Our first days

The students have been enjoying time with their host families this weekend due to the holiday (Feast of Corpus Christi) on Thursday and the "Fenstertag" (window day or vacation day to connect to the weekend) on Friday.  We're excited to hear about all that they did when we have our first day of classes on Monday. 

In the meantime, I wanted to tell you a little about the building that will be our school.  Our classrooms are in the Palais Attems (Palace Attems) in downtown Graz.   Built from 1702 to 1716,  Professor Dr. Hans Riehl considers the Palais Attems the "most significant aristocratic palace in Styria." Syria or Steiermark is the state in which Graz is located. (In the picture below, Palais Attems is the yellow and white building to the right. You can see our classroom windows on either corner of the third floor.) 

Because our classrooms are on the third floor, we get a workout every day climbing the stairs in the impressive imperial staircase. (Here we are on the bottom floor of the palace.)

The students will be learning in rooms with unique decorations. Especially amusing is the unicorn on the ceiling of what is aptly named "the unicorn room." :)

During our breaks, students can rest their brains while enjoying the magnificent view of the Mur river from our classroom windows.

  We're eagerly waiting our first day of classes on Monday in Palais Attems.