Today I took a drive with my host family into southern Styria. This was the first time that I had been out into the heart of Styria and away from Graz.
Graz, like most big cities, is completely different from the outlying areas that surround it. Technically I have been living in Styria for the past five months, but in reality today was the first time I had explored the area.
Styria has a bunch of what the locals call hills. But the Austrian definition of a hill is different from the American definition. Some of the “hills” here as tall as the Smokey Mountains. My theory on this is that they are called hills because they in do way compare to the Alps in the Western Austria.
Styria is also known for its wine. Wineries cover a large portion of the hills, and Buschenschanks (wine pubs) can be found in almost every small village.
Life has a much slower pace out in the country in countrast to the fast-moving life in Graz. It was so amazing to just set in a hill-top Buschenschank today and just gaze at the valley below. In all it was a pretty neat day. We did not see a bunch of flashy, touristy stuff that one might find in Vienna or Salzburg. But then again I liked it that way.