A Visit to the Schloss Eggenberg

The Eggenberg Castle is on the west side of Graz and the biggest castle in Styria (one of Austria's 9 provinces). We decided to take a little visit to this landmark today...mostly prompted by my desire to see the peacocks I've been hearing about. I think Vargos closed down last year and I haven't had a good peacock viewing in awhile. It wasn't the perfect weather, but the perfect time of year because it's SO GREEN and luscious.

On our merry way...

Ok, first I had to see these birds... I was not disappointed. They were everywhere and let us get pretty close.

Posing for the camera...that's a long train to drag around.

This one stood by the main entrance showing off his plumage for a good hour.

He was proud, but if you got close....

...he gave you the booty treatment.

And here's a little video of the 'mating ritual'. As in all species, the male tries to impress and put the moves on and the female is not having it.

And we've never seen this before. We thought it was an albino, but apparently it's a very rare breed from India and a single feather is around $5 hundey!

I'm not kidding...after I took that first shot, he did this.

My fave...hydrangeas

now time for some castle...

got a moat like a good castle should

There were art galleries and tours inside the castle that we opted out of. It was prettier to be outside.

Through the gardens...