Draws are here.
Today I flew from Frankfurt to Graz, Austria, then drove in mostly heavy rain to Feld am See…the rain tapered off about when I arrived in Villach, 15 minutes or so from my final destination.
Our plane was delayed a bit in Frankfurt, then we were bused to the plane as is common in Europe. It’s tricky if anyone has a disability…on the plane from Paris to Mallorca a few weeks ago, a woman in a wheelchair literally climbed up on all fours to reach the plane. And there are stairs to reach the buses as well, not escalators or elevators.
Once in Graz, we again descended by stairs but were close to the airport entrance and just walked to the terminal. Unlike in the USA, the path was not particularly monitored and I missed the entrance at first!
I picked up my rental car in heavy rain and proceeded to Feld am See. In Villach I stopped for some fruit and drinks at Lidl and Hofer (Aldi’s in Austria are called Hofer). I preferred the Hofer, better produce for sure.
I reached Feld am See around 3pm, checked in and went to get my racquet strung. I don’t know what happened, but it was not strung tightly enough for sure. Maybe in the soggy weather that will be a good thing, or I will have it restrung. I also checked into the tournament and ran into quite a few people I know including Suella Steel from nearby La Jolla, here for the Friendship Cup.
MJ Pachl and Rudi Pachl are here and MJ and I walked around the lake which is very pretty even on a rainy day. It’s about 2-2.5 miles around. There was no tennis today due to the rain but tomorrow looks better and I play at 10:30.
I had dinner with several of the Friendship Cup ladies. The hotel here is all inclusive…ie breakfast, lunch and dinner are included in the price and the dinner was good, nice selection of salad items and trout for the main course.
