Shall we go downtown?

Before beginning, wish to thank my colleague Klemens for the use of his camera and making this possible. Möchte wetten, Sie haben vorbeigeschaut....












Today we can begin at the market again. That is Mrs. Graf, where I always get my flowers. Millie is always cheerful, and can be very funny. You'd like her, am sure











Some other stands with local produce.













Having crossed through the island in the Mur, and coming out near the inner city side, here you can see what the architect Acconci (a New Yawker) was thinking of--a shell opened in two parts, sitting on the river.











This is the entrance to the Schlossbergplatz. If you look carefully you will see an entrance going straight into the hill. It is virtually honeycombed with mine-like corridors inside. In WWII it was a bomb shelter for people in the center. Now there is a big hall in it for events, a mini-train that travels 3 km on the lowest level and shows groupings of figures from fairy tales, and 'the LIFT' up to the clock tower.












The mini train in the foreground, the lift in back. The little blankets are for keeping the toddlers warm. The temperature inside is about a constant 12 degrees centigrade: nippy.












Isn't that a cool looking lift?










When you step out, this is the first thing you see. It had just stopped raining, thankfully.











Next to the clock, you can descend to a very large terrace with lots of benches to sit on and great views.










See?









And this is probably the most photographed view of the Uhrturm.











Nowadays, the museum really dominates the view. Those 'nozzles' on it let in light.











The elongated gallery up top is known as the needle.










The church with the scaffolding in the background is under repair. The towers had big gold monstrances on them and a high wind took one of them right off, so the 'holders' have to be strengthened....










I like this view of the main square from the terrace. The buildings with the narrowest roofs are the oldest, going back several hundred years.










The cathedral and the domes of the mausoleum of Emperor Ferdinand II






Way off, about 12 km away, one can just make out the twin spires of the Basilica Maria Trost. (Mary Comfort. Translating them into English gives me the grins, sometimes, they sound so weird. The church with the scaffolding is Mariahilf--Mary help, for example. It sounds ok in German, but English? Oh well....) We'll take the lift back down, and look closer, ok?












This is the city hall. Built in the 1800's.











To the left is the Sporgasse, which goes up steeply to the so-called crown of the city.











The Herrengasse used to be the main drag, back in the Seventies. On Sundays, you would meet everyone and anyone out strolling to see and be seen. Then came the malls. Never been the same since. And yes, I checked beforehand to make sure there wasn't a street-car coming....









On the right side of the square are some of the oldest buildings there. Narrow, they are. The fountain in the middle depicts Archduke Johann, brother of Kaiser Franz Josef, who married a young woman who wasn't of the aristocracy, and did much good for the state of Styria, esp. in mandatory education. The other figures represent the four rivers in our state. Austria has nine states, btw.










This is the so-called 'painted house' . Totally frescoed. Dates back to the 16oo's.



















These houses on the left side of the square have terrific stucco adornments.













So we can go through one of the passages and explore. They are very hard to photograph, and have many branching side ones, and tiny shops, and so on. The play of light and shadow in them are interesting. See that lower window in the pink bridge over it? I often used to walk to work way back, and someone was usually playing piano beautifully. It was sort of haunting.










This is not quite in the order I wanted it. The entrance to the mausoleum next to the cathedral. Looks very Italian. But much of the architecture here was by Italian artisans.











This is a typical inner city street.....











And this.










This gem is on Glockenspielplatz. And yes, there is a Glockenspiel. A window opens, and a styrian couple swing out doing a tradtional dance, and bells play. It is modest, as far as those things go. I loved the one in Munich.












A few blocks away is the opera. It is very beautiful inside.












Next to it is the 'Lichtschwert'--sword of light. And no, you are not seeing things.... it is a scaled replica of the frame of the Statue of Liberty, but holding a sword on high and the globe instead of a book. It was supposed to be a temporary thing, for an arts festival, and a production of the opera 'Amerika' based on Kafka. And it just sort of stayed there and became part of the scenery. I get kind of weirded out if I happen to be on the Schlossberg evenings after dark and it sort of rises above it's surroundings and is flood-lit....









Coming in to the other end of the main drag, there is the plague column, and you just KNOW who is up there. The glass lift next to it was part of an arts thing in 2003, and you can use it still. It goes up to the top, stays there a minute or so and then comes down. The idea being you get to see HER view of the main street. It's pretty cool. The church doesn't like it, however.










Some more neat little houses from the 1600's....










And a peek into the Shmidgasse, which also runs from the other side of the city hall.









Then, calling it a day, because it began clouding up behind me, snapped this courthouse. I always think someone up and stole it from Paris and plopped it down there....










And then a rest on the roof terrace as the weather went bad again....











And then it rained. Got lucky, in other words. Hope you liked it.