Day 43
I wanted to stay in Hallstatt for a couple days, but we just don't have the time this trip. The clock is ticking down, two weeks to go, and we have some hiking to do with our friends. So this time round we have to make do with a day trip over from Salzburg.
We caught the 9:15 Bus #150 at gleiss F (platform F). It is about an hour thirty ride to the Bad Ischl Bahnhof (train station).
Here is a good tip: sit on the driver's side of the bus for the best views.
Here is another good tip: get there early, or even take the 8:15. Our bus was standing room only, the entire aisle filled.
We transferred to the train for the last twenty minutes to Hallstatt. Tip: sit on the right side of the train for the views.
Hallstatt is like the most picture perfect little mountain town in Austria. You have seen photos of it, even if you didn't know where it is.
The train drops you across the lake from Hallstatt, where you catch a boat (waiting for the train, no need to worry about the connection) for €2,50. If you hustle just a little, you can get nice photos of the town from here.
So, just saying, it is day trip cute more than overnight cute, at least for us. I think what makes a lot of difference is that compared to a village like Castlerotto, in Italy, which is very similar in size, there is not much to do here once you get past the cute. Oh sure, you could go for a swim, and while away the better part of a day away reading on a patio. But in Castlerottot for example, you are close to miles of excellent hiking.
We stopped in at the Brauhaus for weiss bier and sausages, and had a nice talk about traveling with a girl from Hong Kong.
We walked reeeeaaaaallll sloooooow through town again.
We caught the ferry to the train to the bus where we had an hour wait in Bad Ischl. So we toured the town.
Bad Ischl turns out to be a nice little town. I didn’t realize it, but it is famous for the spa there. A couple photos are at the end of the pictures.
In addition, we passed through Fuschl am See, a beautiful town on a deep lake, with a trail around it. The claim to fame here is that it is the headquarters of Red Bull.
We drove through St. Gilgen, again on a lake, at the base of a lone mountain. There is a lift up the mountain, and lots of people parasailing off.
Finally, St. Wolfgang town on Lake Wolfgang has a beautiful church, and train up the mountain for great views.
You could make a trip just going town to town along the 150 bus route.
The bus arrived, and we were home at the crack of six.
We spent some time walking around more of Salzburg, seeing the gardens, going across the “love lock” bridge, and noticing some buildings from the 1400s built right into the cliffs that contain the city. We enjoyed some of the “whimsical” art around Salzburg, some of it deliberate, some not.
As I said, Mr. Red Bull is from here. In Strasburg itself he owns a house, three restaurants, several guest houses and the Red Bull store. We ate dinner at his restaurant, Carpe Diem, which serves the "finest finger food” in a pretty innovative style, using edible cones.
Here are the four finger foods I chose:
Beef hamburger with cheddar cheese in a rosemary cone, with french fried potatoes and homemade ketchup.
Red chicken wings with sweet corn and spicy dip in a red pepper cone.
Small filet steak, mushroom risotto, blueberries and beans.
Quail with melon, turnip cabbage and hazelnut potato noodles.
Gail had two selections:
“Best of Austria” in a glass cone. Veal lights with chive dumpling, wiener schnitzel with potato salad.
Carpe Diem cracker with three dips (wasabi, sweet salsa, curry).
I had a glass of red Austrian wine, Hauptsache Weingut Ernst Triebaumer, while Gail had the dry Riesling, Wachauer Weingut Wess. They were both really good wines.
The foods were pretty fun, innovative actually, and it was a fun way to finish the day.