Wieder Hier in Graz (15th-16th July 2014)

Here again in Graz! Back to my Austrian home to show my family around. It's funny because I never really did one proper photo album of Graz the way that I did the rest. Guess it's because of the "home city" syndrome. Regardless, this was one shot at it, albeit with my little sister's camera.

Coincidentally, as I'm uploading these, it's also the start of the new term in Graz this week. While it's a little emotional to bring these up again, I'm just thankful of all the wonderful brothers and sisters who made Graz my second home! I've intentionally left out tear-jerking photos.

The icon of Graz may be the Uhrturm but I chose the Graz Rathaus as the album cover because this was the first Graz landmark I set foot upon on a freezing cold and rainy evening when I first arrived.

Das Grazer Rathaus is actually the new town hall because the old one, built in the Jewish quarter was too small. It was built in a Renaissance style in 1550. It is now the office of the Graz mayor, council and city administration. They've kept up Graz's student city tradition

Here's my day in Graz with my family, after we took a 45-minute drive from Maribor up north into Styria.

With my family just outside FH Joanneum. It's older than SMU alright, just 5 years older though. Best part of this was that home was just next door at Greenbox :)

Brought them up to Schlossberg via the Schlossbergbahn because it's not easy to convince all of them to climb up.

Another one with my family. This time, with the iconic Uhrtum!

Graz is Austria's second largest city at 127.56 kilometres square. The entire city along with Schloss Eggenberg is on UNESCO's list of World Cultural Heritage Sites,

Glad I got to say goodbye to Chris, Daniel, Nora and Julian before heading off. Here's the Rainbow that said goodbye to me just before we drove out of Graz.

Seeing the rainbow brought tears to my eyes. But I was certain they were tears of joy. While it's sad to say goodbye, I was joyful, grateful and thankful for everything I've learnt and experienced. The brothers and sisters I've met made it all the more special. You have all been a blessing to me!

Graz, danke für alles. Tchüss baba, bis bald!

Archive: From 24th June 2014 in Wien

Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien (Society of Friends of the Music in Vienna) and the Wiener Musikverein. The "Great Hall" (Groß Saal) is home to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and is one of the finest concert halls in the world.

Archive: From 24th June 2014 in Wien

Karlskirche (St. Charles' Church) seen from Karlsplatz. One of the most outstanding Baroque church in the whole of Vienna. Regarded as one of the greatest buildings in Wien, it is famous for the 2 flanking columns of bas-reliefs along with its dome, which has the form of an elongated ellipsoid.

After leaving Graz in the evening on 15th, it was straight to Vienna for the night before getting ready for the next leg.

Still had a bit of time in the morning on 16th so I brought my family to the Hofburg to have a look around.

Seen here is the Wien Äußeres Burgtor, which translates to "outer castle gate". It is the "gate" by which you enter Heldenplatz towards the Hofburg from Ringstraße.

The section of the Neue Burg that leads to the rest of the Hofburg. On the inside, it houses the Festsaal (Festival Hall), the biggest hall in the whole of the Hofburg.

And that was it for Wien, as we headed to Schwechat, where the airport was for an outbound flight to България Bulgaria!

Innsbruck (11th-12th July 2014)

Innsbruck, an alpine destination that's a must see for those who love the mountains. I do believe that it might actually be more beautiful during Winter and Spring with all the snow caps still intact. Although it might be a little too cold and snowy in Winter. Summer was warmer here, temperatures after sunset dropped to below 10°C, so just a point to note.

The drive from Salzburg to Innsbruck was a surprisingly long one because I took the mountainous route instead of going into Germany. That was a mistake on my part, but it did mean that we got to see some of the beautiful alpine mountains. Decided to first head to the Swarovski Kristallwelten in Wattens first before heading to Innsbruck Hauptplatz. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't too good so I didn't get the chance to go up the Innsbruck Nordkette which was a real pity (another reason to come back again then...)

That said, the place where we stayed for the night was up in the mountains so at least we did get to be amongst the Innsbruck mountains in a way.

This album cover features the Innsbruck Imperial Palace (die Hofburg). It is held in high regard as one of the key cultural buildings in Austria along with the Vienna duo of the Schönnbrunn Palace and Wien Hofburg. Like most other palaces, it now houses a museum.

Der Riese (The Giant) is the first to greet you at the entrance to Die Swarovski Kristallwelten (The Swarovski Crystal World)

Meant to stand in the middle but I realized that having Der Riese spew water out onto your head looks incredibly weird so I shifted towards my sister. The gap left in the centre is probably equally weird... but oh well.

The Centenar greets you in the Entrance Hall. This sparkling beauty is the biggest cut crystal in the world and has 300,000 carats. Precision and beauty all in one. Sehr schön, ja?

Kristralldom (Crystal Dome) is probably how you'd imagine yourself to be inside a crystal. This kaleidoscope has almost 600 mirrors on its walls that creates a room rich with a multitude of colours.

Took me quite a while before I got the right colour balance for this photo.

Unfortunately, I couldn't replicate the same colour balance for this one. But at least I still managed to capture my sister and I snapping away ;)

Winter's Dream features a winter landscape with what I believe are White Christmas trees made out of crystals. Beautiful but fragile.

Perhaps the only room with bright lighting in the Crystal World. I suppose you could call this a room with crystal sculptures. Pretty impressive to be honest, because you've got crystal furniture around the room.

The Empire State Building made entirely out of crystals.

You just knew that I'd come back to do this! You can clearly see that I'm missing the Merlion back home in Singapore.

Family Photo with Der Riese :P

For a company that produces luxury fashion, Swarovski also has a business unit called Tyrolit that produces abrasives and sawing machinery. After all, nothing cuts better than crystals.

So that was it for Die Swarovski Kristalwelten. Next up was Innsbruck Altstadt!

Located opposite the Hofburg is the Tyrolean State Theatre (Tiroler Landestheater). Just down the road along Rennweg is the Congress where you can take the Nordkettenbahn up to the Innsbruck Nordkette.

Dom zu St. Jakob, or simply the Innsbruck Cathedral, as seen from Domplatz. This 18th-century Baroque cathedral was badly damaged during WWII due to an air raid. It underwent extensive works to restore it to its original state after that and was done within the 5 years after.

I'm told that if you don't see the Golden Roof, you can't consider yourself as having been to Innsbruck. Das Goldene Dachl is the icon of Innsbruck and is the landmark of Innsbruck Altstadt (Old Town). Emperor Maximilian I and his wife used to watch festivals from up here back in the 1500s.

Along Maria-Theresien-Straße with die Annasäule (Anna Pillar) and a marching band in the background. If you look closely, you can still see Altstadt from here.

Featuring The Young Ones....

Oh yes, you can see the Innsbruck Nordkette in the background too!

Another family portrait...

Here's the Inn River and the bridge in the background is the Innbrücke. Very different from the River Mur in Graz though. And my, the view into the Nordkette is really beautiful. Still rather disappointed that I didn't manage to head up there...

Derived from the root words of Inn and Brücke, Innsbruck translates to Bridge over the Inn. If you're looking for the Inn, look no further than to the Inn River.

Delighted to finally make the trip here because it meant I finally covered the 8th capital of Austria. Unfortunately, the 9th and evasive one was Bregenz (capital of Vorarlberg), which I will go to... soon.

Next up was a trip out of Austria. The initial plan was to go to Venezia, but due to a slight change in plans, it meant we took a detoured route to Lesce Bled in Slovenia instead. Venezia will have to wait.

Wieder Züruck (9th-11th July 2014)

Back again to Wien, Hallstatt and Salzburg. Marked the beginning of an ambitious 3-week long road trip with my family and relatives. I kid you not, being the driver and the guide is no easy task but it sure was a lot of fun. Started it all off by leaving Graz on ÖBB's RailJet to pick them up at Vienna Airport. Condensed all of this into a day and a half because you've got to factor in the driving time from each city. That made it incredibly rushed but it was still enough to capture the essence of these 3 places.

Seen here in the album cover is the signature shot of Austria: Hallstatt. First time I came here was with my Singapore brothers on our own road trip in the first week we arrived. It was all foggy and freezing then. This time, it was much better.

Wieder Züruck, translates to "Back Again", because I'm revisiting these places again, with the hope that I might chance upon something new. Maybe I did...

Lens upgraded to an 18-200 and tripod upgraded to a more sturdy one... so there's going to be a lot of group photos featured. Starting with this one: where the Schönbrunn Palace is in the background.

Another one, this time with the Gloriette.

Another group shot which I guess is an inevitability... With the Schönbrunn Palace again but you can finally notice the pretty flowers in the gardens.

Honestly, I'm still not very impressed by the Schönbrunn Palace but the third time coming here has helped me realise it actually is pretty big. Perhaps coming here early in the morning meant there were less people crowding around so that can only be a good thing!

Maybe the warmer weather made the flowers in the gardens prettier. Or maybe it's cos my little sister and I were in pretty colours. But yeah... the Schönnbrunn was a little more beautiful this time round, especially without the blazing hot afternoon sun.

En Route to Hallstatt, a short stopover at Gmunden's Hauptplatz by the Traunsee. Was on the opposite side of the Traunsee with my SG brothers in February which was where my previous cover photo was taken. The mountains still look as magnificent, but the clarity is way better this time.

Finally got a decent shot with my family in Hallstatt.

Group photo for the young people. I guess you could say that my sister and I are the "much younger" two then :P

Hallstatt, the symbol of Austria, on most travel guide books. It's always crowded, regardless of the weather or time of the year, so you've got to pick the right time and the right places to get a good photo ;)

After Hallstatt, it was a drive up to Salzburg for the night before going up the Fortress the next morning. Here's something that I missed out the first time I came here: Mozart's statue. Nothing overly impressive, but still significant enough to include here.

It's not easy trying to get a shot with everyone from at the top of the Fortress, so I'm glad this worked out!

Salzburg, translates to Salt Fortress in English, is the capital of the State of Salzburg and is the 4th largest city in Austria, after Wien, Graz and Linz. 

This iconic view of Salzburg from atop the Festung Hohensalzburg features the Salzach and the Salzburger Dom among a host of others.

Was nice to be back here again just to get the road trip started on places familiar to me.

From here on out, it's mainly covering new grounds. Next up, Innsbruck, the capital of the state of Tyrol (Tirol, in Deutsch).

Graz, Ich komme wieder! (9th July 2014)

I thank God that you've been such a nice city to me. For the wonderful friends I've made, thank you for being such a blessing to me. If you come by to Singapore, just give me a ring or send me a message and I'll be sure that everything is covered!

Prost! Cheers to my Italian and Dutch brothers!

Bereit für Deutschland gegen Brasilien mit Janne.

Still managing to like a complete zombie after a long drive from Hungary back to Graz...

Zeit für das Abendessen!

With Chris, Giuseppe and his girlfriend, Paolo. Many thanks to Chris for preparing our first round of Indonesian food while Germany and Brazil were getting underway.

Having deprived Chris of cooking for a long time, he was so excited to be back cooking!

Officially the last meal in Greenbox #39. Don't feel Hung(a)ry anymore ;)

The Talkative Trio: Always talking late into the night about economics, mechanics, music and what not. You name it, we've talked about it, almost. My Dutch and Italian brothers, Singapore welcomes you with open arms.

Ich komme wieder nach Graz. And you know that I will be, because I'll be back really soon!

Really excited that my family is coming here to meet me :) ;) :D

Die Mannschaft waren einfach wunderbar!

(Deutschland ist Weltmeister!!!)

Thanks Daniel, for taking care of general household needs of Greenbox #39. And of course, who can forget, the awesome Sauerkraut and SCHWEINSBRATEN :P

Thanks Nora, for being the only one to send me off from Graz HBF. Very touched... :) One thing's for sure, I'll miss the yummy Käsespätzle you always prepare ;)