500 years old farm gate

Walking again with a new friend around Ritzensee in Saalfelden am Steinernen Meer, Salzburger Land, Pinzgau-Pongau Land, Austria and taking pictures,  at the edge of the town, on the hill, we reached a big old animals farm. 

The farms here are quite different from the farms in Low Austria, the architechture and sizes are different.
I saw it about two weeks ago too, but coming from a different direction (by the way, as I took a picture of an almost ruined barn hidden in the high spring gras, my friend said:
"Oh, Anca, you already photographed it last time .... !" 
I supposed he was pissed off because I stop again and again to take pictures and to admire all the details around .... too boring for him, I can imagine.

And I replied to him: "Yes indeed, but from a different perspective (the picture below), we were coming from a different direction that time. Different direction, different perspective, different picture. Like in life." - "Yes, you're right ..."

As we passed by two weeks ago, my friends told me, he needed once some garden crap and he asked here for some. As he asked how much would it cost, the farmer demanded 5 Euros. Wow ..... 5 Euros for some manure .... In my scale of value all what I can say about something like this is: disdain, disgust, greed.

But OK, let's go on .... such of shocks I have all the time here and much worse ..... from this point of view, Austria is a very big surprise for me and I have to say that the taste is bitter.
The peasant lady was outside maturing in front of the cow stable. 

She saw us und signed me to come closer to make pictures (I hope she didn't intend to ask for a fee!!!)
And I spoke to her .... and we stayed for a longer talk about 20 minutes. I asked her how old could be the farm house. She told me, it was built about 500 years ago ..... woooow ..... 

We talked mainly about how idyllic Austria is marketed for the public and how much hard work in the background is. She said: "We are lucky to have the hotel industry, Austria would collaps without tourists. It is good for us all to have people coming here to visit the country." 

And I said: "Yes indeed. Austria is entirely a touristic country and the entire hotel & gastronomy industry would not survive without all the people coming here to work. Almost no Austrians are willing to work in hotels, only the management positions are taken by the locals. But the real team of a hotel or pension or restaurant is based on people from Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Romania, Bulgary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Greece ...."

At that moment she looked at me and said: "Yes indeed, this is the other side of the story. And this is a huge problem for Austria."

So, some Austrians really understand it and can openly talk about it.

In the picture above you see a wooden chalet. It belongs to this farmer household. There is a very small refrigerator free to be opened from anyone ....

On the fridge you can read the name and prices of the products. You can buy eggs, confiture, saussages, sour cream .... and put the money in the red box.

 What can I say? I find it wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!
And this was another talk I had with the peasant lady and I told her: "If I could, I would anihilate all the supermarkets and corporations and I would let the small family businesses to florish, so that everyone get the chance to develop itself on the own way. Corporations kill us all, people working there on low positions are exploited, low paid and have pain in their souls. This is no life for anyone and no future for us, as human beings."
She totally agreeded, of course. 

the sitting back in front of the small wooden chalet

And yes, there is much more behind the idyllic image of this country .... there is unfinite work ... hard work!

And the old iron gate, about 500 years old, will become a wooden frame and it will become the original role of .... closing and opening a room, an universe ...... 
(to be followed)