nuisance to the neighbors with the incredible noise and vibration, but we were able to wash a huge pile of laundry.

There was also plenty of tea and Nespresso cartridges in stock, which was a big help. Airbnbs can be hit or miss, but it's great that they're spacious and you can freely use the washing machine and refrigerator! It wasn't cheap at $83 a night, though.
There was a sofa bed in the room, but I slept in the queen bed with my mom. I'm just glad we made it to Graz safely...