Flyers Of A Different Kind At The Local Shop.

 At the end of a life.

One doesn't think about death inside a grocery shop except maybe death by chocolate, chips & co. And so it should be except in a small community the local shop masquerades as the purveyor of local news, be they happy, sad or plain gossipy. 

They always dangle with the aid of an adhesive over the cigarette shelve, right behind the till. Fitting in a way. Cigarettes and their nefarious danger. Flyers, shining white paper with sad black font can too often be seen there. Death notices of members of our local community.

Every time I enter the shop my eyes automatically veer to the left to check for sad notices. Lately there are more than should be. Just the other day a covid death occurred in our midst and if nothing else, had people remember the deadly accuracy of the virus.

These sad little flyers give credence to a life lived, hopefully a long one. One page holding a sort of summary of one's life. The family had and life led. Sad, really how a bit of paper dangling over the counter makes one stop to pause and give homage to the person concerned. 

How often does the death notice garner more social contact than was ever had while the person was alive? Yes, funerals are extremely well attended ( and why not ) but how sad that the hour taken to go to a funeral wasn't taken earlier.

 All our lives have become so hectic and busy that the old fashioned way of life has fallen by the wayside. Perhaps now that we all are being made more aware of what we really need in life, more time will be taken before a flyer gets put up...

Biggi

A True Summer Kitchen.

Discovering more about old customs.

Bob and I have somehow always called it our Summer Kitchen and perhaps we heard it referred to as such or we got a sense that it was one. Look, there isn't any running water nor electricity but of course that was where our useful aga like stove came from. We rescued it from this tiny building albeit one with a seasoned chimney attached and transplanted it into our kitchen.

As much as we tend to grumble when we do use it ( the wood needs to be fed every twenty minutes or so ) we have gotten a lot of use out of it. Just today I was visiting a neighbour and as often happens, another neighbour came as well and we had a nice long conversation about this that and the old ways.

In winter talk usually skirts the topic of heating and that was when I told about our oven. Not our main source of heating but a nice backup. A backup that helped us dry out our house once we had plastered and laid new floors. So easy to forget what a marvelous work-horse it turned out to be.

Well, it so happens that back in the day the Summer Kitchen was exactly that. During the summer months, when everyone was busy toiling in vineyards, fields or stables they would come home for lunch, a lunch made and eaten in this Summer Kitchen. Usually small as can be but still big enough to somehow accommodate the whole family for lunch.

The reason being and which I find so amusing because similar has happened all over the world, was that one didn't want the house to get dirty from all the clumps of dirt stuck to shoes etc. And here comes the clincher and proof that we are all the same;

the house was kept clean and tidy just in case a visitor decided to drop by!

Ah, how many have a second lounge they never use except for when important family or friends come over for a cup of tea...and sadly, it is often the most amazing room of the house but hardly ever gets seen or used...

Drying out the walls and floors during our bitingly cold first December here. Our kitchen looking a bit different!

Our darling little stove in action. The more I think about it, the more I appreciate it. Perhaps it will stay after all...Gosh, memories!

Biggi

A Cacaphony Of Hoovering.

House Music.

I juxtaposed my walk with an early shift ferrying customers to our local practitioner. Friday being one of the popular days for medical visits. Honestly, I am much more comfortable with early morning walks and felt like a werewolf at no moon or a vampire at the beach. Just not right.

The birds were more chirpy ( obviously they've had time to shake off early morning blues ), the fields were teeming with tractors and the traffic was horrendous. Well, for us that is. At least ten cars passed me! What is the world coming to...

So, I set out at bang on ten a.m. and braved a teeming village. Pretty sure folks thought their watches were broken! Walking down Dorfstrasse it started. A domestic concert of note. My gosh, if one could hear a hoover through those thick walls then it must have been a hardy week on the dust and dirt front.

Well, good for her I thought but then, the house two down on the left joined into the fray and emitted a slightly less shrill hoover ditty. She must be a lucky owner of one of these modern Dyson lookalikes which frankly I wouldn't mind having myself. Goodness me, when I heard it not mere seconds again in the very next house I realized that Friday must be designated Hoover day.

Obviously I can't say for sure if a cunning Hausfrau hasn't recorded a hoover session once and from then on awarded it hours of looping each and every Friday. Walls have ears and neighbours even more so. At times I try to picture these enthusiastically cleaned strong holds of village order and compare them to ours. At least any errant specks of dust and dirt get a warm welcome with us and are allowed to stay as long as they like.

Biggi

A Nice And Typical Tuesday In The Village.

Tuesdays and Fridays are Vampire days.

It wasn't me that coined the phrase but one of the men who I at times ferry about. Each Tuesday and Friday the local doctor's rooms are packed to the rafters as blood tests are done. Or rather blood is taken to ensure that the chronic medication given is properly dosed. Another reason why our two doctors are revered by their peers all over Burgenland and beyond. They are so thorough and meticulous in solving the body's mysteries.

This morning I had an appointment to fetch a couple in order to drive them to the doctor's. Their appointment was for 8 am and I was there at 7.55 sharp...shoddy timekeeping is a red flag to most retired folks. Once, a few years back I was two minutes late and the lady in question phoned my cellphone three times and gave me a blasting when I got there literally a few minutes late. Lesson learned.

We were there at eight sharp and as it turns out so where many others and he had to wait a bit for his turn. By now most villagers know my car and me in it while I sit in front of the doctor's rooms waiting. Today was special because one of the local lasses ( who had wheeled her own mum there to participate in vampire day ) spotted me and came out to chat for a minute. Village life is priceless.

After I had dropped the husband off for his appointment, his wife and carer asked me to drive them to the local village shop. Shopping instead of waiting wasn't a bad idea and when they went into Wachter's, I ran across the road to see my folks for a few minutes.

Eventually I had collected everyone from the various village institutions and driven them back home. They invited me in for a coffee and a chat. As with most conversations, it turned to food or maybe that is just our family's main interest! They told me of a nice restaurant in Deutsch Tschantschendorf which serves a divine buffet most Sundays. When they started to list the individual dishes there, I started to get hungry.

Hungry enough to stop at Wachter's on my way home to buy some freshly baked rolls. Even that was enjoyable as it gave me a chance to greet a few villagers and shoot the breeze with them. You know, meeting people in a village is not that difficult yet, surprisingly, everyone keeps to themselves.

Biggi

Some Call It Winter, Some Call It Hibernating.

Is there anything better than hibernating the days away?

The other day I had the pleasure of sharing a table with a new crop of villagers. Yes, new recruits to the fabulous and delightful life in a village, or should I rather say, our village.

They have relocated from one of the most beautiful cities, Vienna, to one of the most beautiful villages, Deutsch Schützen. Rather a lot of couples choose to spend their retirement years in a less hectic environment some because they were born here and some because they want to slow down their lifestyle and find the time to actually enjoy their life after working hard for most of it.

Oh, I know that moving here from Vienna is a bit of a culture shock. We haven't got museums, hordes of people nor any traffic lights. What we do have is undulated hills, vineyards, forests, stunning scenery and the most wonderful bunch of people. Friendly people, who mostly aren't afflicted with the big city syndrome of having to do, see and have everything.

Both of the couples I met, still had the Viennese shine to them: dressed in a certain way with big city flair and expensive togs. Soon, they will dress more for comfort than show. Naturally, some do take dressing for comfort to the extreme and go to the local shop with sweats ( tricky to know whether they were used as leisure or sleep wear ) and bed hair...you know, the unbrushed, just out of bed look.

One of the nice traits of small village life is that ( mostly ) we aren't judged by what we wear.

They were discussing the upcoming Winter season and their plans for it. Goodness me, they weren't sure if they could last the whole time here and have planned escape hatches. A flat in Vienna. Fair enough, but I think that a summer filled with the delights of village living will have changed their outlook quite a bit. Let's wait and see...

This cold season ahead of us is lovely. Cold yes, but also a time to hibernate over a nice book while enjoying the warmth from a fireplace, a time to relax and reflect. Our Winters are't as harsh as elsewhere and lend themselves beautifully for long walks among the vineyards or day trips to the numerous Spas around us.

Biggi

The Delightful & Insightful Curtain Movers Of Any Village.

The good old fashioned information by-way!

On my many visits to the slightly older villagers, I've noticed an interesting and at times funny phenomena. Firstly, life in general happens inside the kitchen and yes, meals too. Secondly, the table and favourite chair are within looking distance of the kitchen window...oh, and that, most of the time faces the road outside.

Even yesterday, while I was chatting to a lovely lady inside her kitchen, she often lost her place in our conversation as she was distracted by the happenings outside. The odd motor car idling passed, the motorized lawnmower chugging up the hill and a few tourists on foot. Honestly, she had me looking too, whenever I heard or saw something...

The white sheer curtaining used during the day ( akin to a two way mirror, at least while it's lighter outside than inside ) is a most important tool to keep abreast of what is happening to the village, in the village and also gives endless hours of entertainment.

" Oh, did you see Mr. So and So driving passed just now? He is rather early and I wonder where he's off to? "

" Oh, my neighbour's window is closed already? Normally it's open till sundown. Maybe they are away. "

" Oh dear, who's that man walking up the hill? "

A while ago, I was helping out at one of the functions, when a distant neighbour ( about 200 m from us ) asked me, if I had stopped walking because she hadn't seen me start off at my usual time. She was right, I have started to walk a bit later in the morning...

It isn't a case of being nosy but more a case of marking ( the at times rather endless hours to each day ) the day, keeping informed and often setting your watch. Most older villagers can quote you chapter and verse about the arrival times of the various postmen, the weekly butcher truck hooting its arrival and the Saturday morning bakery van idling along the street.

An old fashioned neighbourhood watch is fun and keeps the villagers on the straight and narrow much better than a policeman would.
Isn't the first and foremost handed down social stricture from our parents...

" What would the neighbours think or even worse, say? "

Biggi

The ' Zu'greisten ' Or The New Settlers Of Eisenberg.

Some more in's & out's to life in a small village.

As you know, our village usually numbers close to 400 souls and with the other four villages making up the Deutsch Schützen and Eisenberg ( Gemeinde ) local community or parish, the total is about about 1200. Only this past year three houses in one street of Eisenberg were put on the market and sold before you could blink. I think that could be called a buying frenzy.

There are quite a lot of us who've not been born and raised in the village, but have had the fortune to move here at some point in our lives. Some have married here, some have chosen to raise their children here and others have intuitively understood that to live here is akin to living in paradise.

Well, we've been given a moniker by those born and bred here:

Die Zu'greisten ' ( Zugereisten )

and literally translated means, those that have traveled here. What I find rather funny is the fact that distance makes no difference. Some have merely moved here from a few villages down the road and yet are almost put into the same category as the Bobster and I...

Us Zu'greisten like to be part of the community and with great aplomb and cheer volunteer for almost anything and more importantly take it as a compliment if we are allowed to participate.

On Mondays and Wednesdays I offer an hours walk through my work with the Leben im Dorf / Living in the village. Basically, our Gemeinde has employed me to either take people who've got no transport to the doctor, the local shop or to visit someone who lives alone. For the past year we've also included this walking opportunity in Eisenberg and Deutsch Schützen. A chance for people to exercise in company ( otherwise we find excuses not to do any exercise ) and perhaps socialize too.

Guess who mostly takes up the offer? Oh yes, the Zu'greisten and while we are walking in the most breathtaking rural surroundings, we usually circle back to the topic of life in the village and more importantly of how much we all love living in it.

Biggi

Twice A Day In The Hot Seat.

A funeral in the morning and an almost celestial choir performance in the evening.

The community spirit in any small village is amazing and ever present. This week one of the elderly villagers went into her permanent sleep and her funeral was yesterday. As I did know her, I went too.

When a friend had told me the time of her funeral, I must have listened with only half an ear, because yours truly did a dress rehearsal on Friday...It only dawned on me while walking to the village church, that I was the only one in black walking in that direction. At first I thought that nobody was attending as she did have that peculiar way of being older and slightly caustic. When I got to the church though, I had the fortune to read the real time.

Anyway, Saturday morning saw rather a lot of villagers in the church, attending her funeral. Outside it was bone chillingly cold and inside the church it wasn't much better. Built in the 1700's the modern comfort of central heating was yet a twinkle in someone's eye. Coupled with the aesthetics of a catholic church, made yesterday morning a cold affair.

I had sort of dressed warmly, but let's be honest, who keeps a warm outfit in black for these somber occasions? I tried my best to look the part and luckily, they had an electric blanket in the form of a seat covering on all the pews. My God, eh sorry, my gosh, after sitting there for almost an hour, my behind got nice an warm. Not so shabby after all.

Yesterday evening, the local choir, " Like A Rainbow " which my mum is a member of, had a Christmas performance in the the village next door. In the local church, which you can imagine was rather frosty in the evening. Despite the cold weather, the church was packed to the rafters. And rightly so...

The lights were dimmed, the setting amazing and the choir sang in a celestial style that had all of us entranced and euphorically listening in awe. Throughout my years of attending the choir's performances, I have to say that last night was the best. The sound of singing can have the ability to heal and last night, the choir sang their repertoire of songs in a way, that could only heal and leave a lasting feeling of well being. Wow, absolutely fantastic indeed.

Sitting there, being transported to a world of peace, possibilities and beauty, one tiny little point made it an A-...the priest must have thought we needed reminding of what he is preaching all the time. The eternal flames down below and so forth...and let me tell you, the bench was warmed to such an extent that it was the definition of a hot seat...At the finale, when everyone stood up and cheered, quite a few were happy to get a bit of cold air under there...

Biggi

Another Top Placement For The Eisenberg Fire Department Team.

Our team takes 2nd place in Rauchwart

All that training does pay off and yet again the Eisenberg team did fantastically well. Gosh you guys, it is becoming a habit!

The various competitions might sound like fun, but don't forget what they actually are. In the competitions the men have to show how fast and accurately they can get the gear into use to douse a fire, to save lives. Ingenious really when you consider that most villages don't ( luckily ) see a lot of fires. But through these competitions, they are current, fast and on the ball for emergencies.

It's all very well having a firetruck, but knowing how to use it and the equipment is the most vital part of saving lives.

Naturally, the various villages taking part in these events are extremely competitive and after the prize givings, there is robust boasting among them. And why not, they train jolly hard for it. Don't forget that most of the villages have volunteer firemen and any training gets done in the evenings or on weekends.

Above and beyond!

The last time Bob's team were placed, Bob was given the team's trophy to bring home. His sanguine team members had an inkling that it might impress me enough, not to moan like a fishwife about the fact that Bob was only coming home at 2 am...Eh, it did the trick.

Last night, even though they won 2nd place and a trophy, Bob didn't bring it home. No need to, as he was home and dry by 10 pm. I did deliberately say dry, as the competition was a Nass Bewerb and this time around, they used water. Sounds easy, but if one coupling is not connected properly, either no water runs or all the water comes out in the wrong place.

Well done, Eisenberg Fire Department, you are amazing.

Biggi

Bob's Wine Adventure In Rechnitz.

The Spring-Wine-Weekend in our area.

Our roads, far from being lined with gold, are littered with pedestrians on their way to the next wine tasting. Ingenious indeed, that a collection of villages in the superior wine region of Südburgenland ( ie.us ) have organized this weekend where for the price of an entry ticket, you can walk, hop on hourly bus and merely go along to the next wine tasting.

As small as our village is, it was abuzz yesterday. Bob, had wanted to taste his way around all the villages too, as last year we only went to one wine tasting. Unluckily or rather luckily for me, I couldn't go with but a husband needs to go off on his own too ( how else do they appreciate our wit and charm unless they don't see it for a while? ).

As I had suspected, Bob only came home after the sun had gone, to see other parts of our planet slightly tipsy but no more than that. It seems he had picked up on my trick of matching a glass of wine instantly with a glass of water. Most of us do know the effects of drinking wine all afternoon without having water along with it...The next morning might be rather disastrous.

Normally we just drive through Rechnitz and don't stop to take in its beauty. With Bob and his crowd tasting their way around the Rechnitz vineyards, it has opened up another avenue of adventure. Tasting wines from Rechnitz has also put our local wines into perspective ( oh yes, we are still fans of wine from Eisenberg and Deutsch Schützen ).

Bob, was telling me the in's & out's of his afternoon and I could hear how taken he was by the spectacular beauty of the hills covered in vines and that he had an opportunity to witness this splendour alongside his friends. As he was enthusing about his adventure, he suddenly gave me a bottle of red wine.

" I bought you a present. After tasting this particular red, I thought that you would love it."

How nice is that? With Bob having discovered a new wine route, on those weekends that there is nothing to do, guess what, we can meander through Rechnitz and its vineyards. Rechnitz is also at the bottom of a magnificent mountain range and to drive over it, is something special everyone should try.

Biggi

As Bob has taken this photo, I can just tell you that it is in Rechnitz. But what a beautiful photo!

Is there a better way to have a wine tasting?

It seems that riding a horse is fine, even if you tasted wine...rather a novel and brilliant idea!

" You Speak Pidgin Too? "

This art of communication leaves a lot to be desired.

The moment you hear yourself using it, is a cringe worthy one. Quite frankly I tend to use it too. How awful, yet I can't help myself. Whoever taught us to use our language in a pared down pidgin variety?

Of course pidgin English is a great example and a lot of folk used it back in South Africa to converse with non English speakers. Stupid really, because how else does one learn the language.

We were in Hungary yesterday and I am ashamed to confess that the German I spoke had a touch of pidgin about it. I know I tend to pare down the language and speak slower yet there was no stopping me. Another cringe worthy moment that even elicited a shin kick from Bob so that I would stop it!

Isn't it arrogant of us to assume that the other person is a simpleton merely because they aren't fluent in our own language?

With Bob still learning German ( and he is getting better by the day ) or rather Austrian, no make that Eisenberg-ish, he is often spoken to in pidgin German / Austrian or Eisenbergish...gosh, even he sometimes notices it!

For Bob it is rather difficult as each village has their own accent. Even the tourists from Vienna, Oberwart or the next village over, will moan that they cannot understand the local dialect. Imagine how Bob is faring...

Even certain items have different names in Burgenland. Take the humble potato and its three different names:

Grumpian, Erdapfel, Kartoffel

Warm or hot weather gets sometimes described as:

warm, heiss, hoas

the last one is pronounced the same way as the English word horse and you can imagine that Bob for a while thought the locals were talking about a horse at the same time as sweating up a storm...

Another feature of this language called " Pidgin " ( whatever the base language is ) is that we tend to over pronounce each word. Gosh, sometimes we accompany this with a pinch of spittle and large arm movements.

Let me know if you have ever conversed in Pidgin...

Biggi

Another Sunday Full Of Sunshine.

Summer, Sun & No Surf...

Our neighbour dropped off a few organic apricots, and as one is bound to do: When life gives you apricots, make apricot jam.

Our area seems to be Stork-Central...literally and I dare say, the village does boast rather a lot of babies...

A new set of neighbours. Of course they couldn't be bothered to neigh hallo to me!

The purple guardians of our gate. Proud and beautiful indeed.

Walking next to the pond, I couldn't resist. Isn't this a wonderful image of reflection?

Different angle. Every morning I walk past this spot. In winter I am tempted to slide across it's frozen cover ( it does blink and entice me to test the icy cover ) and in summer I at times would love to throw a little stone just to see a ripple effect. The fish in there are rather big, so swimming is not a temptation for me...

A few minutes in the vineyard last Thursday.

The vines stand proud with the village in the background. Wine is the Raison d' Etre after all...

Biggi

Re-discovering Lendl's Backstube / Bakery By Chance.

Sunday morning excursions and meandering.

My Mum and I were out driving early yesterday. In fact we were coming back from Güssing. In a way, I suppose early is a relative term but here in the country 10 am on a Sunday is considered a tad to early to be careering around. That is unless you are on your way to Church. On the whole I think it might not be such a bad idea to use Sundays to relax and recharge.

Anyway, being up that early put visions of procuring a nice piece of cake into my mind. Where on earth do they come from...!! On our way home, I thought it might be fun to stop at Cafe Crustulum in Eberau but alas remembered in time that they only open in the afternoon on Sundays. Perhaps they should reconsider that option during the season, as they have the most picturesque and scenic deck upon which to breakfast, have coffee & cake or just contemplate the pure enjoyment of their scrumptious ice cream creations.

Then my Mum remembered Lendl's Backstube in Bildein. It was on the way ( taking a back road ) and we almost did a WooHoo, when we saw that they were open. In fact, we were there the minute they did at 10 am. They might have thought of us as cake addicts getting another sugar fix. I don't mind, because I love cakes.

We had been to Lendl's a few times before getting some well deserved ice cream on a sweltering Summers day or a hot cup of coffee when Autumn is on approach. They had the usual cake selections plus a few pieces that I had never seen in any of the other shops. Good, good, good. Between us we bought four pieces which might have been in connection with our eyes being bigger than our stomachs.

When we got to sample the cakes at home, we were pleasantly surprised. They were delectable, delicious and oh so moreish. To be honest, if it didn't mean driving 15 km there I may have gone back for some more. That is the one advantage of living in a big city, you can pop around to your bakeries at will...

Lendl's is well established in Bildein, which is another fabulous Burgenland village not far from us. During August, this village hosts a Music festival of note. It is a three day affair with national and international bands performing and fans can camp in the area. It could be likened to a mini Woodstock or a Splashy Fen...This one in Bildein is called Picture On.

Now I have another sight - seeing place up my sleeve when friends and family come to visit. Europe and of course, Austria are pictured in most minds as a place where it is the done thing to sit and have Coffee & Cake. Maybe that is why I am so fond of frequenting the local coffee shops?

Biggi

Spring Makes A Triumphant Comeback!

Do you also love to see Spring marching in?

Often, the advent of the different seasons is taken notice of with a more or less blasé attitude. Oh, another year and blah blah blah...yet, isn't Spring the most important season of the lot?

During Winter everything ( even us ) lies dormant and in a hibernating mode. Trees are bare, grass is either brown, or hidden under snow and birds are either asleep somewhere or are sunning themselves on the beaches and plains of Africa. In fact, a whole lot have just returned and are enduring their bi-annual jet lag! Listen, they are tweeting and twitching everywhere at the moment.

Spring ensures that everything grows again. Be it flowers, grass, wheat, vines, fruits or vegetables. Yes, we need this season. Apart from everything else, it revives us from our Winter malaise and reminds us that not everything is in black & white.

Even though officially Spring is still waiting for Winter to clear off ( at least for another few days), it sure looks and feels like it has kicked Winter out the door.

Some trees get dressed in their uplifting robes earlier than others.

The blue of the sky is a perfect setting and backdrop for the yellow buds. Bravo, Nature!

Emerging from the forest at the back of our village. The forest is still clinging on to the last bit of bareness.

Nature's colour choice is always perfect.

The village church. Building churches on a hill makes sense because it will endure any flooding and also be seen from afar...reminding us to attend.

A typical village in Burgenland. Hills or rather vineyards in the distance and farms in the foreground. Agriculture & viticulture are the mainstays here.

Biggi

Road Trip To Hungary ( Part 2 ).

Taking the road less traveled to Köszeg.

We are all in such a rush to get to wherever we think we should go. Highways and fast cars seem to do the trick. But when you go off the beaten track and take an old fashioned country road, treasures reveal themselves !

It's almost like a reward for taking this path. Even the drive is good for the soul. Curves and bends in the road, wonderful verges and often little villages that it takes you through. The cherry on the top is the fact that you drive at a more leisurely speed and thus you get to see the countryside in real time instead of at warp-speed !

On the way home from Sopron, we came through this great, interesting and extremely fetching town called Köszeg. Talk about a jewel. Character wherever you look. Remenants of an interesting past intermingled with the modern necessity of Ice-Cream shops.

Here are just a few impressions, but we will go back for sure:

One couldn't paint this any better...a little square in Köszeg.

The main square. We went on a Sunday and it was rather quiet.

There are so many ice cream shops...one after the other !

Churches are always in a great setting and are almost magnetic in their drawing power.

This picture is a bit skew, but I wanted you to see that on the outside most houses have these enormous doors, but when they are open, they reveal a lush garden area.

I love these courtyards.

This town is worth seeing. ( link to Part 1 )

Biggi

Living In A Small Village...

...what a treasure !

I wonder why I didn't discover this small village life earlier ? Living in the big cities was nice ( New York / Durban / Pietermaritzburg...working my way down in numbers ), but nothing compared to living in this small community.

Strangely enough, even going about your everyday business in New York, somewhat resembles a village feel. It doesn't make sense reading it like this, but when you live in Manhattan, your immediate neighbourhood is your village.

You get to know the actors on your stage. The butcher, the baker and the " candlestick maker ". I'd be willing to bet, that most Manhattanites, know the actors on their stage.

These are the support actors that make life special. You know, isn't it special when you walk out your front door and there is someone who knows you enough to care about you, to ask " Hey, how are you ? " . Life in a nutshell is about being part of a community and being recognized in it.

For me, it is great to go for a walk and get nods from just about every driver passing me. Naturally I don't know everyone, far from it, but being in this wonderful community ensures me friendly waves and nods.

One thing that is amazing really, is the fact that you get to know who belongs in the surroundings and who doesn't. It's almost like having a sixth sense and any stranger wanting to do nefarious business will be noticed before he has done any...the bush-telegraph sees to that !

Life is fantastic and always puts you into the right place at the right time.

Biggi

Renewable Engery in Guessing, Burgenland.

Scientists visit Guessing from all over the World

For us, a day out to go shopping, is usually to Oberwart or Guessing. Just to put it into context, we have about 400 villagers yet Guessing has close on 4000 and most of the major shops and Supermarkets.

Most likely you are sitting reading this and having a good laugh and I can understand that. But you know, when we get into Guessing or Oberwart, we do actually think of it as a big town. Once you are in a Shopping Mall, it all seems similar to any other Mall. We can easily buy everything we need and want and the items we cannot get in Guessing are easy to order online.

There is one ( of many ) amazing fact about Guessing. It has created and developed an eco-friendly method to cover most of its own renewable engery. When you read how this came about, you can only be impressed. A small place, that used to be one of the poorest in Austria has turned itself, in the space of 20 years, into the envy of the World !

Visitors, scientist and VIP's come from all over the world, to see this " green " marvel and how they can copy this process. Last year, even a King of an African Country visited with his entourage of many.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has also been a few times to tour the facilities. But as he grew up just down the road ( in Graz ), I imagine that he also likes visiting his childhood " neighbourhood ".
The various radio DJ's often sound the " Arnie " alert on the radio. People are proud of him, and always try and speak to him or get his Autograph. I know that I get rather excited when I hear the alert and often wonder when I see a fancy foreign car, if he might be driving in it.

Who knew, that by moving to a tiny village in Burgenland, I would be slap-bang in the middle of some of those famous people, whom I only read about in Newspapers and Magazines...

Biggi

Burgenland and its wonderful Villages.

Actually, Burgenland and its wonderful suburbs.

Walking around so many of Burgenlands little villages, has shown me two things. First, everyone is so friendly and trusting. There I am, looking rather " odd " , trying to keep the sun at bay ( cap etc ) and marching all over the neighbourhoods. Hardly anyone worries or cares that a stranger is passing by with flyers in her hand. In fact, when I see villagers they come to the fence and take the flyer from me and thank me as well !

Secondly, I wish you could see the how stunning most of these villages are. The gardens of most houses are almost always a showpiece. Each one different, yet beautiful at the same time. The lawns are well manicured, the trees have all had their appropriate haircut and the pathways offer themselves to be walked upon. Simply breathtaking at times.

A lot of these Burgenland villages have a romantic and fairytale feel and layout. Streets and lanes are curvey and interesting, sometimes even leading to a dead end. The church is mostly in the middle, with the church tower visible from miles away. They themselves are possibly a few hundred years old. Whenever I walk passed an old church, I try to imagine all its history. All the birth, weddings and funerals that took place through the ages.

What gives these villages its charming character is that a lot of these house and farms are old and sturdy. Walls of the old style are mostly 60cm thick, inside as well ( our house has these thick walls, and it keeps the warmth in winter and is cool in summer ). Typical Burgenland architecture. The different colours are soothing to look at, except for the odd few psychedelic ones. Original Burgenland house colors are a pale yellow with dark green window shutters.

Both Bob and I have received a little " nudge " in our backsides. Seeing how house and garden proud everyone is here, has made us determined to get our garden into a proud neighbourhood feature. A lot of our villagers drive past or walk past our house periodically, to see if and what we are doing ! It will take some time, seeing that our house stood empty for four years...and we are both not blessed with a green thumb !

Biggi

The wonderful Badersdorf. This is only part of it as I did not want to walk around with flyers and camera...

The Village called Rust is definitly worth a visit.

This is a nice example of a Burgenland home with the nice colouring.

Not a village, but I wanted to show you one view from the vineyards of Deutsch-Schuetzen.