Friday, June 30

 Field Trip Day: Riegersburg, Bird Show, Zotter Chocolate Factory

Wow! Friday was quite a day.  We started with a bus ride to the Riegersburg (Riegersburg Castle). The castle is on the top of a hill, and offers a great view.  The students were very happy that they got to ride the elevator to the top.

The Riegersburg is the biggest castle in the Steiermark (the state of Styria where Graz is also located). The castle was first referenced in 1138. Since 1822, it has belonged to the Liechtenstein family. 

We had some time to explore the museums (one about witch hunts and witch trials and another displaying weapons), and then we visited various rooms in the castle. 

After the castle tour, we headed to the bird show on the castle property.  

Before and after the show, we were able to look at these birds of prey in their enclosures. 

The show was truly fascinating.  The birds would sometimes fly so close to your head that you had to duck. It was a very bright day, so while I tried to take lots of pictures, I couldn't see my screen.  That means that I didn't get that many great pictures during the show, but here are a few.

These two pictures are my favorites because you can see how close the birds got to us and how you sometimes felt like you needed to duck.

After the bird show, we headed back to our bus and to lunch.

Next, we headed to the Zotter Chocolate Factory. Zotter Chocolate is a family-owned business that focuses on producing chocolate from "bean to bar." They have approximately 500 different varieties, and their chocolate is also organic and fair trade.  We started by watching a film about their chocolate production and how they manage the entire process from "bean to bar." As we waited for the film to start, we could already start sampling their chocolate, and some of it was even served to us by a robot.

Here we are preparing to watch the film.

After the film, we got to walk through the factory and try as much chocolate as we wanted.

After the factory, we were able to go into the Zotter Park, which has a variety of areas to visit. Some of us headed to the petting zoo.

Stuffed with chocolate, we boarded to bus to head back to Graz.  What a great way to usher in the weekend!