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A Quiet Day

April 18
Written April 18-20
Dear Friends and Family,

The weather forecast said less rain than other days, so we were hoping.  I was encouraged enough that I even tried the out-at-dawn opportunity for some pictures of our valley, the Rosental.  The idea was to go across the lake and take pictures of the valley, with mountains in the background.  Good idea, but it needed two things: better planning and better weather.

The best picture may have been one glimpse when the mountain had a bit of light running across it.
d120418a_01_setup.jpg d120418a_05_Mountain.jpg
The pan of the whole range of foothills and higher peaks was another experiment.  The muted blues are true to the in-person experience, not exciting but a tranquil morning.
d120418a_03_pan.jpg

d120418b_10_Clean_iPhone.jpgAfter this excursion, I returned home for breakfast and we did a few chores.  One advantage to our vacation house is that it comes with a washing machine and we can wash clothes that have gotten dirty on our walks.  Pants particularly get a bit dirty.  However, if pants are washed with an iPhone still in a pocket, it ruins the day.  Watching the phone go around and around for 90 minutes just makes it all worse. (The phone would, in fact, turn on after all this, but it didn't work properly.)

d120418b_11_shortWalk.jpgAfter this discouraging development, we went out for a walk, upstream from our resort.  This too was discouraging, since the trail was more roots and stumps than real, easy trail.  I know, we are not hardy folks, but really this path could have been better.

This bit of exercise did earn us a good lunch, however.  We decided to stay close, and looked up "Juritz", a nearby camping ground that had a recommended restaurant.  The restaurant/camping ground is set off in a quiet corner of Feistritz, just next door.  Driving in, we noticed there were no other customers -- not a good sign.  Inside, as the only customers, we had our choice of very elegantly set tables.  Not camp tables, that was clear.  We chose steak and lamb from the extensive menu and proceeded to receive food and service more worthy of Paris than a rural Austrian campground.  (The price was close to Paris' too.)  We will join others in recommending Juritz.

To complete our day, we went for a ride around the Wöthersee.  We had seen the eastern end of the lake in Klagenfurt, so we started in Velden, at the western end.  It took some imagination to see how the vacation village would look with people -- and with sun.  For us, it was cold, gray, and windy.  Nonetheless, it did look like a place worth visiting some time warmer. 
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We continued all around the lake, and saw more places worthy of summer visits, but free of tourists this time of year.  Maybe we will have to come back.

So, that was that.  Not exciting, other than watching the iPhone go around the little window in the washing machine.  Tomorrow would be better.

Regards,

John and Marianne

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