Another Original & Divine Suedburgenland Day.

The sunshine was a bonus.

Walking on the outskirts of Deutsch Schützen yesterday morning, bathed in the odd sunshine, feeling the at times icy tentacle of an unexpected wind gust and mentally sending up numerous Thank You's to the powers that be ( who wouldn't ? ), I saw my friend approach on his vehicle of choice...the motorized lawn mower. A vehicle of choice for the over 70's it seems although I have seen The Bobster ogling one of the more suped up versions flitting around the village greens...

Living in the rural areas means that the hectic rush assumed in the urban environs is a foreign and frowned upon concept. It's just not done! So there he was, chugging along towards me with a big grin on his face. Once we were side by side, he took his foot of the pedal and idled along side me.

He had his trailer hooked up and it was filled to the brim, yet covered up almost like contraband. But, I knew that he'd been on his weekly grocery shop in the village. Shooting the breeze for a few moments led to his gleeful explanation of his good mood.

" Birgit, can you imagine, I won 105 Euros on the lotto! "...ah, the good life.

As you know, some of my family is in town and after breakfast I set off on a leisurely drive around the vineyards, looking for them as I had missed them the evening before.

I purposefully said leisurely, as our chariot needs some attention. Two weeks ago we treated it to new brakes and ever since, a tap on the brakes means a squeaky & head turning sound. Don't worry, it's going in to be sorted out today but in the meantime it means driving around and being noticed.

When the lotto train finally sees us waving and pulls into our station, I won't be driving an expensive head turner....those are more of a punishment and extra pressure to not stall the car!

Already I plan my routes to roads where the hills are of a minimum, but that is far from easy among the vineyards. So, there I was crawling along the various lanes searching for my aunt and uncle, when I espied a couple walking their dog about 100 meters in front of me.

It is still early in the tourist season and not so many are meandering about, so it must have been my aunt. Well, I idled up behind them and eventually had to apply brakes, which had them jump to the side of the road in fear....never mind, I parked the chariot on the verge and joyfully showed myself and we chatted, hugged and marveled at the beauty of life, life in our Burgenland.

After a nice local meal complete with local wine, we had this photo taken. Family in Burgenland.

Biggi