From Bad Ischl, we resumed our automobile road trip in our newly rented Nissan Qashqai (aka Koshka), driving another hour to the village of Hallstatt. After some waiting, we parked at Hallstatt's Parking Lot 2 (near the funicular base).
Hallstatt was famous for its salt production, dating back to prehistoric times of early Iron Age Europe around 800 B.C. Because the Salt Mines can get very cold, we packed our cold-weather jackets in a backpack.
Hallstatt was famous for its salt production, dating back to prehistoric times of early Iron Age Europe around 800 B.C. Because the Salt Mines can get very cold, we packed our cold-weather jackets in a backpack.
We purchased the combined funicular and salt mine tickets and boarded the funicular to the top of the mountain, where we were impressed by the magnificent views of the valley below. It reminded us of Balestrand, Norway, and was just as beautiful. We saw a few brave souls paragliding into the valley in the distance.
It was pretty cold inside the salt mines, and we donned additional gear to protect us from the stains left by salt.
The inside of the Salt mines was quite intriguing, and we learned a lot about the latest methods for extracting salt.
After touring the Salt Mines, which took about 3 hours and lots of uphill walking, we got a quick bite of cake (the rest of the kitchen was closed) at the nearby café (that was closing at 5:00pm) and walked around the Skywalk, which offered a magnificent view of Hallstatt.
After touring the Salt Mines, which took about 3 hours and lots of uphill walking, we got a quick bite of cake (the rest of the kitchen was closed) at the nearby café (that was closing at 5:00pm) and walked around the Skywalk, which offered a magnificent view of Hallstatt.
Afterward, we took the last funicular to the base (at 6:00pm), dropped off our cold-weather jackets, and walked into Hallstatt's downtown.
We decided to rent some electric boats to tour the beautiful lake – but all the electric boats were dead – their batteries were drained by previous renters. No matter; we rented a standard rowboat, and Alex and I took turns rowing on the beautiful Hallstatt Lake.
After finishing rowing, we decided to have dinner at Hallstatt's Braugasthof Restaurant.
All the restaurants catered to tourists, and this one had a lovely lake view. Inna and Alex had fresh trout (from the local Hallstatt Lake) for dinner while I tried the duck. Inna's trout entree tasted much better.
Of course, we could not resist dessert.
After dinner, we resumed our drive to our new residence in Dorfgastein (on the Tobhartbauer family farm). Finding the house at night was a bit tricky, and we arrived slightly later than expected – at 9:45 pm. Our host greeted us and quickly showed us our room, where we rested.
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