Hallstatt, Austria

April 12, 2015

We arrived in Hallstatt, Austria around 10am this morning extremely excited to check in to our amazing hotel and tour this breathtaking village. It was cloudy but the sun still made an appearance. However, when we arrived at the hotel we were quickly informed that the chalet we had rented had an additional 120 euro service tax which would bring our grand total to 250 euro per night! Obviously, we weren't willing to pay this (and I definitely am not rich), especially that it had not been noted anywhere, so we left on an adventure to find another hotel... an adventure which would soon prove to be a difficult task.

Up in the mountains of Wolfgangsee, was a beautiful hotel/farm. They had a lot of deers, sheep, goats and chickens surrounding the chalet. The chalet itself operated on a water turbine for all electrical needs. We enjoyed a drink on the wonderful patio and a delightful lunch then made our way for the village of Wolfgangsee since Hallstatt was now 50km away.     

We enjoyed some goodies, company from two lovely swans and a gorgeous view of the mountains. We also chatted with some locals, got some great suggestions on what to see and what to eat.

   

We did some shopping (again) and found some cute Austrian goodies (I'm starting to worry about how the heck I'm going to bring everything home). I've tried to get some unique every day items from each place I visit for myself plus I got some gifts for birthdays I missed while away (my luggage was already loaded). Truth be told I love gadgets from other countries! 

Once we finished taking all the awesomeness in we made our way to... McDonalds! I've eaten more McDonalds and Burger King on this trip than I have in the last few years in Canada! I'm unfortunately used to eating late, and everything here closes early... except McDonalds! I've gained some weight on this trip (still in shape, just not my usual fit) and I'm very eager to get back to the gym and training. 

Unfortunately, that was the end of today... I know it wasn't very interesting, but a rest day felt good even if it was unplanned! Tomorrow we will hit up Hallstatt and the awesomeness will be back on track :)    

April 13, 2015

Awesomeness back on track... NOT! We arrived in Hallstatt at 10am this morning after driving 50km from our hotel (which we only stayed at to be able to visit Hallstatt) to find out that everything in the city does not open until MAY. The worse part is that they advertise online that they are open, and they allow you to buy tickets, but everything is actually closed! We were scheduled to go in the Salt mines in the AM, visit the bone grave, the five finger platform and the museum in the afternoon and have a boat cruise in the evening (I made reservations online for most of these). Yet 90% of the above do not begin to operate until May. The bone house was suppose to be open, but it was closed and no one in the city knows why. The platform found in the mountains was also suppose to be accessible but due to maintenance being done on the cable cars it was closed for the next few weeks.

    

I guess this will just be one more reason to return to Austria in the future... Hallstatt did, however, offer some amazing views and still provided an awesome resting place to relax (after all I am still on vacation, so how bad can things really be)!   

Hallstatt is also home to a large number of swans, everywhere you look you see them and they are quite friendly (I actually pet a few and they are so soft) except one in particular that snapped at my leg (it is a nasty pinch, but was actually a funny moment).  

Hallstatt offered some amazing views... until it rained! However, even when it poured the view was beautiful just in a different way. The photo below is taken approximately in the same area with about a two hour time difference. I think it's pretty crazy to witness the quick change in climate in the mountains.  

We were back in our hotel by about 2pm (we wanted to move on to the next city, but we couldn't cancel our hotel without a 80 euro charge, so we decided to just stay and relax). I worked on some blogging (right now) and I think it won't be long before we both pass out. Tomorrow we make our way to Venice (I've wanted to go since I was little) so no matter what happens I'll be smiling and living the dream!

Hope you are enjoying the entries and photos, even on boring days like today! Small heads up, I have a blog for every day, sometimes I have to post multiple blog entries on the same day due to poor or non-existent wi-fi connections so be sure to check out other blog post you may have missed ;) 

Thanks again everyone for following along! 

- San