Sunday, September 14, 2025
We had no tennis matches today … The next tournament in Feld am See, Austria, starts tomorrow. Feld am See is near both the Slovenian and Italian borders of Austria. Today we (Vicki and her husband Steve, MJ Pachl and her husband Rudi and I) went to Udine, Italy, about 1 hour, 40 minutes south of Feld am See. (Although of course we first practiced a little more than an hour at 7:30 am!)
Vicki drove all the way and did great with one (what I told her would look funny after a short time) Hiccup … We held a toll road in Italy … The kind where you take, whether a ticket has handed over in one place and then have to place the ticket in a machine and pay on the other side. It is a bit confusing because the lock to insert the ticket is the same lock that is used to insert a credit card (or you can tap that is always preferred and safer!). Vicki saw another lock … Let’s say that the Credit card Italy is not leaving quickly. 😳We have distracted the traffic for about 15 minutes through the lane to remove the card from the wrong lock, but failed (although one of the employees tried to help there. Vicki felt terrible, especially because it was Rudi’s credit card. On the return trip we used cash for the toll.
Udine has a population of just under 100,000 people and is in the province of Udine (similar to an American state) in Italy. It has a population that is older and has fewer minors than Italy in general. It has a castle above the city (but an easy walk up … everyone got it up and down again).
We first walked to the castle, which was built by Venetians from 1517 after an earthquake had destroyed an earlier fort. Giovanni da Udine finished the works from 1547 and created a Renaissance appearance. There was a nice view of the old city from one side and there is a museum above, but we decided to pass it on.
We walked down on the other side of the castle and ended up on the central square, Piazza della Libertà, which was also filled with people, and the main building was dominated by a large screen … It would have been nice to have seen Udine on a normal Sunday with fewer people and fewer plates and screens that block the beautiful buildings.
As we discovered on arrival in Udine, today was the last day of the Friuli Doc, a wine and food festival. There were countless tents that serve typically Friulian food, including battered and fried apple rings, baked seafood, especially calamares and frico (fried cheese), and lots of strudel and other tents that sell cheese, wines, meat and more. The streets were busy, the castle site was covered with tents with rows of tables and benches filled with hungry eaters, and there was a lot of beer!
MJ, Rudi, Steve and Vicki started getting good coffee while I walked through the street for a while. There are various buildings in Renaissance style, dating from the 15th and 16th centuries and many narrow streets covered with beautiful buildings (and on this day, tents that sell food and wine from the region). I also found a supermarket and had to go inside and look around … lots of pasta and sauces of course!
There is also a church nearby, the Cathedral of Udine, the building of which started in the 13th century. Unfortunately it was only open this Sunday from 4-6: 30, so we had no chance to go inside.
And that was a day in Udine. We found our parking location easy (or Rudi did it anyway) and had a quiet but beautiful ride back through beautiful mountain landscapes.
Tomorrow Vicki and MJ both play in the 60s (there are only 8 players, so no Byes); I have a day and play the winner of a game that I suppose on Tuesday. The Times for Tuesday will only be posted tomorrow around 8 p.m. I will get up early with Vicki and then take a bike ride or walk around the lake, etc. The weather is supposed to be decent this week, or at least much better than last year!
#afternoon #Udine #Italy