Visit to Andau, Burgenland

The caravan was finally cracked out and hitched up again. For a change, the Oldies were staying quite close to home – in Andau, in the eastern Austrian province of Burgenland, to be exact. I’m so used to vertical or close to vertical topography, it’s quite a change to see horizontal Austria. It’s flat here. Real flat. Even her Ladyship didn’t complain when His Lordship proposed a cycling trip. Well, not as much as usual anyway.

They pedalled off along the Fluchtstrasse, ‘Escape Road’ or ‘Road to Freedom’, so-called because between 60,000 and 70,000 Hungarians fled into Austria across Andau bridge and along this road in 1956 in the aftermath of the uprising. The Russians blew up the bridge in November of the same year.

As we stood on the bridge which was rebuilt in 1996 in commemoration of events 40 years earlier, we watched a nutria swimming across the canal, or to be exact, from Hungary to Austria, as the canal marks the border between the two countries. There’s an international swimmer for you!

Nowadays, the Road to Freedom and the path along the canal are part of the Iron Curtain Cycling Trail which runs from the Finnish-Russian Border to Turkey. The way Herself went on about it, you’d swear she’d completed the 10,000+ km of the trail, not the pathetic 0.1% of it that she covered that day.

At Andau Bridge the noise was deafening. Cuckoos, pheasants, blackbirds and dozens of other bird species shouting their heads off, toads croaking, bees buzzing, crickets cricketing… And to top it all, a convoy of vintage tractors joined the cacophony, including an ancient Lamborghini, which, of course, sent Her Ladyship into raptures. Lovely setting, but quiet it was not!

His Lordship spent some time in Burgenland during his military service and has often talked about the friendliness and generosity of the locals. Sure enough, once the Oldies got chatting to one of the tractor drivers, not only did he ply them with shots of superb 20-year-old apple schnapps (homemade of course), he also insisted they take a couple of takeaway beers to ensure they got home without dying of thirst on the way. Now I know why the traffic I saw – be it cars, tractors, scooters or bikes – seemed to be weaving about like mad on the straightest road for miles!

The Road to Freedom is itself is about 9 km long. Dotted along it are sculptures which, like the Andau Bridge, date from the 40^th anniversary of the Hungarian Uprising. Some of them, particularly those made of wood, are showing their age at this stage, but all were most striking, especially in these beautiful natural surroundings.

This is a paradise for birdlife and, indeed, it’s a conservation area for the endangered eastern imperial eagle and great bustard. These rare birds are certainly treated like VIPs (or VIBs). I was impressed to learn that after a few great bustards died due to colliding with overhead electrical wires, the cables in the entire area were put underground to prevent further losses. If only the Oldies would recognise what a rare bird Yours Truly is and dish out the VIP treatment accordingly!

The Dynamic Duo met a few birdwatchers at the campsite who were highly disappointed that they had had no luck spotting the elusive bustards.  Amazingly, His Lordship had barely mounted the first viewing tower when he spied one in a field nearby. Even Herself who’s as blind as a bat managed to catch a glimpse of not just one, but two of these hefty birds, who, at up to 18 kg, are the heaviest birds capable of flight. The males are right show-offs by all accounts, puffing up their throats and practically turning their feathers inside out in their mating dance so they end up looking like giant snowballs. Well, whatever tickles your fancy.

This is wine-growing country of course, and I suspect that alone was reason enough for the Oldies’ visit. Andau itself is home to quite a number of well-known winemakers. One, Scheibelhofer, features the pride of the area, the great bustard, the Grosstrappe, on its bottles…

… and I got trapped between these two!