Innocents Abroad: Chapter 41

I'd heard of the Steppe, the vast, semiarid grassland of eastern Europe and Siberia, across which the Mongols and Tatars galloped to ravage Europe. The Great Plains of North America are a similar geographical feature. But I had never heard of a steppe lake. Neusiedler See (pronounced Noy-zeed-ler Zay) is the only steppe lake in Europe. Located along the Austro-Hungarian border, it is 22 miles along and varies from three to nine miles wide. It is extremely shallow, from 40 to 72 inches deep across the entire lake, and relatively saline.

The main feature of a steppe lake is that it is an endorheic basin, a closed drainage basin that retains water and allows no outflow to other bodies of water. Water can leave only by evaporation and seepage. About 18% of the earth's land drains to endorheic lakes or seas, the largest of which are in Asia. Endorheic basins and lakes are located on all continents.

Neusiedler See (which means New Settler Lake) is a popular recreation area, Austria's first national park, a significant European bird sanctuary and a World Heritage Site. The reeds that surround most of the lake are harvested during the winter and used as construction material for housing. The area was densely populated from the 7th century BC and was popular during Roman times. Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, was born here in 454.

So those are the facts about Neusiedler See. Bob and I kept hearing about it during the spring because Hotwell friends took windsurfing lessons there. Sailboats, windsurfing, parasailing, small electric and paddle boats are all popular activities. We visited the lake in June when Kate was here and saw the western side at the village of Rust where it's hard to see the lake for the reeds.

You can see the reeds that surround most of the lake
in the background. This is an inlet where sailboats
are berthed, and outdoor cafes proliferate.

Some of the sailboats.

This is one of the resort hotels at Rust. Note the small
electric boats available for rental.

You can also rent a paddleboat.

This is a small beach available for hotel guests.
Note the gate blocking public accesss.

These two pictures show a public pool complex. This
would be a fun place to take grandchildren (hint hint).

Reeds surround the lake except on the far eastern side at Podersdorf. We live approximately southwest of the southern tip of the lake so last weekend we drove all the way around the north-to-south oval to get to Podersdorf. We were surprised to discover that several kilometers north of Podersdorf the road was closed, and we had to take a long detour and approach the village from the southeast. We didn't know why but as we drove a circuitous route through the village in a long line of cars, we saw signs advertising a fest being held in the village on that day. A rock (if you can call it that) band blared across a PA system, and hundreds of people milled about the main street. That was fine; we enjoyed watching the people but really just wanted to see the beach, take a short walk on the sand and wade in the water before heading back home. Imagine our surprise when we saw that every access road and path to the beach was gated and locked (permanently, not just for the fest). We've never seen that at any beach anywhere. Somewhere in town you must purchase a ticket and then insert the ticket into a mechanism on the gate. At a cost of 4 Euros each (about $5.60), we decided to forgo that experience.

The fest attracted a lot of visitors.