Bob Shows Me A Small Corner Of His Office.

What a view.

Bob had to drop something off in Rechnitz yesterday afternoon and I went along to keep him company even though it only took an hour. He's in the midst of harvesting and I don't see him so much at the moment. His boss has a vineyard on the outskirts of Markt Neuhodis and Bob wanted to show me where he often spends time tending those vines with the crew.

Bob's office is amazing, scenic and beautiful. In fact all of the vineyards he works in are amazing, lucky fish indeed. Nonchalantly, as we were driving up the little lane to this vineyard, Bob said:

" You know Schatzi, you should come here with the car and do a nice long walk. "

Eh, I think not as it is at least 20 kilometers from us. Maybe when an adventurous streak hits me. On the way back down the hill, I couldn't believe it when out of the blue a fox slowly crossed the lane. In the middle of the day and as big as a German Shepard.
Oh my goodness, dangerous territory indeed and I have to wonder why Bob wanted me to walk there. " Nagging wife taken by fox " would make great headlines...

As it was a picture perfect Burgenland day yesterday we took the scenic route home. Bob has the wonderful ability and talent of finding out of the way roads and places. If he can, he will forsake highways for the more alluring byways. Only a few days ago he stumbled onto a new village. Well, new to him at least. Zuberbach, and he took me through it. A small village that has a stream running through it with most of the houses situated on either side of it. As small as Burgenland is, it still holds undiscovered treasures for us.

What a great place to work...

Markt Neuhodis in the background.

Biggi

A Trailer Full Of Grapes.

A sign of belonging...

This really will show my age without a doubt but it has to be. A long long time ago, ads for cigarettes were ubiquitous. The most exclusive of these ads were created for the cinema and left most of us mere mortals wondering at the lives of the rich and famous. Subliminally we were told that all we'd need was to have a cigarette in our hands to change our lives for ever. Ironic, isn't it? A particular one that springs to mind was the Peter Stuyvesant one.

Smoke a Peter Stuyvesant cigarette for your international passport to smoking pleasure.

Now we just shake our heads at such stupidity, but back in the day one was tempted to inhale this passport. If only to also be able to sit aboard a luxury powerboat, looking pretty and being surrounded by smoking hunks!

Well, yesterday was the day to harvest the Uhudler grapes and it took five of us three hours to do the actual picking. When every last grape was harvested they were put into red crates, which were stacked onto a trailer. A trailer being pulled by a car ( small fry in the harvesting department as the big guns drive huge tractors...ultimate passport indeed ) which I had the fortune to sit in.

It was a sunny and bright day yesterday which meant that the Who's who of Eisenberg & Deutsch Schützen were harvesting. Even as I picked the dark, plumb and sweet Uhudler grapes in my row, I could hear the jolly banter of pickers in the next vineyard only interrupted by the sound of tractors fetching the crates.

Driving slowly to our cellar to de-stem the grapes, we passed several villagers along the way. When they saw the trailer bursting with grapes they gave us a nod of acceptance and belonging. Being seen pulling a trailer full of grapes can almost be likened to our passport to village pleasure...

Biggi