This is a view of the Mur River looking north. We are on the top of Schlossberg which is the site of the formerly fortified castle of Graz. The fortifications were destroyed in 1809 by none other than Napoleon, that guy sure got around. We chose to preserve our cartilage and took the funicular instead of the 260 steps up the side of the hill (Berg). The funicular was fun but when we saw the sign that said the capacity was 58 people, we had to laugh! There is a castle, a clock tower and a little museum up on the top. We enjoyed the museum as they had some most unusual items on display. These included an extinct type of bird, an elephant skull (the elephant was stolen from the Ottoman army) and a very cool mesh model of the Berg. On this mesh model they projected the castle, clocktower, the various trails and stairs built into the sides as well as all the tunnels built under the berg that acted as air raid shelters in WW2. In another act of self preservation we took the elevator down. The elevator shaft shared the amusement ride "Berg Slide". If you can imagine a kids playground slide that is a tube with a tight radius, than you can imagine this slide. Now imagine that this tube takes you down 210 feet! It is the tallest underground slide in the world and I am proud to say that I skipped it!
Stuff 58 People in here?
We enjoyed not taking the stairs
The path up
Actually I would have to be drinking to share this with 57 other folks
Out of our way!
Steep indeed
Walkways across the tracks
We have arrived at the top of the berg
Big dogs up here
The leaves seemed to have peaked
And there are those mountains we drove through
A fine crest
Out balcony so far down below
That crazy Kunsthaus
Clocktower time!
A bit ugly but still picturesque
Bridges over the river Mer
As it looked in the black and white days
Extinct! Ugly as sin but it made the mistake of nesting on the hillsides that the Austrians used for their castles
What a great day for a photo bomb by an old lady!
Down in the tunnels
The projected display of the air raid tunnels
Without the projections it is just a blob
Perched on the edge
The Leips!
Down we go!
The view through the top of the elevator
The slide of nausea
Still through the top of the elevator
Air-Raid Tunnels
The kids emerge from the slide
Four Crows celebrate our emergence
