Hallstatt - Beauty with a Pinch of Salt

It's an early start today - and even earlier than I intended as I read the departure time as 7:25 when it is actually 7:55! Still, that's better than misreading it and it was actually 6:55... We are into a taxi and off to the OBB station - I do like a train ride...

And as we are early, there's time for coffee and a croissant. The croissants were quite large and we were halfway through them and just having a rest when a lady came to the table. We thought she was going to clear the plates and we said no, we hadn't finished. She was quite persistent and insisting we give them to her. She was a beggar, asking for the food off our plates. I gestured that I was going to eat it and she gestured that she was going to eat it. Took a while but she eventually went off to another table - never had a beggar inside a restaurant asking for food!

Then there is the quick visit to the loo - with the 0.50 euro charge, the toilet seat actually turned and cleaned itself as you open the door to exit! So that was almost worth the money...

Then up to the platform and on to the train.

I had heard that Austrian trains were very punctual and they certainly seem to be - right on 7:55, off we went, out of Vienna and into the Austrian countryside.

We have to change trains at Attnang-Puchheim and we notice immediately that it becomes more scenic and beautiful. 

The mountains start appearing and it's so picturesque!

The new train doesn't have the screen with what station is next and the announcements are in German so we can only gauge by the expected arrival time, which is 11:24. But it does become obvious that Hallstatt is the next stop as everyone is getting off - and they announce this one in German and English!

So off we hop, then we have to get a little ferry across and it is gorgeous! 

Hallstatt is often called one of the most beautiful towns in Austria and it's pretty easy to agree with that...

We are too early to get our room but we can check in and leave our luggage. And it is good to see Hallstatt is keeping up with the good-looking Austrian men record - here is Christopher....

Then it is time for a quick sandwich in a quirky shop - had a ye olde display section, pharmacy, little grocery and a restaurant.

This is our hotel - Seehotel Grüner Baum. It is opposite the town square.

Then we have time to have a wander, and a gasp or three!

The town of Hallstatt has been mining salt for 7,000 years! Amazing! And they have a salt mine tour, so that is what we are doing this afternoon. Almost the worst part of the tour is that you have to ride the funicular up to the top - and this one is a little larger and higher than the Budapest one. You can see Alison sizing it all up - she doesn't like heights...

But there is nothing for it but to hop in...

..worth it when you get to the top...

..just slightly picturesque...!!

We had to walk a bit further along until we got to the main building - there had been helpful pointers along the way.

We then put on the attractive miners garments, to protect our clothing, I'm guessing. We are not sure whether Alison might have got the children's size - the pants are very short!

We meet Robert, our guide, who speaks first in German and then in English, he was great. Then it's another walk up more stairs (!) before we get to the mine entrance and head inside the mountain.

We are quite a way inside the mountain, it does give you a slight idea of the conditions the men (and women and children) used to work in. Then we arrive at the miner's slide - this was a quick and easy way for them to move between sections - you have to sit and just slide down, don't try and stop using your feet or hands, just go for it and it was hilarious!

So down we go, then through to where they have some examples of the salt in lumps - the orange one has  iron in it that has rusted.

The next section has a video, showing how salt was mined 7,000 years ago - making this the oldest salt mine in the world. 

This video showed how the salt was deposited when the salty sea got trapped, water evaporated, salt was left behind and the movement of the continental plates caused the salt to move inside the mountain - the video explains it better than I just did!

Then we are at the section where there is another slide that is four times as long as the first - hilarious! We go straight to it and jump on. We are allowed to go two at a time so I go first and Alison holds on for dear life and down we go - and they take a photo...

See how fast we are moving? That is at the peak of the ride. It was hilarious and fun - and I think Alison enjoyed it - she had been a bit worried about it when I had told her that on the mystery trip, there were two occasions she had to be brave - yesterday's Time Travel ride was the first, this was the second, although we nearly had another one with Blarney Castle...

When we get to the bottom of the slide, at a very fast rate of knots, we arrive on a huge opening with lighting off on the sides and a lake in the middle - it's amazing and beautiful - an underground salt lake. Sadly it won't photograph well... Robert plays a light show video thing which shows more on the evolution of salt mining. 

Then to a section showing the difference between mining styles - dry mining and wet mining, using brine.

Then a story told by an animatronic miner on how one guy died in a mine explosion many, many years before but he had been preserved by the salt and was still fairly 'intact' when they brought him out.

Lastly, an underground video showing the life of a child miner and then showing the world's oldest ladder that had been found here. 

That's the end of the tour and to bring us out, they sit us in an old miners' train and we ride out - such fun - though you wouldn't want to be super talk or claustrophobic!

Daylight!

And that is it, we get rid of the mining gear, collect our hilarious photo and head back down the funicular - who knew salt mining was so interesting - we weren't even aware that it was something that is mined!

Back down the mountain and our room is ready - and boy, was it worth the wait!

This is our room...

..and see out that window...

..pretty spectacular!

So we sat out on our balcony and just soaked it all in. 

We had another example of our favourite thing - the Japanese tourist with a camera - this couple were on the dock below us, with their tripod, taking all sorts of shots - this was the best - she sat down with the tripod, which was in danger of going into the lake a couple of times, and he took photos of her taking photos!

Then it got a bit cold and we were a bit hungry, then it was time to go downstairs for dinner. We thought we would have a stroll around and see what this beautiful place is like after dark, with lights on, but it was pretty quiet and we figured it would be unfair for this place to be as amazing at night and in the day!

Looking forward to exploring a bit more in the morning - and perhaps coffee on our balcony....