Blogs from Hallstatt, Upper Austria, Austria, Europe - page 2

“The thing about travelling is that you will never get bored of the things you see, because they are always different, no matter how similar they can be.” The phrase just rung in my head as we admired the beauty of Hallstatt from across the lake, when Steph and I first disembarked from the train. I thought I saw sceneries familiar to this, perhaps in Halong Bay or somewhere else, but Hallstatt’s landscape just blew me off completely. The houses stack upon each other on the mountains, seemingly symbolizing humans’ touch encroaching nature. The immensely clear lake reflects off the houses along the lakeside, giving them a symmetrical paint-like image in the waters. The snow-capped mountains at the backdrop add the final touch to the picture-perfect scenery that is ever so breathtaking. Wow in exclamation. We ... read more

Geo: 47.5573, 13.647After a hearty breakfast at our Gastof, we drove to the Krippenstein Valley (only a five minute drive) to catch a cable car up the mountain to the Krippenstein Middle Station. We thought the Funicular that took us up the mountain to the Salt Mine yesterday was steep. It has nothing on the Cable Car. When we reached the Middle Station (750 metres up from the valley floor), we walked up a steep incline to visit the Ice Cave. The entrance to the Ice Cave is literally on the mountain side, and is full of ice flows, even in the middle of summer as it is over here now. The Ice Cave was very cold, so it was just as well that we wore warmer clothing to what we have been used to wearing ... read more

We woke up early our first morning in Salzburg to take the city tour. After a tricky morning realizing that we had to put coins in a machine to get hot water and that our b and b owner didn't quite understand the concept of bed AND breakfast, we were picked up by the tour company to join the rest of the group. The city tour was about an hour long and the history was fascinating. We saw sights from the Sound of Music movie and palaces built by Austrian kings. The city was definitely proud of their Mozart roots as souvenirs with his face displayed were everywhere! After the tour, we had time to spare before our train so we jumped on a city bus to a mall. We desperately needed to buy a new ... read more

Hallstatt egy csöppnyi ausztriai barokk kisváros, melynek neve a kelta hagyományok szerint „a só helye”, lakosainak száma 1 000 fő, ami a hely szűke miatt lényegében évek óta nem is változik. A városka érdekessége, hogy egyetlen főutcából (Seestrasse) áll. Különleges ékszere a festői természeti környezetén kívül az a kis gótikus templom, melynek három különösen szép szárnyasoltára van. A helyszűkével küzdő kisváros különös és egyben bizarr nevezetessége a templom kertjében található teraszos temető, melyben a halottak maradványait 10 évente kiássák, majd koponyájukat kifehérítik. A koponyákat festett virág- és babérkoszorúkkal ékesítik, majd a fehér „homlokra” gót betűkkel vésik fel a elhunyt nevét. A templom melletti sziklafalba vájt Csontház így őrzi a megboldogult földi maradványait. A városka a szikla lábához, egymásra épült házak csodálatos sorából áll, a városlakók a már említett ... read more

Today we took a day trip to Hallstatt in the lake country. This was to be a major stop on our tour and we were planning to spend several restful days there; however mother nature intervened, the cold rainy weather the past week, made the thought of camping in the moutains unsavory. It was only a few days ago that we planned to go today to Hallstatt, which turned out to be the perfect day! We caught the bus, a little more cramped than the train, but that's O.K.. We saw some nice little towns on the way up and saw a wonderful moutain lake at Oberion, where we had to switch form the bus to the train. Winding it's way through the moutains the train dropped us off at an abandoned station across form Hallstatt, ... read more