Klagenfurt is a city that we visited almost by chance. Yes, I know that these events labelled as "by chance" are usually not just accidents, as maybe there is a reason why we had to go through those experiences or visit those places that were not planned. It happened that after staying in Linz and Graz, we had our flight back to Alicante from Klagenfurt. That is why we were there on Sunday, the 4th of May.
How did we get there? Well, a small intro where we spent the morning can be seen here, and later we caught a bus. Someone made a photo of our bus, we were inside, on the second floor and on the other side, so I didn't get the chance to wave once again.
The trip to Klagenfurt was pleasant. Nice landscape and pretty good roads made the travel from Graz to Klagenfurt pass in the blink of an eye. At least for me. 😉
Once we arrived, I was hungry. A bit nervous, as I usually am when I am in such a state. 😁 We had the prepared sandwiches in our backpacks, so it was the first thing we did - take them out and eat them after we left our luggage in a locker in the main train/bus station of this city. As I was focused on making my lunch disappear, I didn't take any photos of our walk until we arrived at the city centre. But then I had my hands already free for snapping some shots.
Guided by the tall tower, we found this church. It is the Cathedral of Klagenfurt, built in 1581 by Protestants, but now it is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt.
In front of it, there was a model - the representation of the city from the past, with the walls around it. Here we saw that there were many more churches and buildings we would like to see. We continued toward the main square.
Maria Theresia, Holy Roman Empress, welcomed us. She is still standing here, strong, showing her power over the Habsburg monarchy, well, as a monument. I was also happy to greet her and then continue our exploration of Klagenfurt.
Another monument on this square that can't be missed is the symbol of this city, the dragon. I read a legend that there was a dragon (Lindwurmbrunnen) living in a swamp close to the city, capturing (and eating) girls that he found. What I saw is that he was calm, providing water to the birds that were in the square around. Just now, I see that some pigeons were captured in the photos while flying. 😅
No danger from the dragon from this side either.
On the left side of the square, actually at its end, we could see the city hall (Rathaus). I could say it is a quite simple building, but very neat and imposing with its size and sense of symmetry and stability.
!
Maybe just my photo looks a bit crooked. Or the pavement, I don't know. 😂
Another cool feature on the square is the line of trees (more precisely, two lines on both sides of the square), perfectly pruned.
No comment for the next activity!! 😁 Ice creaaaaam on the same square... 🍨
The rest of the streets in the strict city centre were also very nice and clean. I pretty much like this style of architecture and the tall buildings. Who lived in them some centuries ago? Now they are mainly used for restaurants, offices and shops.
A nice little car that passed by. 😅
How charming are the cobblestone streets! And with the coats of arms of the cities, they are even more interesting.
Coins in the pool, probably thrown while making a wish? I should try it once, next time I see such a fountain. My husband had a better idea - why not taking the coins from the fountain? 😂 Of course, he was just joking.
Our walk through Klagenfurt led us to a few more streets, not many as we wanted to get back to the train station to pick up our luggage and go to the airport. At that moment, we didn't know our flight would be delayed for two hours...
Maybe we would stay longer in this small, charming city, located in the south of Austria. Churches, towers and squares all in the range of a few streets were not missing, as you can see.
