Kim: Hallstatt is a small town in the Salzkammergut Lake District area between Salzburg and Vienna. Three thousand years ago it was the salt-mining capital of Europe. Today its a great place to relax and enjoy the scenery, which is exactly what we did. We spent one day hiking and touring giant ice caves in the Dachstein mountains and one day swimming in the freezing, glacier-water lake. The ice caves were really “cool.” The tour was a one hour trek through an icy, eerie, underground world with temperatures just above freezing. It was really cool to see the crazy ice formations underground. Apparently they are continuing to get larger and deeper every year. One formation we saw was more than 29.5 feet tall. Its like Kartchner Caverns but frozen. Crazy! The ice crystals all over the ceiling were really pretty. Especially when the tour guide would shine his flashlight on them. The ice just seemed to glow. I’m really glad we decided to wear pants and bring sweaters along because although it was a hot summer day outside, it was freezing inside.
The next day we had a picnic at a park and went swimming in the lake (again, freezing). But it was really hot outside so it felt pretty good.
Hallstatt was amazing. So incredibly beautiful. A little town right on the edge of a pretty lake. Doesn’t get much better than that.
Darren: I know I probably say this too much, but Hallstatt really was one of my favorite places on the trip. The place we stayed was a short walk up a path that followed a crystal clear creek. Our place sat in a little valley between two huge mountains. We had a great view from our room’s balcony and I spent quite a while out there reading and just listening to the sounds of the rolling creek water, the breeze and a couple of really funny birds that sounded like they were whistling at each other. In addition to that, we ate lakeside every night and enjoyed walking around a small picturesque town every evening.
The ice caves were amazing and much grander than the “ice-cave” we used to take friends to up on Mt. Graham. It was pretty shocking how cold it got the deeper we went down. Once we got back outside we had a picnic along the trail and then walked out to a lookout point. Kim was curious enough to look into a metal container that had a chain hanging out from it part way. Turned out to be a box for a set of binoculars, good find babe! We took a look out across the valley and the lake far below. Nice view!
Jumping into the lake was great. We also considered it our 4th of July celebration. It was hot outside but still took some courage to get into that water. I was proud of Kim for getting in with me. There was a make-shift wooden diving board that someone had constructed off one edge of the lake. It looked like a plank. We jumped off of it together…I think we counted to “three“…I may have pulled her in on “two.” Either way it was fun, right sweetie? J
The next day we had a picnic at a park and went swimming in the lake (again, freezing). But it was really hot outside so it felt pretty good.
Hallstatt was amazing. So incredibly beautiful. A little town right on the edge of a pretty lake. Doesn’t get much better than that.
Darren: I know I probably say this too much, but Hallstatt really was one of my favorite places on the trip. The place we stayed was a short walk up a path that followed a crystal clear creek. Our place sat in a little valley between two huge mountains. We had a great view from our room’s balcony and I spent quite a while out there reading and just listening to the sounds of the rolling creek water, the breeze and a couple of really funny birds that sounded like they were whistling at each other. In addition to that, we ate lakeside every night and enjoyed walking around a small picturesque town every evening.
The ice caves were amazing and much grander than the “ice-cave” we used to take friends to up on Mt. Graham. It was pretty shocking how cold it got the deeper we went down. Once we got back outside we had a picnic along the trail and then walked out to a lookout point. Kim was curious enough to look into a metal container that had a chain hanging out from it part way. Turned out to be a box for a set of binoculars, good find babe! We took a look out across the valley and the lake far below. Nice view!
Jumping into the lake was great. We also considered it our 4th of July celebration. It was hot outside but still took some courage to get into that water. I was proud of Kim for getting in with me. There was a make-shift wooden diving board that someone had constructed off one edge of the lake. It looked like a plank. We jumped off of it together…I think we counted to “three“…I may have pulled her in on “two.” Either way it was fun, right sweetie? J