A Day in Austria
We left our not so nice place in Salzburg as quickly as possible this morning. It was not the nicest place we have stayed so far to say the least and definitely a lot different from our lodge in Erlenbach. We randomly came across a small bakery for breakfast and then made the short drive to Hallstatt. This is another one of those postcard perfect places. It sits right next to a lake with mountains rising all around it. The homes have these beautiful little yards and there is plenty of delicious food and shopping for knick knacks. We started with a cable car ride up the side of the mountain (which seemed to be almost straight up) and had a great view of the lake and surrounding area from a platform that jutted out over the town. There is a salt mine tour we didn’t do - salt is why this town even exists - but did walk up to the entrance and saw some of the historical buildings, fountains, and a skeleton.
Lunch was at a little cafe by the lake and I had some amazing lake trout. We went to a little shop with wood carvings - particularly nativity scenes - and I was going to buy one until I found out that they were from Poland (including the wood). So some of my friends bought a couple of things but I decided to pass. We got ice cream (today was a particularly warm day) and then made our way back to the car for the not so short drive to Vienna. Traffic made it even longer but the views and good company make it more than bearable.
We turned in our car, which was a kind of sad moment. She was a good little Skoda and took us on some fun adventures. We then walked around for a little bit and happened upon a massive Indian wedding at the Belvedere Palace. The music was wonderful and there were so many people wearing brightly colored clothes. The palace grounds were so nice with massive hedges and statues of Greek gods and goddesses. After about thirty minutes of walking around we happened upon yet another pizza place. I may have eaten more pizza on this trip than I have ever before in my life. We also had our first run in with a sketchy homeless person harassing us even in the restaurant.
Obviously we have wonderful working internet again as I am posting these. This place is much better than Salzburg. We even have towels.
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