April 18
Written April 18-20
Dear Friends and Family,Written April 18-20
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.
 |
 |
|
After
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.) 
After
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.
 |
 |
 |
 |
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