Feistritz ob Bleiburg

We were awoken in the early morning by a thunder shower. Finally, after a couple evenings of menacing clouds, the fury of the heavens was finally released. Luckily by the time we roused for the day the storm had passed. J enjoyed watching the birds hop and bath in the puddles outside the hotel window.

The hotel breakfast spread rivaled that of the hotel in Grein, and set the day with sufficiently full bellies.

The day's route headed south, and flirted with the foothills in Slovenia. Any deeper would have added hours to the journey through rugged mountain ranges.

A quick stop for fuel turned in to a wardrobe change as the clouds returned, and unleashed more showers. Nothing too violent, but enough to cause a good drenching, but we were dry.

Our day started and ended in the Styrian province of Austria, while briefly entering Carinthia. It is interesting to note that the church steeples in Carinthia are much simpler, as with the bell ringing, than in Tyrol and the other northern Austrian provinces.

While in province Carinthia we encountered a Billy bi-colored goat crossing the road and a hare running on the shoulder of the road. In a last minuet dash the Hare passed before A's front bike tire and narrowly escaped.

We went through a couple of interesting towns. The first being Diex where J noticed the church wasn't like the rest, it looked very old, and appeared fortified. Further readings found that it was established in the early 1100s.
https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfarrkirche_Diex
The next town of Eberstein had a castle (but not the original castle) perched on a rocky mass in the middle of town called Schloss Eberstein.
https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_Eberste…

We finally arrived in the late afternoon to Gasthof Jera which was perfectly situated in the countryside on the southend of a lake, Furtnerteich. Sadly the place looked a bit tired and in need of repairs; you had to watch your step on the balcony of the room due to broken/rotting boards... Once checked in and settled, set out for a refreshing swim. The warm water and the waning afternoon sun was a perfect combination. The lake was fairly busy with various age groups. It was nice to see such communal interaction of apparent strangers, and yet everyone was respectful of their space without being loud and obnoxious.

To finish the day we enjoyed outdoor dining on pizza and pasta. Eventually the evening sun was blotted out by clouds, with distant rumbles of thunder...Read more