Hallstatt

Life preserver in our shuttle boat

The town of Hallstatt is one of Austria's most beautiful towns, and is a UNESCO world heritage site.  It is also closed for most of the months of October and November, due to little tourist traffic.  Of course, Rachel (my friend and fellow Fulbrighter) and I had no idea that this was the case when we made plans to visit one Wednesday that we both had off.  Hallstatt is one of the oldest settlements in Europe, as we learned in the history museum.  The Celts settled there long ago; it was a Roman trade stop, and essential to the salt trade and therefore the wealth of Austria as a whole.  The mountains around Hallstatt are full of salt.  They are also gigantic, making salt mining difficult and dangerous.  Apparently the Celts used to march pigs up the mountains and slaughter them in the salt mines so they could cure the meat right then and there.

Rachel and I took an early-ish train through the mountains, which took much longer than it should have but was thankfully a beautiful ride.  The train stops at the "station" (a tiny building with no bathroom, no ticket booth, and no platforms) where you can either wander along the tracks for miles or hop on the ferry boat to get to the town across the lake.  It's incredibly isolated and incredibly beautiful.  We were basically the only people in the town, which has only one main road and buildings built straight up the mountain and down to the water's edge.  There's a plaque that describes how the majority of the residents die of drowning or landslides (or falling, I can't quite remember), and it's easy to see why.  The highlight of our day was definitely the town's museum, where you can pay seven Euro to see excellent - and slightly laughable - exhibits about the history, nature, and art of Hallstatt.  We particularly loved the exhibit of human excrement on the wall.

Here you can read what Rick Steves has to say about Hallstatt.  I'd say it's definitely worth a visit, though it's probably a better destination in warmer months when the stores are actually open.

The Austrian flag

Rachel, my companion for the day

The beautiful buildings of Hallstatt, built right up the mountain and right down to the water's edge.

Hallstatt main square

Time travel, on the steps to the Hallstatt museum

The DOOR OF HISTORY.

Human excrement on display.

Yeah, I don't know either.

Hallstatt scenery

The ferry boat