Bruck und Neusiedl

Met up with Sonja yesterday in Bruck an der Leitha. I was impressed to find that it is only 1.70 Euros by train from Eisenstadt to Bruck. I was expecting it to be at least 3.40 since the bus from Eisenstadt ot Rust is that much. Apparently, Eisenstadt and Bruck are in the same zone, so it's not as much. Had lunch with Sonja at a quaint Gasthaus near the Hauptplatz after being thwarted by family lunch outings for confirmation Sunday. Eating Berner Wuerstel again was a treat. Afterwards, I was able to pull some money from the ATM right before our nice, long walk through the main park in Bruck. It's more of a wild park than a groomed English or Japanese garden, but Sonja and I like that best. The park even had some young sheep and goat that graze all day. It was really hot, so most of them were simply taking naps. Had some nice, strong espresso at Sonja's apartment before I took the bus to Neusiedl. Even though were were together for four hours, it was a good, worthwhile visit.

It was a little hard to shift gears from English with Sonja to German with Roni and Angela when I got to Neusiedl, but things got better as the evening progressed. Had some ice cream at San Marco's -- the best Italian gelatto place in Burgenland. Once we arrived at their apartment, I helped them put together the 5000 piece puzzle that they've been working on since last summer when I visited them. We were able to secure about 20 pieces between the three of us. Tower of Babel -- you're not so tough! Instead of playing games later in the evening, we watched two Agatha Christie mystery film adaptations. I forget the titles now, but there were both stories with Jane Marple, a zany old woman who makes Angela Landsbury look like a wet puppy. I find that murder mysteries are even more curious in a second language. Angela and I were able to correctly guess the first movie's murderer (the doctor, of course), but I had no luck with the second one.

This morning, I returned to Rust. Had a quick Muesli breakfast with Roni and Angela before they took me to the train station. Angela has a Ju-jitsu champions match later this afternoon. I hope she does well. Finding the correct bus stop in Schuetzen am Gebirge took a little longer than I anticipated, but I still had time to take some photos of some Fusball advertisements in the Dorfplatz.

Am now in D.'s room, trying to beat the heat. Later this evening I will take the train to Vienna to overnight at a hostel. My train leaves for Triest at 6.30, so I want to be in the city tonight to be sure I can make the train. Alles gute!

Am now