Saturday night consciousness

Saturday night, July 17 2011

Sitting at a café/pizzeria in the evening in old town Graz, it’s quite the experience with all the sights and sounds.

There’s a multitude of activity going on. I’m waiting for the server to come sitting in a large table for 6. There are couples holding hands, groups of young people and what seems to be a class trip walking down the street.

The waiter finally arrives and points at a half hidden “reserved” sign and leaves without saying a word. So much for hospitality, so I get up and move to another table where he redeems himself by quickly coming by to take my drink order of a “Radler” with a smile.

There are all sorts of people walking by of all age ranges, and my ears pick up multiple languages. Some ‘older’ couples enjoying a night on the town. Across the street 4 young guys are taking silly pictures of each other in head locks.

Many groups of beautiful ladies dressed to kill are walking by, probably grabbing some drinks with friends before hitting the clubs later. Other people are pushing their bikes or walking around with their dog.

A large group walks by following an interesting man dressed in a long black coat with long hair and awesome facial hair carrying what looks like an old lantern. He stops and everyone gathers around him when he starts talking loudly in a heavy Austrian dialect, saying what seems to be a prepared monologue. I only catch every third or fourth word but it’s still interesting to watch.

Families are also out tonight, some parents pushing baby strollers and others sitting down for a bite to eat.

I order my pizza and enjoy my Radler when I realize that this pizzeria is owned and operated solely by an Italian family. The mother and father man the kitchen while what looks like their son and daughter work as servers. I also realize that I could have had the gorgeous daughter as my server but instead got the son as a server….

If walking in heels what a sport I bet the European ladies would win hands down. So many ladies seem to only have heels in their closets and have no issue waling on the cobble stone streets and uneven sidewalks. I’m not complaining tough since most also have some killer legs. At the same time there are many rocking the flat non heeled shoes too.

The old town area is full of street side cafes and restaurants with outdoor seating and the atmosphere is comfortable and filled with happy chatting voices.

Liquor laws are pretty lax here and it’s common to see people walking the streets enjoying a beer or a cocktail.

The sun is slowly disappearing on the horizon while more and more people seem to walk by. You can only see small patches of sky since the old high buildings rise on either side of the street. Most buildings have some sort of business on the first floor and residential condos/apartments on top. You can spot the entrances to them wedged between said business entrances.  

Many of the people walking by are drop dead beautiful girls and I’m quite enjoying it ;-)

The lights create a warm glow and the absence of cars allow the air to be filled with laughter and voices or people sharing time with friends or family

I take deep breaths and try to take a mental picture of this. What an experience, the solitude and peace allows me to clear my mind of all the clutter and I immediately start seeing things in my life so much clearer.

I pay my bill and get up to walk around a little more.  Down the street I stop in an ice cream shop to grab something sweet.

The slightly cool air of the night feels so fresh as I make my way to the “Schloss Berg” or Mountain Castle. There are a series of stairs that lead you up it and at night they light them up and it too is surrounded by cafes and restaurants, what I view.

I slowly climb the old stone stairs and stop every couple of minutes to enjoy the emerging view of the city. As I climb the temperature gets noticeably cooler as the wind seems to pick up.

I don’t quite make it to the top before I turned around and headed back down. I have to say that it is a pretty romantic place; I’ll have to remember that if I get a date while I’m here ;-)

At the bottom I walk to the entrance to the stairway that goes up but thru the inside of the mountain as well as the tunnel that takes you to the lift up….what engineering feats.

I start heading back home down the main street, and I enjoy watching the people walking by. At the end of the street I stop by a fountain and see a couple trying to introduce their Labrador to the water. An entertaining show as they coax him to jump in the fountain to join his owner.

The last couple of streets that take me home are dark and uneventful.

I get home and feel content and happy; having enjoyed a pleasant night on my own J Life is good…

Ending thoughts:

 “Placing a large amount of your happiness on external factors puts your happiness in a precarious situation”

“At the end your happiness is directly related to your attitude”

“Don’t wait for opportunities, create them”