Hallstatt, Austria

October 7

Day 11 – Sound of Music highlights and Hallstatt

As we left Salzburg on our bus, we made two fairly quick stops related to the Sound of Music:  the Hellbrunn Palace gardens, where the glass gazebo from the “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” song was filmed, and St. Michael’s church in Mondsee.  Both are actually very pretty places to visit, so even if you aren’t a fan of the movie, they are worth a look.  Additionally, we had a few minutes in Mondsee to grab a coffee and pastry and a local shop – which were very tasty.

Hallstatt, however, was the highlight of the day.  Our bus dropped us off at a pier where we boarded a boat for a private tour around the lake.  The views from the lake are just incredible (see the photos).  My only wish is that the sun had come out a bit.  The boat dropped us and our luggage off on a pier right near our hotel, which was the stunning Hotel Gruner Baum. 

After a quick lunch at a döner kebab stand, we had all afternoon to explore Hallstatt.  First on the list was the must-see Bone House in St. Michael’s Chapel.  It was equal parts creepy and fascinating.  The rest was just a great walk around the beautiful little town, with a bit of shopping on the side.  I even bought myself a gorgeous, hand-knit sweater from one of the local artisans. 

We had a group dinner at the hotel, after a happy hour to say goodbye to our driver, Sylvan, as this was the last night we would have dinner with him.  Once he drops us off at our hotel in Vienna tomorrow, we will not see him again.  For the fish lovers, dinner included trout caught in the lake that day.  Fabian provided a quick tutorial on how to properly de-bone the fish, for those who needed the assistance.  I had the chicken.