Day 27 - When magic meets reality: Hallstatt

June 27, 2022

You know those days you dream about? Where you’re visiting a place you’ve always wanted to go, and everything is luminous, wonderful, and turns out exactly as you’d planned?

This was not one of those days!

Things started out on the right note. We planned our day trip to the stunning town of Hallstatt, and made a stop on the way to enjoy another Luge. Luge rides are all over Europe, and the boys had such a ball in Bavaria we thought it would be fun to enjoy another one. This particular Luge is built into a ski slope, and required a Gondola to take us to the top of the hill. We all took two rides down and it was a blast! After our rides, the boys played yet another game of mini-golf, the game that seems to be available around every corner in Europe, just as it is in the States.

We then finished the second leg of our trip with a 45 minute ride in the car to Hallstatt. I’d read up on this village, noted for its coastline on Hallstatt See, remote in the Austrian Alps south of Salzburg. I had a hard time finding the best way to navigate by car, and followed the directions for the train route, assuming there would be a proper train station, with a lot to park our car. After an hour and half of driving, our google map directions brought us to a drive that appeared to be large enough for a car. Once we arrived to the train station, there was nowhere to go with our car. It was clear that we were, in fact, on a pedestrian walkway, and would have to backtrack the two miles we’d taken our car down this lane. Whoops! Thankfully, we navigated back out within fifteen minutes, and drove back to a town called Obertraun, where we could catch a ferry to Hallstatt. What made this all the more merry was that the boys don’t seem to have a radar on when to cut the nonsense when we’re under stress. Given that every day has been an adventure, and that they are very ready to go home, it made this situation less than pleasant.

Once the crisis was averted, we caught the ferry to Hallstatt and did enjoy the miraculous views from the Hallstatt See into town the village. One of the oldest towns in Europe, it sits across the cliffs along the shoreline and every building is covered in flower boxes. We stayed for a great lunch of salads and pizza at Cafe Derbl and enjoyed the quaint village in spite of the 90 degree heat! We caught the 3pm ferry back to Obertraun, enjoying the views on our way out once again. Returning to Obertraun, we were so hot we stopped to hop into the lake at a local swimming area. When we had first taken off on the ferry, it was quiet and we looked forward to returning for a swim. When we returned, it was as if the entire country of Austria had come out for the day. The boys were intimidated by the crowds, and rightly so. A group of local Austrian boys started taunting them and making fun of them, and that didn’t go over well. We all jumped in, they took a few rides down the water slide, but then they were done. They wanted to get on the road and get home. And by home, they meant Grand Rapids!

While the day was rough, we enjoyed the view of the Lake District on the way home, and returned to an awesome dinner at Barenwirt (again!). When we like a restaurant, we often go twice. This time, our wonderfully friendly waiter made our dinner extra nice, and our food was fabulous. We needed a win today!

On our way home, Colton and I decided to take the elevator in our apartment building as opposed to joining Aaron and Zachary on the stairs. We were having a grand ole time after a great dinner, singing and dancing. Then, we both jumped simultaneously and the elevator stopped! At first, I thought it was a fluke. Nope. Not a fluke. Note to self: don’t jump in elevators. Especially old elevators in Salzburg. Zachary and Aaron were taking the stairs and we could hear them, but unfortunately the elevator would not move. It was getting hotter by the second, and we didn’t have water with us. Colton and I discussed where we’d use the bathroom if it came to that, and how best to distract each other. We buzzed the emergency button and thankfully a man answered in German. With the help of google translate, I was able to let him know we’re stuck, and understand his reply when he said they’d send help. Shortly thereafter, firemen rescued us from the elevator. They took our vitals, Aaron got us some water, and we were saved!

What. A. Day. We’ve been so fortunate on this trip to have mostly great days. We’ll chalk this one up to the “great stories” section, and we’re all happy to head to bed!