The
Hills Are Alive |
What
followed, the next six days, was a journey through a part of Austria that
doesn't get a lot of visitors. On two stops I had to really |
From
a gradual climb into the hills I could look back towards Klagenfurt in a patch of sun twenty km behind me. |
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On the Packerbundestrasse
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June 21st, the summer solstice, and there's a dusting of fresh snow on the peaks. |
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Wolfsberg | ||||
Just after
noon, at Twimberg
there was a policeman by the roadside shooting speeders with his radar gun. I pointed up and... No, I said "Entschuldigen, sprechen sie Englisch?" and he said "Of course!" and I pointed up and asked if I would be allowed to take my bike on that road up there. He said "...afraid not. Turn right and up through the Packsattel. It's more scenic." Packsattel is the name of the pass, about 1200m. |
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I saw a lot of these fences just around this part of the country... a local folk craft. | ||||
On the way down the other side, another glimpse of the autobahn, the E66. 'E' means it's a euro-route, part of the continent-wide network of top-level highways. This one gets you from Milan to Vienna in about 8 hours. In Austria it tunnels through mountains for about a quarter of its distance. No expense is spared for bridges and viaducts either. |
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This is something you see a lot of in Austria and Germany.
Hunting,
german style. ...Blam!
...not that much different than ice-fishing in Canada |
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Steep, steep steep descent into Graz. | ||||
Graz | ||||
Here's a bit more about the Kunsthaus. | ||||
The Murinsel (Island in the Mur) is a floating amphitheatre for concerts and plays.
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If you're interested in architecture, like I am, click /hrough. |
Perched on a crag above this castle, another example of Graz architecture, a little way further up the Mur valley on my way to Bruck. | ||||
An easy ride. The valley gradually narrowed to a gorge, but the grade was easy. Any time you share a route with a rail track you know the grade won't be more than a few percent. | ||||
Constant rain and rising river. The Mur flooded its banks but didn't reach the road. | ||||