AUSTRIA’ S TOP TIPPLE!
Laid-back Graz is the gateway to a wine region that rivals Tuscany
YOU MIGHT expect a cuckoo to appear when the musical clock in Austria’s second city, Graz, starts to chime. Instead, it’s a twirling maiden clutching a dish cloth. Helen Miles, my British guide who has lived here for 20 years, longs to bring her into the 21st century: ‘I’d like to climb up there and swap her cloth for a cocktail!’
The people of Graz — a city the size of Southampton — are also spicing things up among the Renaissance courtyards and gothic gargoyles. ‘ No one wants Graz to be a living museum,’ says Helen. ‘A group of monks even installed solar panels on their medieval living quarters.’
Thanks to its stint as European Capital of Culture in 2003, and having Unesco City of Design status from 2011, Graz is leading the way with wacky landmarks.
The Murinsel, a twisted steel and glass blob floating on the Mur river, houses a cafe and concert theatre. And the Kunsthaus modern art gallery, with its blue curves is Friendly perhaps This affectionately knack and stems Alien. protruding for from exciting known Italy, nozzles, as design one The of Austria’s Italian style eight and border architecture countries. have long been popular — homes of the wealthy from 16th-century Graz are cream palatial affairs.
The pace is also more Mediterranean. Tanned old-timers in shirts and ties sip beers in shady squares and women with stiff blow- dries mingle outside the gelateria with their tiny dogs. Getting into the swing, we order local restaurant rose at on the the Aiola 473 metre-high Upstairs Schlossberg mountain — topped with castle ruins, overlooking the Old Town’s red rooftops. A couple in their 70s are also enjoying a lunchtime tipple. ‘We climb those 260 steps up the Schlossberg every day,’ declares the immaculate woman. Although, she’s gesturing towards the glossy spaniel at her feet, rather than her husband. You don’t have to summit the city to enjoy the backdrop of the Alps. Graz is the capital of the state of Styria, 60 per cent forest Green Heart. and known as Austria’s With BMI Regional’s recently launched direct flight here (the only one from the UK), it’s now far easier to explore. You could head to the Dachstein glacier in the Alpine north, which offers skiing for ten months of the year. Or the mild south, great for hiking gentler hills — and where you might bump into Styrian-born Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has a museum dedicated to him in his birth village, Thal. Styria’s biggest draw is ‘Styrian Tuscany’, the wine regions across the south. Family-run Weingut Glatz, a vineyard in Bad Waltersdorf an hour from Graz, is at the edge of Wagerberg village.
Beside the vines, several handsome cats relax in the sun. Legend has it the felines always curl up on the best barrels — so the vineyard takes in strays.
SIPPING some of the star produce from the 20-hectare estate, I wonder if the cats are on to something. Offset the drinking in one of the thermal spa hotels, which have bubbled up between the valleys and pines. The adults-only Falkensteiner Bad Waltersdorf is a stylish one. That night, from the steaming outdoor pool, the air feels especially fresh. Only the odd light winks from the hills.
I can see why Helen has stuck around for 20 years. It’s easy to lose track of time here. That is, until a dish cloth-wielding maiden pops up to remind you.