I'll start by saying that there were several things that surprised me about Austria. Notably how small the country is, both geographically and population-wise. It's kind of awe-inspiring to stand at the top of Schlossberg or Riegensburg and be informed that in that direction is Hungary, over there is Slovenia, down there is Germany, we're in Austria, that's Italy ... I'd definitely like to see more of Eastern Europe (maybe a Danube cruise?) and I haven't explored much of southern Europe either.

As far as urban areas go, Vienna is the only really big city, at around 2 million people; Graz is the second-largest centre, with somewhere around 300,000 people. But the Styrian countryside ... wow. So much agricultural production: apples, dairy products, wine, vinegar, brandy and schnapps, and something I'd never even heard of: pumpkin seed oil:

https://www.steiermark.com/en/Suedsteiermark/Holiday/day-trips/Labuggers-Kernolpresse_isd_69875

Apparently it's a good natural anti-inflammatory product, something of particular interest to me as one who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. Fortunately I was able with the aid of my prescription meds to avoid any major flare-ups over the course of my trip, but I did notice by the end of some days that my knees looked a little more swollen than usual, no doubt because I was unwilling to entirely miss out on anything that involved some climbing activity!

I asked about cider and was surprised to learn that that wasn't one of their major specialties. However, I did get to enjoy some Apfelstrudel - twice, in fact, one of those times with ice cream on top.

We got to tour the Goelles facility and sample some of their excellent vinegars, schnapps and brandies:

https://www.goelles.at/en/

We enjoyed a group lunch at a country inn somewhere in the Styrian countryside, involving some excellent home cooking and a wine-tasting.

We got to visit the Zotter chocolate factory, which in addition to its huge range of quality chocolate varieties, was really kind of like an Austrian Wonderland:

https://www.zotter.at/en/

And then there was the horse farm. I mean, we in Canada have our RCMP musical ride while in Austria they have their Lipizzaner stallions, stud farm and Spanish Riding School:

https://www.srs.at/en/about-us/styria/welcome

And moving beyond the agricultural to the realm of the sacred, the ecumenical, the encouraging of the masses into the fold, I very much enjoyed our visit to the Church of Saint Barbara. The legend of Saint Barbara is an old one, but Hundertwasser, the architect of the church and surrounding gardens and grounds, was modern, creative and progressive in his outlook and work:

https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=166

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/church-of-st-barbara

So that's all for today, folks. In my next instalment, I'll talk about exploring Graz on my own, my overall impressions and the sights and sites I chose to see.