We got here yesterday afternoon, not knowing that it was Austrian National Day, which is a holiday. Consequently, a lot of places were closed… but that was okay, since we just wanted to walk around the area and see everything. This is a pretty town, not too far into Austria and about halfway to tomorrow’s destination in Croatia from our home in Germany. I don’t think Wels is known for being a tourist mecca, but they do have catfish here. That’s something I just learned yesterday.

Arran and Noyzi are at the dog hotel. Noyzi was absolutely delighted to be there, but Arran looked a little sad. Poor guy is getting too old for dog hotels. He’d rather be with us. But we told Natasha, who takes care of them, that it’s okay if they aren’t together all the time. I have a feeling that being stuck with Noyzi is a big part of it. Arran has gotten to like Noyzi more, but he’s much older and smaller than Noyzi is. It’s like grandpa and teen boy sharing a room.

We’ll be here until tomorrow… our hotel offers us the opportunity to borrow a goldfish if we’re lonely for our dogs. Too weird!

Last night, we walked around the old part of Wels and ended up having dinner at a hole in the wall Italian restaurant. It’s lucky we got there early, because they were very busy. A young couple sat next to us. I caught the male half eyeballing us. Bill noticed, too. I suspect it was because he noticed that I had no fewer than three Apple gadgets… a watch, a phone, and my iPad. I used the iPad to take a photo of Bill, because my phone was dying.

Then, when the food came out, we noticed he and his girlfriend shared a pizza and they had a round of drinks. Bill had veal and I had shrimp, both of which came with side vegetables and a salad. The guy kind of obviously noticed that, too. Then they had dessert. We didn’t have dessert there, because it was so busy and we figured they wanted their table back. As we were walking back to the hotel with gelato, we talked about that couple. We noticed the guy looked a little jealous.

I wanted to tell him that, for the first five years of our marriage, we were totally broke, too. We know how it is. But then, he also might have been wondering what the hell Americans are doing in a place like Wels, instead of Vienna or Salzburg, or even Innsbruck. Or maybe he thought we were too old and fat for such a nice meal. Anyway, it’s none of my business, and I don’t like to mindread. It was just obvious that he noticed us. That’s mainly because the tables were close together. It’s a small place with a tiny dining room.

We decided to come back to the hotel after dinner. We watched TV, including a show about paramedics in different parts of Germany. I was surprised I could understand some of it. I probably should watch move TV in German.

I’m not sure what we will do today. There is a therme (spa) near us, but it looks very kid friendly. When I go to the spa, I like to relax. There’s also a pretty cool looking science museum we might visit. The lovely thing about Austria is that COVID-19 restrictions are pretty lax here. In fact, for those who are vaccinated, they don’t even require masks for most indoor stuff. You have to wear them on public transportation, in pharmacies, hospitals and nursing homes, and supermarkets. But other than that, it’s like 2019 again.

This is why I was so eager to leave Germany for awhile… 😉

I’ll probably write some brief travel stories here, so it’ll be easier to write my travel blogs. I like to include stories, especially since we aren’t that big on doing touristy stuff anymore. But I do love to share stories about the people we meet, things we see, and our wacky experiences on the road. And, if I get excited, I’m sure there will be ranting, too.