We left Salzburg early Wednesday morning. Our drive to Hallstatt was a short 2-hour bus ride. When we drove into town, it was like driving onto a movie set - everything was so picturesque. Every window had a colorful flower box and those windows without flower boxes had wooden balconies with gingerbread railings.
Hallstatt sits on a lake and is surrounded by the Alps. We dropped off our bags, grabbed a quick sandwich at a quaint little bakery, and headed up the mountain. There were 2 trails leading up to an old salt mine. We opted for the southern trail , since it claimed to be 10 minutes shorter. There was a little cafe at the top where we stopped for a beer and the view (I love this country). I had something called
radler, which is a mix of beer and lime-flavored soda. I'm not sure I would want to drink it all the time, but it was sort of refreshing after a long hike.
We took the northern route on the way back. Since it was 10 minutes longer, we thought it wouldn't be as steep... wrong. It was not only longer time-wise and mile-wise, it was much, much steeper - so much so that we often ended up climbing down steel stairs attached to the ground. This route ran through a rain forest and an avalanche area (that was a little creepy walking past all the warning signs). I doubt I would have made it to the top, if we'd taken this trail up the mountain instead of down.
For dinner we had trout, the local specialty since we were on a lake. Our hotel was absolutely gorgeous. Our room overlooked the lake and the mountains. It was right next door to an old stone church, which luckily turned off its bells at 8:00 pm. Unfortunately, they started ringing again at 6:00 am.
