We say goodbye to Franz for last time this morning, blurry-eyed from last night’s wine but not heavy-hearted.  He’s off to Eisenstadt on business and tomorrow we leave for Italy; Petra and their boys will stay behind with us and show us around Vienna, before joining him back in Hungary this evening. Before she takes her […]

The children stroke Chuli and Aphra goodbye.  We are off to Vienna, which, according to Zippy, is the capital city of ‘Sausages’. We leave in the car with our faithful guides Franz, Petra, Paul and Emil, and pass the stork’s nest, the vineyards, and the border towns along the way.  Within an hour the landscape […]

Yesterday it was decided that the brown hen was the chosen one.  Now all that is left to do is choose the knife.  Franz doesn’t want to use his beautiful Japanese ones – they’re not sharp enough, allegedly – so Petra suggests an Ikea blade.  I’m not so sure, and try to recall ever seeing […]

The area of Austria that Franz comes from is Burgenland, situated on the Austria-Hungary border, where his other winery and family home is situated. He drives across the border from Balf most days and remembers doing so as child sitting in the back of his parent’s car. Nowadays the commute is easy and the check […]

The weather has been faithful, and by morning the skies are clear and blue.  We will harvest today. Franz left early to fix a pump at the winery, and we anticipate his return as Petra fixes us coffee and porridge to fortify us for the labours that await in the vineyards. The vineyards are a […]

Zippy and Roo are very happy here. It’s a relief for their parents who, amidst all the twangs of their own absolute excitement about this backpacking adventure, were actually a little bit terrified that it would all go a bit – well, very – wrong. Before we left, I remember telling family, friends and other […]