Our Mid European vacation - Graz, Austria
This is the day. We are actually going to see a Formula 1 race together - IN AUSTRIA! I have been a race fan most of my life so I kind of feel like a child going to a carnival. We have a fairly quick breakfast and head out from Graz for the 1 hour drive to Spielberg. We meet a couple in the lobby as we are heading out. They are from California. They are also heading out to the race. We chat for a while and then we are on our way.
My excitement grows as we get closer and closer. We are finally close to our exit (it's about an hour drive) and begin seeing all the cars parked in fields, people walking everywhere, police everywhere. We know we will have quite a walk from the car to the track but neither of us cares. We are at a Formula 1 race in Austria!!
We get the car parked and begin the walk in. Note: this has been going on since Friday so many of the people have been there all weekend. We see campers set up in the camping area. They are all settled in and seem to have made their areas very homey. There are vendors everywhere. Food, merchandise, beer (of course). We stop to get an umbrella because it has been drizzling a bit on our way and we don't want to take the chance. We find a vendor selling umbrellas. They have red Ferrari or black Mercedes umbrellas. Mercedes it is! This is the team I am rooting for so I am very pleased that Jim is kind enough to go along with me. (I think he wanted the red Ferrari one).
We head in to find our seats. This is much easier said than done. Once we are inside the track there are so many distractions. The team merchandise stands, the cars from some of the other races that have happened over the weekend, the food, the ....... (You guessed it) - Beer! We look at all of it and we people watch. There is representation for every age, sex, race, religion and physical well being. We were a little surprised at the number of wheelchairs that were there and extremely pleased with the accessibility available to them.
Another thing we were extremely pleased with was the amount of trash and recycling containers all around..... And people were using them! It was the third day of events at the track and the entire inside of the track was clean. We were very impressed.
Now, time to find out seats. We walk to the center of the front straight and turn to the right. We are in section B, row 9. We are under cover! If it rains, we have no need for an umbrella. :-0 We find the seats with no problem. We don't go down to sit in the seats though. They are the two empty seats in a row that was fairly filled already. We decided to walk around and wait.
There is a race going on (Porsche race) so we stand at the top behind the railing and watch the end of the race. The sound of the cars (more like a roar) is such a wonderful sound. Loud but wonderful. I reminisce of the days I was involved with SCCA racing and the enjoyment I got out of being involved with racing. I am so thankful to be here. Jim has also been a huge fan of racing throughout his life so he is equally pleased.
We decide that we will stay standing at the top of the seats behind the top row for a while. We have a fantastic view and aren't squished between people. We watch the Viennese girls dressed is Bavarian style and heels parading around the pit row, each one representing a car. It is quite awesome!
The bring the drivers out in parade fashion and walk them onto a flatbed. Most of them have their children with them. The flatbed then proceeds to drive around the track. Jim comments that this will be the slowest the drivers ever go around the track. :-)
The preparations continue for the beginning of the race. The teams bring the equipment onto the race track to get the car ready to race. The cars line up in race order and have their last minute tweaks to the car completed. The pre-race warning is given and all you can see is a flutter of activity getting all the non-drivers and all the equipment off the track.
And then the race begins! Seeing the cars fly around the corners before they are given the green flag. After the green flag drops, well, it gets even better. The sounds, the feel of the cars roaring by, the adrenal....... Love it!
We have a blast. We are standing right above the start/finish and can watch the standings changing on the big screen to our right. Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull dominate the rest. And I should mention Jenson Button (driving for Honda) puts in a great appearance also.
The race ending is one that will be talked about for a very long time, which I will not go into here. How truly special this day has been. In fact, it's so special we decide not to leave right away. We grab some food and a beer and just hang out. There are tons of people still at the track celebrating and having a great time. No obnoxious behavior, people just enjoying the fact that they got to see a really good race. Jim and I were sitting on hay bales in a large barn-type building. There were a group of people near us that would randomly break out into song. Very loud, German singing. It was great. Very comfortable and casual.
It is finally time to go back to Graz to the hotel. We have had such a wonderful day. We are both exhausted. We decide to go find something quick to eat in Graz. We head to Old Town Graz via walking...... And walking...... And walking.
We find so may beautiful old buildings and so many shops and restaurants. All of which are closed. We end up having a bratwurst and gyro from one a roadside vendor. I find out later that these roadside vendors are quite the thing and are highly rated. I would agree with their ratings. We have a short nightcap and go to bed.
I go to sleep thinking of race cars.
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