AUSTRIA 2019
April 2019
At the end of March I was in Germany for work and because I was in the neighbourhood I dropped into Austria for a couple of days on the way home. This time I stayed in Graz, just because other than the museum there really isn't a lot to do in Thal. My first stop was Cafe Kaiserfeld were they had professional photographer Ferdinand Krainer prints for sale. They were quite large and quite expensive. You can see from the first 2 photos that they are also very glossy. Then it was onto the museum where I got to see my mate Thorsten, who I met last time I was in Graz. Then I got to check out the museum and do the audio tour i didn't do last time. Peter Urdl the custodian of the museum took me around and gave me permission to sit on the production used Harley from T2, hold Conan's sword and sit at Arnold's governor desk. We needed a little help translating as he doesn't speak English and I know approximately 4 words in German. He then drove me up to the church Arnold and he attended as boys and we went inside. Once back at the museum I was asking how to get to Wiez (about an hour away) as I wanted to visit Gustav and Aurelia 's grave site to pay my respects. Peter graciously offer to take me, so next morning at 10:30am he came to my hotel in Graz and we drove to the cemetery. We talked a little on the way and I picked up a few words so I think I know what he was saying. We brought candles and flowers to the burial site and cleaned it up a little. Then we drove back to Graz and Peter bought me lunch. Thank you Peter for going out of you way for me. I appreciate it more than you know. Next day I was back on a plane on my way home again.
AUSTRIA 2017
July 2017
Then it was across the North Atlantic Ocean to Austria. I stayed at the Restaurant Thalersee right on the lake were Arnold proposed to Maria; the row boat has been turned into a shrine. Walking around the lake I found a spot where Arnold and his friends used to train with a pull up bar still there. A notable landmark within the town is the Parish church of St. Jacob, with it's unique architecture and bright colours. But the main reason I was there was for Arnolds 70th birthday bash at the house where Arnold grew up and has now been turned into a museum. In the front yard they have an 8 foot tall bronze statue of the great man that I got a selfie or two in front of. Inside the museum it is packed to the rafters with memorabilia, from his desk as Governor, to weights he used as a teenager, to his original bed. There are props from his movies and Arnold mannequins throughout. It is crazy how much stuff is in there, with a lot donated by Arnold himself. There are family photos and even a Harley Davidson from T2. Outside in the garden they were selling schnitzels and beer and we sang happy birthday and had birthday cake. They had speeches (in German so I couldn't understand) and different entertainment. Everyone got to sign the wrapping paper on Arnolds birthday present, which they unveiled to be a 'power cell' which is basically a phone booth with a pulldown machine inside. I had been hoping Arnold would be there but he was there a couple of weeks before to celebrate, overall a fantastic day and one I will never forget. Also the day before I travelled to Graz for a special Arnold trivia night inside a nice little coffee shop and of course, I won! Thanks to the guys for going out of their way to make me feel welcome and for not speaking German all night.
USA 2017
July 2017
After leaving San Diego I drove to Los Angeles and went straight to Griffith Observatory. The location where The Terminator arrives in the first movie. Unfortunately it was dark by the time I got there so I couldn't get a good shot of the arrival location (although the area has changed quite a bit) I was able to get some great scenic shots of the city. Next day was down to Santa Monica to see the Arnold mural, the wall he and Franco built in the1971 and muscle beach. Arnold's office on main street was next, one day I will get inside! The old Shatzi location is still in use, it's now a trendy lounge that only opens a few days a week. Back to LA and I visited the T2 location were the truck jumps into the spillway and the tar pits from Last Action Hero. A quick stop at Café Roma, but no sign of Arnold or Sly. Then to the Hollywood walk of fame for Arnold's star and the TCL Chinese Theatre for his hand prints. I was also lucky enough to be at Golds Gym at the right time to see Arnold, Ralf and Dieter come out, I got Ralf's signature and a photo with the three of them. See the Encounters page.
2017 San Diego Comic Con
July 2017
I was lucky enough to travel to San Diego to visit Comic Con. Although Arnold was not present (I thought he and James Cameron may have done a T2 3D and 4K release there) it was still a huge event and a once in a lifetime trip for me. I did get to purchase the Comic Con exclusive Neca Jungle Briefing Dutch which can be seen in the pics below and saw the yet to be released 1/4 scale Terminator along with new aerial and ground HKs. They also had the new James Cameron Aliens figure which was really cool. Propstore.com had some screen used Conan swords. I also got to see the announcement of some new MiniMates, including the Mission Briefing Dutch and Dillon figures, along with the larger ViniMates Cloaked Predator and Mud Dutch. I picked up some Terminator jewelry from Museum of Robots and Chronicle Collectables were showing off their huge Thulsa Doom statue.
2008 USA
2008
2008 and we were back in the USA, this time starting in Las Vegas and staying at the Planet Hollywood hotel. The Planet Hollywood restaurant had some awesome displays including a full size battle damaged T-800 and an endoskeleton, Conan's Atlantean sword, Mr Freeze bust, homing device gun from Total Recall (bad pic sorry, when you hear the crunch you're there), Vanessa William's make up/CD case from Eraser and an espresso maker/snow cone maker/water heater from True Lies. We made a day trip out to Sacramento to see the capitol building while Arnold was in office, when we arrived there was a fair outside the building. Walking around for a minute there was a commotion, I turn and to my surprise Arnold walked in........what luck!! He walked around looking at the stall and talking to people. Both myself and my wife were able shake his hand. Looking at the photos now I notice Daniel Ketchell in the crowd. I then went inside to see the front of his office and the officer in the picture was nice enough to go inside and get me one of Governor Schwarzenegger's business cards.
2005 Austria and USA
2005
In 2005 we embarked on a Contiki tour of Europe starting in London and while the group stopped in Vienna we snuck of to Thal for the first time. It was December so the snow was thick and lake Thalersee was frozen. The first picture is me standing on the lake not knowing if it will give way. We had a quick drink in the restaurant and headed to the house Arnold grew up in, at the time it was privately owned and I didn't have the guts to knock on the door. On our way back to the tour we quickly stopped by the former Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadion a football stadium named after Arnold until 5 days before we arrived. As governor Arnold had not given clemency to a convicted murder in California, Austria does not believe in capital punishment and were in talks to have his name removed. So Arnold sent a letter telling them to remove his name and stop using his name and likeness to promote the city.They literally just cut his name off the signage until a new name could be worked out. Once the tour was over we headed to California, were we went to Universal Studios and rode Terminator 2: 3D the ride a couple of times. Then to Santa Monica to dine at Shatzi On Main, Arnold and Maria's restaurant where I was able to sit at Arnold's table. Next stop was muscle beach, then Grauman's Chinese Theatre to place my hands in his imprints in front of the theatre and Hollywood Boulevard to see Arnold's star on the walk of fame.
End Of Days Sydney Premiere
1999
Way back in 1999 Arnold came to Sydney to promote his new movie End of Days. I had never been overseas at the time so this was the very first time seeing him in the flesh. I remember my girlfriend (now wife) and I flew from Melbourne just for a chance to see him. There was a market there though the day and I found half a dozen random Arnold movie lobby cards and when I said I would take them all the guy said he wanted to keep one (bit weird seeing he had them all out to sell) so I reluctantly picked one to leave behind. But walking around the corner I found a stall with just that one, hows that for luck. So that afternoon we arrived hours early to get the best spot. There was an old train carriage in the middle of the arena, a stunt guy dressed as Arnold would zip line from above into the carriage and it would explode into flames and Arnold would walk out and greet the crowd. There was a red carpet with barriers for him to walk through with fans on either side. We picked a spot across from the media area and were told that was the best place, a woman beside me had an old maybe 70's photo of him to get signed. After hours of waiting the action went off without a hitch and Arnold walks towards the crowd and to the complete opposite side to us to say a few words to the media and then zigzagged past us down the carpet. Not even coming close to us, I had bought a Cohiba cigar as a gift and running down through the crowd didn't get close to him. I still have the cigar. In the end I did get to see him only metres away.