Up early showered and ready for muster and room inspection. The cell was surprisingly quiet and comfortable overnight with no screaming or moaning from the adjacent cells. We noticed that the door was unlocked this morning and managed to creep out of the corridor without being spotted. No cries of "Achtung" greeted us as we sneaked out of the front door. I think as long as we are back before the lights out alarm we should be ok......
We found out last night that the other immates on our corridor had formed an escape commitee and had started tunneling. We had to be across the border into croatia by tomorrow evening so we are going to try the same escape tactics tomorrow that worked today. Crispy is already hard at work on the fake identity papers and travel passes.
Shes already made civilian clothes from the shower curtains.
It was another beautiful day. The sun was shining and today we were going to do the sights. Graz is only a small city, although it is the second largest city in Austria, and should be easy to get around without resorting to trams. We started by visiting the bicycle rental shop. Tomorrow we travel to Zagreb by bus but it doesn't leave till 1600 so we have another day here and plan to cycle along the river Mur for a picnic.
An interesting fact is that Graz is the most bicycle friendly city in the word. Every street has a dedicated bike lane with their own crossings and even bridges. There are hundreds and hundreds of bicycles here that are used as a regular transport method. It is a great idea that maybe we could learn from although to be fair they do have much better weather than the UK.
After sorting out the bikes we set off up the Schloß burg mountain to visit the castle and clocktower. There are superb views from the top but unfotunately not much evidence of a castle. A group of british tourists arrived in 1944 by Avro Lancaster and made a bit of a mess of the once beautiful Castle. On a serious note there were 56 air raids made on Graz by bomber command during the war with significant destruction of property and 1900 people killed. A further 2000 were injured in the attacks. Its madness and makes you realise the futility of war.
After the castle we made our way down the Schloß burg towards the town. Just under the remains of the castle we stumbled across a tunnel entrance and went inside. There were no signs or information boards to tell you what it was. It turned out to be a spectacular series of tunnels built as air raid shelters for the citizens of Graz during the war. A labyrinth of tunnels leading back into the old town. No one was around and Crispy didn't want to go in but I told her we are British and aren't afraid of anything. This immediatly strengthened her resolution and she stiffened her lip and stepped into the darkness. About 500 meters down the tunnels it opened into a cavern containing a state of the art led lit glsss lift. For one euro it would take you up or down the mountain. Crispy wasn't keen on using the lift so we made our way down via a winding metal gantry with poor old Crispy trying her best to squeeze the blood from my fingers.
At the bottom of the lift some of the tunnels had been made into "The fairy tale kingdom". A fairy tale themed ride on an old mining cart. Its nice to see something that was built for such a horrible reason being used for something so innocuous.
Back into the sunshine and a walk through the old town to see the most popular sights. The steigal church, the Dom and mausoleum. The rathouse etc. Then we headed for the market to buy a little something for lunch. Just as we got to the market it started to rain so we called into a little bar for a cheeky beer till the skies cleared. 20 minutes later we were sat in a park having lunch on a park bench in glorious sunshine once more.
After lunch we visited one of the reasons for coming to Graz. The armoury. It is the greatest collection of ancient weapon on the planet. Crispy loves a good poleaxe so was in her element and could barely contain herself. It was very interesting as it described the way the armoury operated as well as describing the collection.
One thing we didn't know was that although the weapons were bought and owned by the city anyone could hire them. A bit like Machinemart but with some real attitude. It seems that if you were having a bit of bother with a neighbour and didn't have your own stock of sharp pointy things you could approach the council to borrow some while you sorted out the problem. For a cost of course. I really like the idea.
If your interested i suggest you either google it or better still visit Graz.
After the armoury we had a wander down the river and found a quiet spot for Crispy to have a nanny nap. She has become quite fond of her afternoon naps of late. It must be her age. She dozed on a bench for 30 minutes like a well dressed bag lady after 3 bottles of white lightning. Blissfully unaware of the cold looks of the locals cycling past.
Once awake her only thought was food so we set off for some Dinner.
We are now back at the Stalag and managed to sneak back in without being seen. Just before the alarm for lights out.
Its Dark now so....
Bare and Crispy signing off from Graz. AUSTRIA
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