Leg Day
I needed to set an alarm today for an early morning wake up to head out on today's excursion: Hallstatt. It was a bit of a "milk run" to get there but the views were spectacular and totally worth it. I walked to the bus station to catch bus #150 to Bad Ischl then the original plan (as confirmed by my hotel concierge) was to catch another bus to go the final distance. However, THAT bus was not due to depart for another 2 hours once I had arrived. Nope. Plan B...the train! And it had arrived 10 minutes later. Perfect!
As I was walking onto the platform I heard someone shout out to me...WTF? Who do I possibly know HERE??? Lol. Turns out it was the English couple (Nicky & Steve) I had met in Innsbruck at the top of the mountain. We had joked about seeing each other "later" since we knew we were all headed to Salzburg...and BOOM, it happened! What are the chances??? Today when we parted ways, we said "see you in Vienna!" You never know!
We hopped on the train for the 30 minutes journey to Hallstatt - then once off the train, we walked down this incline path to catch the ferry which was waiting for us to take us 7 minutes across the lake. The views were incredible - straight out of a fairy tale. But "Oh My Quads"...the stairs! It was quite the workout walking around (and up) in the village, and just when you thought you had reached the top...more stairs.
I went to all the quintessential photo op places (as did everyone else) and once again the weather cooperated. Some people were doing "photo shoots" in this one spot. OMG, I thought I was bad....lol. 
I figured getting to the funicular early would be a good idea since the village had started to get busy. At the top - there was a Skywalk for amazing views over the lake. Then the 650m trek to the World's Oldest Salt Mine...oh yeah, this trek was uphill! This visit is only offered as a guided tour and everyone gets to wear protective clothing - very stylish!!! (nope!) The tour was better than expected.
To get to different parts of the mine (back in the day), the miners used these slides to get to where they needed to be - literally slides! So this adventure has been re-created for the tourists. Not once, but twice - two times the sliding fun!
Funicular round trip, Skywalk, Salt Mine Tour was only 43 Euros - one time purchase included everything - very convenient. To get back to Salzburg I had to simply do everything again, but in reverse. Had to wait a bit for the train in Hallstatt - but hey, there are worse places I can sit and chill while waiting for a train!
Once back to Salzburg it was time for dinner and a celebratory cocktail in the hotel's rooftop bar - I figured I earned it after a long day - even if it was white wine. (iykyk)
This featured blog entry was written by moorsey88 from the blog Austrian Adventure.
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