BMW European Delivery - Day Two

Just Before Take-off

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Not being able to use my Panasonic camera I couldn't get a good shot of these guys a few seconds later when they noisily took to the air. The male sounded like a marathon runner at the end of an uphill race with all his grunting and wheezing.

That is One Old House

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Rick Steves claims that many of the homes here are built on the foundations of three thousand year old ruins.

Not Much Shopping Today

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There were only three stores open in town. I don't know why a souvenir shop, a mini market, a soap store and a knick-knack place were the only businesses open but we spent time inside all four. We did our fair share of window shopping as well.

It Looks a Little Different than It Did on Rick Steves

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When he visited the town it was devoid of snow and ice. A town band performed and Rick was served Schnapps sample in this square. Today it was dead and even the fountain was boarded-up.

It Does Have a Certain Charm

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Even though Hallstatt was virtually a ghost town we both enjoyed it immensely. It was worth putting on all those extra miles on the new car.

Standing By the Dock of the Bay

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We thought about taking a boat ride but none seemed to be operating. The ticket booth appeared closed for the season. Later the influx of tourists taking the train/ferry began to arrive. I'm not sure how you get back to the train if the ticket window is shuttered.

The Catholic Church

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Hallstatt has two churches - a Catholic and an Evangelical. The Catholics got the spot on the hill while the Lutherans were right next to the ferry dock.

Boathouse Row

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Standing near the dock we were just a few yards away from the Imbiss (snack) stand. The smell of roasting sausages and French fries permeated the air. It was making me hungry. We decided to take a break before climbing up the hillside to the more scenic section of town.

The Church and Imbiss

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The Lutheran church rises above the tiny Bosna stand (brown and red buildings). The one table that sat in the sun was occupied by a couple of the Asian bus travelers who weren't eating or drinking anything. We found a spot in the shade and devoured our Bosna and bottles of Märzen.

I Don't Always Drink Beer but When I do...

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I drink Zipfer Märzen. Check-out the sunburn.

One More for My Photo Essay

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"The Doors of Europe"

I Can't Get Enough of This

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I think we've been to this area of Europe at least 25 times in the past 40 years and I am not in the least tired of it. Every time we visit we discover something new while re-enjoying the familiar.

Graveyard of the Catholic Church

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The real name for the Hallstatt Catholic Church is: "Katholische Pfarrkirche Maria Himmelfahrt". I'll stick with "The Catholic Church". Bodies are only interred in the cemetery for 15-30 years. They are then dug up and the skulls are put in the Beinhaus ossuary . Many of the skulls are lavishly decorated. Now we have to go back and see the bone house.

A Very Cold but Beautifully Ornate Little Church

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No matter where you go, whether it's a huge basilica or a remote countryside chapel, you will always find lavishly decorated nave. The altarpieces in this one date back to the Middle Ages.

Descending from on High

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The walk down from the church was an interesting stone staircase hewn from the rock. At intervals there were doors leading to caves in the cliffside. Some had doorbells. Along the way we had to watch for icy patches, but for the most part we were more likely to encounter the chilly waters of melting snow from the roofs.

Picture Perfect

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As we started to make our way back along the shoreline on our way out of town more and more Asian tourists arrived by bus. Although the town itself is charming I'm not sure there was too much of interest for first time European visitors with most of the shops and other attractions closed.

?

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The second last stop of our day in Hallstatt was at the knick-knack shop that we had explored hours before. We bought a couple of decorations for the home and then stopped in the souvenir shop across the street where I had to get some of the local salt. We took advantage of the pay toilet one last time before getting back to our car.

Major Delay

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I decided to take a more circuitous route on our way back toward Salzburg. Heading temporarily south then due east from the lake we came to the one street village of Obertraun. As we started down the street we saw numerous local folk dressed in wacky Halloween outfits guzzling booze as they made their way in the same direction into town. Soon all traffic stopped. Up ahead a big Fasching (Mardi Gras) celebration was taking place. It was some sort of parade but there was absolutely no movement at all for close to half an hour. We simply sat stuck in a long line of vehicles trying to get down the only street. Finally the wagon in this picture headed-off to the right into a shopping plaza full of celebrating drunks. Traffic started moving a short time later. Following the L547 again we climbed up over a huge mountain through the Koppen Pass, a seasonally open road that just happened to be passable thanks to the mild weather. This would have been the ideal spot to use the oft-neglected GoPro. Again I forgot all about it.