Graz: Day 2

I was going to take the time to post more pictures, but I am just plain exhausted!  It seems like I have been going non-stop since I got off the plane!  Nevertheless, today has been my first full day in Graz and it is a very beautiful city!  After breakfast, I joined other AIMsers for a tour of the city.  We walked around for 2 hours, looking at the beautiful architecture, the bustling squares, and  a clock tower in the mountain side that's just begging to be climbed!  (and will be, just not today)  We also saw an exquisite Catholic church that was so beautiful, I couldn't help being a little camera-happy!

After the morning tour was lunch at the University where we will be eating every weekday. Following that was a nice jaunt to an afternoon of orientation meetings and walking to the store for a few groceries.  (My bag was at 49.5 pounds, so I had to leave my shampoo and conditioner at home, lest I be charged $50 for an overweight bag!!)  After that, I walked around with my friend Colby to look for some place to eat for dinner.  We walked and walked and walked, and unfortunately it started to rain.  (Graz seems to be hot in mid-day, and rainy in the afternoon)  Despite my tour of the city, I still got us a little lost, but we ended up finding a nice Italian restaurant in the Hauptplaz and I had a rather large, but good, pizza that I will nom on tomorrow! The waiter was thankfully patient with me trying to order in German.  I did manage to ask for "Leitungswasser" or tap water, which is actually pretty good here--and it's free almost anywhere you go.  After dinner, my friend and I walked around and just had to stop for gelato...yummmmy!!!! :)  I see lots of people walking around with ice-cream, and it's well needed, especially since few (if ANY) buildings have A/C.

Speaking of learning German, I start my first Beginning German class tomorrow!  I'm kind of excited to start learning Germany so I can actually feel confident when I want to order food or make a purchase.  I'm pretty good at memorizing vocabulary words, I just don't know grammatical rules and sentence structures.  Sometimes I kick myself for not taking French or Germany in high school instead of Spanish.  Spanish serves me okay in America, but had I known this was the career path I was going to take, I would have opted for other language choices.  Oh well! :)  

I don't remember the name of this church, but it's only a small
part of it's extravagant beauty!

Well, tomorrow is a day of master classes, rehearsals, and orienations, so I'd better turn in for the night! Gute nacht!!

Statue in the Hauptplatz