The village's main street is closed to traffic, and the participating restaurants move long tables right up to the road. They were so crowded it was often difficult to find a seat. Carnival operators moved in to operate the rides and man the booths; we were told they are Indian.
The weather was warm and summery on Friday, Sunday and Monday, but on Saturday it was cold and rainy, then later in the day just cold. It felt like Houston winter to Bob and me, but it didn't even slow down the Austrians. They take all kinds of weather changes (and there are many) in stride.
Some of the rides for kids.
This was by far the most popular ride for the older
kids. It was almost always full and ran from midday
to almost midnight.
I love this picture of the ride at top speed.
Some of the booths offering products for sale.
This is the tram operated by a company in nearby Mattersburg.
It took visitors on a ride around Klingenbach. Bob and I
tried several times to get on it, but it was always packed.
Of course one of the most important activities at Kirtag is eating. Three of the town's restaurants participated - Gregorits, Schoko and Burschi (Gabriel, the owner of Zwonarits has the nickname of Burschi). Besides their regular fare, they offered different types of grill specialties. Bob and I got the spareribs and chicken wings at Burschi's several times. On the last day the food was officially free, but they asked for donations. All the proceeds go to local children's sports.
Two pictures at Gregorits
Two pictures at Schoko's
Two pictures at Burschi's
I want everyone to know that Bob ate every bite of this.
When it was cold on Saturday, they put this up at Burschi's.
Gabriel Zwonarits (Burschi)
Michael Zwonarits and Desiree
Thomas Zwonarits and Carina
More staff at Burschi's
People around the Kirtag
Teenagers - a lot of them over here go for a punk look.
Andy, Me, Kreso
Dudo and Marija with Mara
Ljuba
Live music with Gerhard
Tania (on right) with a friend
Hotwell summer intern, Lydia, and her boyfriend
People will dance anywhere - here are some at Burschi's.
Kreso and a friend
Bob enjoying the fest
Me on the hottest day
On the last day the local band played traditional Austrian folk music at dinner time. This is the same band that played on May Day (my first blog). On that cold, blustery day they wore their scarlet uniforms.
And there were plenty of dogs at Kirtag. Here are three.
Around ten or eleven in the evening, many people adjourned to Burschi's Bonanza Bar which is located beneath the restaurant.
The Bonanza Bar consists of three consecutively more casual bar areas and runs perpendicular to the restaurant through the length of an old bowling alley - about 80 to 100 feet. We heard that the partying went on until dawn every night of Kirtag.
Here's a group dancing to Croatian rock music.
Thomas played deejay and offered a real mix of music, including Creedence Clearwater Revival (my favorite group), Croatian and German rock music and, I swear, a German version of the old Connie Francis standard, "Nobody's Fool." That was a definite blast to the past for me - back to junior high! Bob actually got onto the dance floor where we danced to "Midnight Special." After three beers we left and heard later that the diehards stayed till seven a.m.
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