"Stork Town" a Rust Travel Page by ray_d

65 Km South East of Vienna on the A3, heading away from Bratislava is Eisenstadt.
Left and past St. Margarethen and reaching as far a the Hungarian border, is Rust.

The Village lies on flat land next to Neusiedler See.
The Neusiedler See is 60 Km long lake, half of which lies in Hungary.
The wetlands are world renowned for its birdlife. Reeds form huge areas of inaccessible animal habitat.

Rust is a pretty village, mostly known as the nesting place for storks.
As with most villages in this part of Austria, you feel as if you have taken a trip, hundreds of years in the past.
Only the cars parked on the cobble-stone roads betray the passage of time.
The lake is so shallow that a stiff wind would expose the bottom from the direction of the current.
Walking the slight rise of Hauptstrasse with decorated Barn-doors on either side, one observes the Stork nests.
They perch precariously over chimneys and roofs. Huge reed and stick affairs.
Summertime, the place is teeming with Tourists from the surrounding countries but this September only couples seemed to inhabit the quiet streets.

Conradplatz lies to the left and a lane directs you to Rathausplatz, a triangular square of pleasant proportions.
Surrounded by centuries old buildings, the feeling of a world in slow motion is evident.
Rathausplatz is the centre. 2 wonderfully simple churches occupy each end of the square: Fisherkirche and Kath. Kirche. They blend into the post-card surrounding without surprise.

At the entrance of the square lies the Rathaus (Local Government Building) and an arch-roofed alley possessing the village's contribution to modernity: An electronic display of available accommodation, restaurants and places of interest. A few pokes of buttons finds you the right place for the right price.

We decided on Hotel-Restaurant Am Rathausplatz. A pleasant old hotel underneath the church steeple with an attached pizzeria. The room itself was, as most in Austria: clean, comfortable and well equipped.
That evening was perfect to chat of live, walk and talk of recollections of childhood and enjoy no other distraction than the chirp of birds replaced by the cool wet of the evening air.

The Inn Roemerzeche catered for our evening meal.
The village is not one for raging. It is a place where walking and relaxing is the pastime. Entertainment is really limited to the lake-shore where you can hire bicycles, sailing or motor-boats or a ferry. Camping facilities are also available.