I arrived to the most German city in Austria, Graz, in the dead of night. Coming from Budapest, where the people wont sleep until they crash down on the sidewalk, it was a strange departure to see a main road completely isolated.
Groggily getting off my bus around 10:30pm, and unable to find a cab, I journey through one of the cities main streets, the Keplerstrabe, to find my hotel. As like every single shop, convenience store and bus station I have seen on my short walk through this city, it is completely empty and dark. Not even a receptionist to be seen. Instead, I am greeted by a slot on the door which tells me to insert my credit card for entry.
Skeptical, but with no other options, I slowly insert my card and the room comes to life. The doors automatically open, the lights flicker to brightness, and I am greeted by a computer monitor. After filling in my information on the high tech touch screen, another slot appears in which my room key is dispensed.
After getting slightly lost in the maze of rooms I drop my things down on the bed and go back outside for a cigarette. As I stand in the back alley with not a soul to be seen, I realize this might not be the safest idea, and head back to my room.
The next morning, still hungover from my stint in Budapest, I go downstairs to check out. Much to my surprise, still there are no staff members in the lobby. I can only imagine how low this place’s employment costs are! I wander into the street and make my way for the train station, where luckily I see some other actual humans.
3 young adults dressed in leather almost as shiny as their mohawks and piercings walk in front of me. As they pass by a poster advertising a political candidate, the girl of the group begins to kick it and spit on it. Passerby’s notice but go unfazed, as if they had seen this many times before and don’t expect it to stop anytime soon.
Maybe a world with fewer humans isn’t such a bad thing.
Online Creation by Karina 