Graz–Jan. 26, 2025

More graffiti. These are from Smart City, so technically they should have gone on yesterday’s post, but I decided to split it up so that you wouldn’t get art overload on the preceding page.

Shirtless man with “Popeye Arms” drinking from a glass.

graffiti of woman underneath another abstract graffiti

Two graffiti. Above a camel smoking a blunt. Below, a blue bulldog

Orange cat with shocked expression, being grabbed around the side by a person

Woman standing next to high-heeled shoes and a beverage can with the slogan “Low Life in High Heels} and the name of the street (Waagner-Biro)

Montage und Umschlagplatz / Keine Haftung bei unbefugten Abstellen von Fahrzeugen

Assembly and transfer point. No liability for unauthorized parking of vehicles.

Laundry Day

I had to wash the sheets (see below for more on that subject) and went to the Green & Clean (site partially in English), since they have larger washers than the one I have at the apartment.

Nothing special to look at, right? Except this time I noticed that the place is totally inaccessible for anyone in a wheelchair. (Or if you have any sort of mobility problem, the stairs would be a challenge along with the laundry.) This is very common in Graz; a lot of places have either a small step up or several steps up to the entrance, with no ramps in sight. If you ask me, the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) is about the best thing the US has done.

Bedsheets

A few days ago I went to Ikea (again) and bought a bedsheet. Again, what’s the big deal with that, you ask. Well, here’s what the bed looked like before. This is pretty typical for Europe; there’s a fitted sheet and then these duvet-type covers (which I have folded in half). But they’re too heavy, and the room is warm, so the covers are total overkill. This feels totally wrong to me.

That’s why I bought a normal non-fitted sheet at Ikea, and here’s what it looks like now. Yes, it’s a fairly loud, ugly design, but it was cheap, and when I’m asleep my eyes will be closed, so I won’t be looking at the sheet anyway.

Buildings

Some of the buildings are fairly run down, but others have some really nice architecture. I wonder if the people who pass by here every day notice how cool the buildings really are.

Building façade with colored dots and wavy borders painted on it.

This is what I mean by run-down.

What is it with green window shutters? That seems to be the most common color.

And, again, circular windows.

Miscellanea

This one took a moment or three to parse: it’s pronounced like the French words Haute Beauté (High Beauty), which is an appropriate name for a cosmetics store.

The text means “Slide over”.

This is a synagogue. See this Wikipedia page 🇦🇹 for photos of the interior.