The Adventures of Eloise and Abbey: June 2015

We took a daytrip to Salzburg from Hallstatt. Salzburg is not only the land of Do Re Mi where a number of scenes from the Sound of Music was filmed but also the birthplace of Mozart. So everywhere you looked there were all things Mozart, from Mozart houses to restaurants bearing his name to statues of Mozart to Mozart balls ... yummy chocolate balls that are an Eloise favourite.

Mozart haus (museum)

Streets of Salzburg

We off course visted Mirabell Gardens where many scenes from the Sound of Music was filmed.

Mirabell Gardens

Salzburg was a great city to wander around in and we spent just about the whole day doing just that !

Bridge with lots of locks

Salzburg

Creepy looking statue!

Salzburg

Spectacular! It really is a picture postcard town and at every second corner you can just imagine the Von Trapp family singing and yodelling through the hills. We had 9 nights in Hallstatt which is in the Salzkammergut region in upper Austria and it was so very picturesque!

Hallstatt

Hallstatt Town Square

Hallstatt in the early morning

View of Protestant church from Catholic church! Hallstatt

Hallstatt

Hallstatt boat sheds

Hallstatt timber roofs

Even the cemetery was picturesque

Our pensione (Sarstein Haus) was right on the lake and the view from our bedroom and kitchen were simply breathtaking!

View from our kitchen window

Our balcony

Ferry taking passengers across the lake to the train station

Our pensione, Sarstein Haus

Our Hallstatt backyard!

In Hallstatt we visited the salt mines. It was quite an interestin going into the bowels of the mountain and learning about how they dug the salt out. The best part for the kids was going down the slides ! The trip up to the salt mines itself was an adventure involving a funicular.

Trip up to the salt mines included a funicular ride up a very steep mountain

Abbey hung on tight during the funicular ride!

On top of the mountain

Top of the mountain

Viewing platform for Hallstatt

Hallstatt from up high

Hallstatt viewing platform

To get into the salt mines we had to put on protective clothing that made us look like the Mario brothers! We later worked out that the protective clothing was to protect your own clothes when you when sliding down the giant slides at high speeds!

Putting on their protective clothing!

Ready for the mines!

Felt like we were being led to the chambers!

A long long walk thorough the mine tunnel

Europe's oldest timber staircase was found in this mine in Hallstatt .... some 2000 years old but well preserved by the salt.

Steep and very long slide ... clocked at a very safe pace of 11.5km per hour

A little more daring .... 28.8km per hour!

Train out of the mines

The girls were exhausted and hungry after their time spent in the salt mines and were happy to stroll back into town for some soup by the lake. The Austrians love their soup, particularly clear chicken broth with noodles which was the girls' favourite and a rich hearty goulash soup.

Walking back into town for lunch

Lunch by the lake

The girls really loved their soups in Austria

During our stay in Hallstatt we also went up to the Five Fingers platform which involved a couple of cable cars and a hike through some absolutely amazing scenery .... some of which included glaciers and others made us feel like we were in a scene from the Sound of Music.

To get to the top, two cable car rides were required !

Girls looking a little nervous during the cable car ride

Very scenic cable car ride

We were greeted by snow when we finally got to the top !

Our very scenic hike up to the Five Fingers platform

High on a hill were some not so very lonely goats!

Glaziers in the background!

View down to Hallstatt

Not sure I would be brave enough to paraglide through these mountains!

What a view!

The hills are alive!

Spectacular views

Soaring through the skies

We made it!

Five fingers viewing platform

Five fingers platform

Five fingers viewing platform

Five fingers viewing platform ... one three of the five

Waiting for their picnic lunch to be prepared at our picnic spot

Picnic spot with a view

What a view !

The hike down was just as scenic

From Hallstatt we also did lots of daytrips to surrounding villages. The drive through the country side was breathtakingly beautiful and the villages were all very pretty.