Storks and Spinsters in Smalltown, Austria

Five things I learned yesterday about Rust:

1) Of the 250 storks that summer there each year, a lazy group of four or five hang back each winter, knowing they'll be fed and cared for by the doting locals.

2) Fistfuls of Austrian gulden and cases of wine offered to a greedy emperor bought the town its autonomy within the Austro-Hungarian empire back in the day.

3) The townsfolk used to hide away all the spinsters and alcoholics, housing them in an alleyway off the main square.

4) There is always at least one misfit in every guided group,

and

5) The storks are so cute they should get their feather-faced cheeks pinched: