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  • August 23 - Lienz

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    Scenic View on the Lienz Loop

    Today was one of our rest days. Even though we didn't have to get up early for breakfast, Jeff and I couldn't sleep past 6:30. While having our buffet morning meal on the first (2nd to Americans) floor overlooking the town square, we watched t he very dark clouds move in. This reinforced my decision to not ride today. Jeff, on the other hand, decided to do the optional ride. He set out around 9:30 with Rose, our ride director's wife. He was a little intimidated by her riding skills, but he managed to keep up with her. When he returned after 30+ miles and 3800 feet elevation gain, he was in high spirits. It was steep and hard at first and then went past small villages and hay farms. They were cutting the hay on steep hillsides. He couldn't understand how the tractors could stay upright. The end of the ride was downhill back to Lienz. He got a little wet in the middle of the ride, but it was mostly dry.



    Farmers' Market

    While Jeff was riding, I wandered around town looking for an internet cafe. I found one, but it was too smelly with cigarette smoke for me to use. It was Saturday, so there were lots of people in town for the farmers' market. It wasn't nearly as interesting as other markets we have been to, but it showed some local products.


    Jeff and I went for lunch after he cleaned up from his ride. We grabbed ready-made sandwiches from a deli/meat market. After that, we had some apple strudel with whipped cream and vanilla/rum sauce. We couldn't eat any more so we took my laptop to a hotel next to ours and used its wireless connection. Even though we hadn't been on the internet for four days, we were able to get everything done in 30 minutes. When we got back to our room, a loud and long-lasting thunderstorm moved through. There was lots of noise and lots of heavy rain.


    Happy hour was at 6:00. We discussed the next day's ride and which restaurants would be good for dinner tonight which was on our own. Jeff and I went to the Goldener Fisch. We were joined by Paul, Ricardo, Karen and Jay. I had local trout with boiled potatoes. The trout was cooked in butter and had a very crispy skin and it was done just right - very moist inside. Jeff had wiener schnitzel. We both had a green salad and local beer.


    We were in bed by 10:00.