Salty Sea Breezes in HallstattHallstatt was an unfamiliar place to stop, sandwiched between the much more famous cities of Salzburg and Vienna. But it turned out to be just what our tour group needed. Hallstatt is not only scenic, but also a great place to decompress before jumping into the hustle and bustle of cosmopolitan Vienna. We got to travel like a miner speeding down wooden slides in the cool air of Hallstatt's historic salt mines, hike down a steep mountain for lovely views of the lake, and congregate in cozy restaurants for a beer or a whole roasted trout. We hadn't heard of Hallstatt before we got there, but we will certainly never forget it.
Our favorite thing: arriving in this lovely city by boat with our tour group |
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Off to the Old Salt MineA brief trip up the funicular takes you to the salt mine of Hallstatt. Upon changing into your "salt-mine" suit, you proceed to walk a distance into the depths of the mountain where the mine is located. The mine, in operation for 7,000 years, has witnessed the improvement of technology from mining with animal bones, to extraction from brine pools inside the mine, to extraction from the surface using concentric pipes. Learning about mining from the "Man in Salt" was a bit creepy, but we all enjoyed the race down the salt mine slide (the most efficient way to travel between levels inside the mine). It was fun to hear the wind whistling in our ears as we raced our fellow Rick Steves' tour members, Wayne and Judy, to see who could put up the fastest time on these wooden slides. Rick was feeling pretty proud of his speed, until he saw our tiny mine tour guide fly by several kilometers per hour faster than he'd been going. The most interesting discovery of our tour was the display of the oldest staircase ever found. Apparently salt not only preserves meat, it also preserves ancient, wooden steps.
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The Early Bird Gets the PhotosHallstatt is considered one of the true gems of Austria's Lake District. In fact, it is considered so beautiful that our tour guide Donald tells us a full replica of the small town was built in China. (We have not fact checked this and are going to just assume it is true, because that would be fun.) We also found that Hallstatt had plenty of quirk to go along with its sea-side charm. Waking up early one morning, we walked through the town (which has about 1,000 residents and many tourists) before most people were awake, happening upon such sights as a giant chess set, a private rock climbing wall, and a pear tree growing as part of a house (presumably you could just reach out the window and pick off a pear to prevent scurvy). Seeing all of this only made us like Hallstatt more.
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Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone: Elyse & the Trout CheeksBefore leaving for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, I made a conscious decision that I was going to say "yes" to things that would typically make me uncomfortable or even queasy stateside. That included trying any and all local specialty foods. (This is actually quite easy when most places serve awesome cheese and chocolate.) When Donald came through the bus taking orders for our group dinner in Hallstatt, I had a moment of doubt, but went ahead and ordered Hallstatt's specialty: a trout roasted whole to seal in the moisture and flavor. I was a little apprehensive when I first looked at my plate and really happy when I noticed the nice kitchen staff had put flour over the fish's eye. Then, I dug in and realized why Hallstatters prefer to cook fish this way. It was one of my favorite meals of the entire trip, a really delicious dish even compared to the other wonderful meals we had. When my brother pointed out that Asian cultures cut out and eat the "trout cheek" near the gills for good luck, I was totally game. Too bad we didn't have our fish cheek luck before we went to Baden-Baden's casino.
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