We took the funicular up to the high valley where we saw the salt mine itself and got to slide down miner's slides! We had such a great time!!
Day 11: Exploring Celtic Hallstatt
I am 16 Going on 17We spent our morning winding our way to towards Austria's Saltzkammergut and lovely lakeside Hallstatt. We first made a brief stop outside of Salzburg to see the gazebo used in the Sound of Music for the number 'I am 16 going on 17.' I love the movie and made Brett participate in the photo op. He was a good sport. We then headed to the small town of Mondsee to see St. Michael's Church which was used for the wedding of Maria and Captain von Trapp. The Church had some magnificent altars and memorials. And some things you don't see in the movie - human relics. They covered those up for the film.
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Our hotel & room with large bathroom. Lake trout dinner & our amazing breakfast spread. The square outside our hotel was beautifully lit as night descended.
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Our Arrival in Hallstatt
Upon our arrival in Hallstatt we boarded a waiting boat for a turn around the lake. It was a beautiful day so it was quite enjoyable and relaxing. We also got to try some homemade plum schnapps. It was quite strong to say the least.
Hallstatt MuseumThis little museum was fabulous! It did such a great job of outlining the history of the town of Hallstatt, which means the place of salt, and exists because of the salt. Salt really was everything to this town. There is even a Celtic Culture, the Hallstatt Era 800-400 B.C., named after this town and its' importance because of salt. This culture stretched from France to the Balkans. The museum has countless artifacts excavated from prehistoric grave sites around the mine as well as all sorts of artifacts associated with the B.C. mining of the salt, such as this cone shaped miner's hat made of fur, 14th-8th century B.C. I just loved this little hat and examined it for quite some time!
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Hallstatt Salt-Mine Tour and the High Valley
Deb and I showing off our special pants for going down the miner's slides!
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After educating ourselves on Hallstatt and its' inhabitants who relied so heavily on the salt mine at the museum, we headed up the funicular to the high valley and our salt mine tour. Like the special pants we wore?! They help when you slide down the miners slides. We loved them!! Anyway, we headed up first to the mine where we immediately joined a tour. Pictures of us in our get-ups had to wait until after. Once inside the mountain we followed our guide through several caverns and learned how 250 million years ago ocean salt wound up inside the Alps of Austria, as well as mining techniques from 7,000 years ago to today. At the end of the tour you watch a 'movie' of bronze age miners doing their mining and using the oldest wooden staircase in Europe. This 26 foot long staircase was dated to 1108 B.C.!! The highlight was sliding down the miner's slides, especially the longest in Europe at 213 ft.! Our guide practically flew down it and over the gate at the bottom! He managed to land on his feet:) To get out you board a little miner's train and zip back out of the mountain. We then used the Salzwelten app to explore the high valley. The Hallstatt Era inhabitants lived in the high valley close to their mine, not along the lake. Various stops along the path tell about how they lived, preserved their food, buried their dead, and how highly they valued their salt mine. We absolutely loved our salt mine experience and would highly recommend it!!
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Our Afternoon & Night PhotographyAfter our salt mine tour we took the funicular back down to the town and walked through the few streets to the Catholic Church which has a lovely view over the town and lake. Behind the Church is the Chapel of St. Michael and its' bone chapel (Beinhaus) which contains over 600 skulls that are lovingly decorated and marked with the deceased's name and date of death. The well tended graveyard has little plots that are almost like individual garden plots and, of course, a cat. We then had a lovely group dinner of lake trout and afterwards Brett and I headed out for some night photography. The RS guidebook tells you which vantage point is best for night photos and which is best for capturing the morning light.
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The Catholic Church, view over the town, candles lit inside the Church, the Beinhaus, the cemetery, and our jolly table at dinner.
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These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things!
We loved lovely lakeside Hallstatt! Our favorite things were the small museum that did an absolutely fantastic job explaining Hallstatt and the importance of its' salt mining history, taking the Salt-Mine tour and riding down the miner's slides on specially designed pants, and enjoying the beautiful evening while doing night photography.