Arnold Schwarzenegger, future governor of California
On a wall of our hotel in Graz there was a wall with pictures of the famous people. Among the photos of the celebrities is one of Mick Jagger, who according to my informal survey has slept in nearly every upscale hotel in the world. On the wall is also a photograph of a young Arnold Schwarzenegger. The picture served as a reminder that Schwarzenegger is from Austria, a fact that we are inevitably reminded of when we tell any Austrian that we are from California. Austrians love to tell us that Arnie, their native son, was once governor of our State, as if we might have forgotten.
Austrians appear to also think the concept of the Governator is amusing. And to the locals, any one from a state that elected an Austrian to be their governor can’t be all that bad. It seems a low bar, but as Californians we will go with it.
In Graz it’s even less surprising to be reminded of Arnie’s heritage: The former governor was born about 10 kilometers away in the small commune of Thal. Though Thal has the A. Schwarzenegger museum, Graz still counts him as a native son. It is a fact that is hard to miss when one visits, as there are numerous photos of the man around the town.
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We had a virtual encounter with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Graz in October of 2018.
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