Wed 22 Jul – Sat 25 Jul 2015

A beautiful drive from Salzburg to the south of Austria on Wednesday morning was amazing. We stopped for some sandwiches at the gas station with an incredible view of the Apls. We arrived in a little town called Lebring, 30 minutes south of Graz to spend a few days with Matt’s friend Gisy (and her boyfriend Alex and their friend Karim). Her parent’s have a beautiful house in the country and we loved just having a few days to rest and relax.

We arrived in the late afternoon and went to get some groceries (including lots of beer) and hung out for the evening and watched Harry Potter 5. The next day we slept in quite a bit because we had been traveling for over a week and were quite exhausted! Once we did manage to get up we headed for the local lake. It was beautiful – so clear and really, really warm! We didn’t want to leave but a thunderstorm was on it’s way. That night we watched The Interview.

On Friday we slept in again but managed to get to the lake a bit earlier. After that we came home and got ready to go into Graz for the evening. We drove in and parked near Gisy’s apartment and stopped in for a beer. Then we went for a little guided tour of the city, stopped at a vegan cafe for dinner and then headed up the 260 steps to the top of Schlossberg to see the clock and bell tower and the city skyline at night. Then we met up with another friend and went to a little bar called the Music House. We left the city at about 1 am. Natalie did the diving as she didn’t have any alcoholic drinks. After leaving the city we drove right into a huge (and scary!) thunderstorm. The lighting was cracking right next to the car and the rain was torrential. We made it home safe and sound but quite the experience. Natalie went to bed while the others stayed up for a bit longer. Needless to say Saturday was a write off – we slept in and then got ready, packed the car, said our goodbyes and then headed off towards Italy!