Hallstatt- another day another mountain

I know I said that Wachau was the most gorgeous place I've ever been but I think Hallstatt takes the cake. I learned about this ancient town in my Art and Architecture class but forgot about it until my roommate Pauline showed me pictures of it online. And then I realized I absolutely had to go. 

We originally planned to go on a saturday but poor little me was just too 'sick' to go to class on friday when the weather just happened to be absolutely perfect so my roommate and I hopped on a train and went to the alps! (I do NOT condone skipping class but I think this was a pretty good excuse) It was definitely worth it as you can see, we had a incredible day. 

 Hallstatt a teensy tiny town built right into the side of a mountain located in western Austria. You have to take a ferry to get there which is just too dang perfect. 

The sun often slipped behind the peaks of the mountains because they were crazy high which created great effects for picture taking but dropped the temperature to 'I can't feel my fingers or my toes.' 

This more than ancient town was actually founded in believe it or not 500 BC!! When the celtic people and german tribes discovered the plethora of salt under the mountains they started mining and today Hallstatt holds the record for oldest salt mine in the world.

After walking through the town which only took about an hour we started the hike. Of course the easy trail was closed due to rockfall so our only option was the stairs. Ouchy, ouchy, ouchy. By the time we got up to the top my muscles already hurt and the way back down was a little scary with shaky legs. 

When we finally did make it up to the top there was no one else up there which was awesome so we didn't have to deal with tourists and got to fully soak in the sights. Plus we could then yodel as loud and long as we liked. That was pretty satisfying.

Pauline out on the observation deck that stuck out waaay out over the water. I love the feeling of flying and don't mind heights but I was clutching on to the sides for dear life this time. 

Another mountain you can only see from up on top of the trail. 

We packed some dinner for a picnic in the alps and listened to "Pines of Rome" and other soundtracks while eating. Climbing up there and seeing those alps was probably one of the most epic things I'll ever do. I always picture this type of scenery when I listen to my favorite soundtracks so actually getting to be there was a tremendous experience.