Hallstatt, Austria

Tuesday August 18th 

We started the day in Vienna haha I woke up to Logan hanging up his wet laundry in the room, hoping it would dry atleast a little bit before we got on the road for Hallstatt. Tough doing laundry when you're always on the move! 

Yet another breakfast at the hostel in what feels like a school cafeteria. Maybe that fitting since the 6 of us went to high school together?

First thing Russ and I went to pick up our rental car for the day. A ford fiesta, party time! It's definitely different to have a car when we've done so much of this trip on foot and with trains. We have become fast walkers that's for sure! 

After getting our car we met up with the group at the big cemetery we tried to go to yesterday. (I think it might be called St. Marks?) Anyway it is the second largest cemetery in Europe, it was huge! We only saw a small part of it, but what we saw was impressive. Huge and extravagant monuments all over the place and very beautiful gardens. It also has a "Mormon section" of plots, it basically hasn't been used yet though.

There are a lot of famous composers buried there. Got back in touch with my music roots visiting those! 

On the left you have Beethoven's grave. The middle is a monument for Mozart although he is actually buried in a different cemetery a few miles away. On the right is where Schubert is buried.

Also in this section are the graves of Strauss and Brahms.

Quite the lineup of composers! I hope they all like each other.

A closer look at Beethoven's grave.

Aaand proof that we were really there :)

That was our last stop in Vienna, then it was time to drive to Hallstatt! It's a beautiful little lake town in the Austrian Alps and ever since I saw pictures of Robbie and Angie there last summer I just had to go! It was one of the stops that made me start contemplating this trip in the first place.

To get there was about a 3 hour drive. Goodness gracious it was a beautiful one! Russ and I had so much fun chatting and loving the scenery. We even stopped on the side of the road for pictures, even though pictures never do it justice. 

The hills really were alive with the sound of music! We were singing that song all day.

No big deal, just a castle on the mountain.

When we actually got to Hallstatt we stopped at the first little park there was.

Just having fun with my love in one of the most beautiful & magical places on earth! Can't beat that :)

I love him and I love this place! 

Anywhere you go you want to take a picture. Post card worthy view everywhere. 

We went out on this little island park.

Don't be shocked but there are also swans all over the place!

The little town is just nestled onto the mountain.

Surprisingly enough we took even more pictures than I'm posting! 

I just can't get enough! 

Between the 6 of us we rented this little electric boat for an hour. Liz, Logan & Tom went out for half an hour & then Chelsie, Russ & I for half an hour. 

Best 30 minutes! So peaceful & gorgeous! 

We had so much fun! 

I captained that beast of a vessel....which had about the same amount of horse power as a mini jeep for 5 year olds.

Being on this trip with Chelsie has been such a blast. Exploring Europe with the first friend you ever had is pretty sweet :)

Here we are "then & now":

We grabbed dinner in Hallstatt. Döners for most and I was able to put together a really good salad at a mini grocery store. 

Soon it was time to say goodbye to the perfectly picturesque Hallstatt. Ah dream land. 

The rest of the group drove straight to Munich. Russ and I had a different route. We drove to Salzburg. Yet another gorgeous stretch of land.

For a while the road we were on felt more like a bike path than a road. So tiny! 

What if you lived right there?! 

I don't think I'll ever get tired of all these mountains! 

We had to drop off our car by 9:00 in Salzburg. We got it all taken care of at 8:55 and took off for the train station just a block away. We weren't exactly sure on the schedule but we wanted to get to Munich as quick as possible. When we got into the station we saw on the screen that there was a train leaving for Munich in one minute so we took off running. We had our big backpacks on & I was also carrying a grocery bag in each hand that was just heavy enough to make running awkward. Up the stairs we sprinted and down the long platform stretch. Finally making it to the right train we jumped on. Russ asked an employee if we could buy tickets from him and he told us to just sit down and they would come around to us. So we went and found a seat. As we sat down, and the train started to pull away we started to notice that this was a really nice train. Then we saw the logo "rail jet" and for sure realized "oh no! We got on a really expensive train!" Ooops. Haha! 

We contemplated getting off at the very next stop...but since it was a fast train it only had one stop between Salzburg and Munich but it wasn't for 50 minutes! So we ended up paying extra for that train, still less than dropping off a rental car in a different country though. We had a good laugh about it.

It felt great to fall into bed. We stayed in another Hostel where the 6 of us are the only ones in a room. 

Tomorrow we make our way to Switzerland!