The Lake Nestled in the Mountains - Day Five

We took a trip to the amazingly picturesque lakeside mountain town of Hallstatt. It's easy enough to get to. At the train station, take the 150 Post Bus (long distance bus) to Bad Ischl. The ride is an hour and a half to the Bad Ischl train station, the last stop. From there, you get out and get on the train, getting off at Hallstatt. It wasn't the quickest trip (it ended up taking us about 3 hrs. one-way), but the journey was filled with rolling green hills and ends in the mountains.

When we got off at Hallstatt, we were greeted with a lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains. You need to take a ferry to cross the lake to get to the town.

We wandered around town trying to find the best spots for photo ops. It wasn't terribly difficult.

I had a snack in the form of a mohn (poppy seed) ice cream cone. It seems like an odd choice, but I was immediately drawn to it because one of my favorite salad dressings was poppy seed (sadly, that restaurant is now defunct). The ice cream was as delicious as I'd anticipated.

We ate doner kebabs on the lawn near where the ferry dropped us off. This was our view.

After lunch, we walked up the hill to the cathedral. It had a small cemetery, in the same style as the beautiful one under the Salzburg Castle.

Off the cemetery, there was a room filled with skulls. I didn't go in because it freaked me out. Hubs took some photos. Since the cemetery was so small, it would fill up and then the skeletons would be removed to make more space for the newly deceased. The skulls were memorialized with paint. It's strangely beautiful, but it still creeps me out a little.

Feeling like we'd had the complete Hallstatt experience, we headed back to Salzburg. We got off at Mirabellplatz and walked across the river. It was a gorgeous, warm, sunny day.

We walked back over to the Salzburg Dom and enjoyed the plaza near sunset. Lots of families were out and about.

We ate dinner at Zwettler's, which had been recommended to us by a couple at Barenwirt, and it didn't disappoint. I ordered the special of chilli knodeln, dumplings stuffed with spicy sausage served over saurkraut.

Really rich and filling.

Hubs had goulash with an egg and a dumpling. The meat was fall-apart tender.

And some good beer.

Beware, if you eat from the bread basket, it will end up on your bill. Lesson learned.

2 beers + 2 specials + 1 pretzel + tip = 31 euro.

After this long, journey-filled day, we headed back to the hotel early to try to get a full night's sleep.