RAINER'S RAMBLINGS
Austria today
By RAINER ARNOLD

Many years ago when I was editor of the Union Sentinel a gentleman wrote in about how littered Union County was and he compared it to Austria. Since that time I have been to Austria several times and I can attest to how clean this country is. I have been here over one week and have have not seen litter on the side of the road. However, I have seen cigarette butts. That is about all.

As I write this Ramblings I am sitting in a internet caf in Grein, Austria. It is located right on the Danube and life is different here. It is quiet and simple. There is not the hecticness of life in the U.S.A. People here enjoy nature and keep it clean and refreshing.

For example, there are no billboards advertising this hotel or that restaurant. You drive through the countryside and you will see no billboards. There are road signs directing you to this town or that restaurant if it is not on the highway you are on.

So, let me tell you some other things about this small country in central Europe. They have problems with immigrants as well as we do in the U.S.A. But, they do not have road signs in those languages. If you want to live there you have to learn the language which is mainly German.

They drive fast in some places but in towns they stop for pedestrians in the cross walks. You can safely walk across the streets. They are polite to hikers and bikers. Bicyclists that is. They ride bikes by the thousands. From 6 months to 76. The young ones are in front or in the back of the bike and off the family goes. They take a tent and camp out in numerous places suited to what they are doing. They have bike paths everywhere and when they are on the highways, drivers slow down for them and do not get angry at them.

There are still the daily rituals of going shopping on a daily basis. That way the food is fresh and tastes better. There are butcher shops with hundreds of lunch meats most of which no one in Union County has seen. As a matter of fact, there are many that I have not seen until this year.

There are bakeries and the pastries, breads and rolls are delicious. The pastries are like the ones you get in a fancy 5-star hotel, except they cost but a few cents instead of many dollars.

The service is slow since the food you order is not cooked

until you order it. It is reasonably priced compared to eating out in Blairsville or Hiawassee.

They have food for anyone and all tastes. There are Chinese Restaurants, few Mexican Restaurants and you can even get vegetarian and children's menus.

And now the final point. There are no stray animals running around the streets and highways that I have seen. However, dogs are taken everywhere and they are accepted in restaurants, hotels, tourist boats on the Danube and pubs. Stores encourage you to bring your pets. It seems as if these dogs are part of the family and thus are treated by merchants and businessmen as if they are a legitimate part of the family like a child. They are welcome everywhere.

Oh, before I forget. The dogs are well behaved. They are on a leash for the most part but they are all nice. They sit at the table of their owners and do not go anywhere else. They don't raise cain or bark a lot. They do not beg for food and I have not seen anyone feed their dogs at the table. I have even seen this one lady take her dog on a bike ride. The little dog sat in the basket in front and enjoyed the tour.