Hallstatt, Bad Hofgastein, Graz, and Rust, Austria

Our next destination on this epic trip was the small village of Hallstatt, in the lower Alps.  Ever since I saw the Rick Steves Austria shows I've had Hallstatt on my bucket list.  It's a town that was made prosperous in the Middle Ages for its salt mines (which are still functional today), but its history goes back much, much farther, it is estimated to the Neolithic age 7th-5th century B.C.  In the 1600s miners in the mountain found bodies preserved in salt (dating back to who knows when?) and buried them, and it is speculated that the mountain and mines were sacred places to populations that lived there prior.  It is so significant, in fact, that a whole segment of history is named after this place - the Hallstatt Period.

The Hallstatt Period - Wikipedia

The village is absolutely gorgeous.  It is surrounded by the low Alps mountains on all sides, and lies at the edge of a quiet lake.  This time of year everything around is lush and green, and all the wildflowers are blooming.  It was something you dream of as paradise.

Anyway, here it is:

C at the lake.

Mountain ice melt gushing down the hills into this stream.  You know the smell of snow?  And the smell of fresh water?  The whole town smelled like this - so clean and crisp!

Seriously considering jumping into this cool water on such a hot day!

Pretty swan pairs call this lake home.

D and C at lunch.

Entrance to the Hallstatt Historical Museum (we did not have time to go inside, but enjoyed it nonetheless).

Walking into the main square at the church.

This place is just ridiculously beautiful.

Close up of a small pine by the river.

Unfurling fiddlehead!

Happy Austrian gatto!

Walking up to the church.

Church altar.

If I was lucky enough to live here, I'm pretty sure I'd never get tired of this view.

The village is very limited in grave space for residents, but it does okay.

This is what happens in Hallstatt!  Due to limited grave sites, about 20 years after someone was buried, their bones were dug up to allow for someone else to be buried in that spot.  The removed bones were then brought into the ossuary, with the femurs and the skulls labeled with the resident's name and date of death.  The two skulls on the bibles are of two parish priests.  The brownish skull to the right of center was stolen, found after several years, and returned (thus its discoloration due to improper handling).  I'm not sure of the story for the yellow skull.  The most recent skull in this building is of a woman that died here in 1987.

The church and ossuary keep - Salz der Erde - "Salt of the Earth".

Leaving Hallstatt and on our way to our next stop, Bad Hofgastein!


***NOTE***  As we were leaving Hallstatt, it started to sprinkle.  As we drove on, the sprinkle worsened into a downpour.  As with all the low-lying hillside villages, every time it rains there runs the risk of mudslides.  We found out later that within an hour or two of our visit, Hallstatt was partially washed away by a large mudslide that ran down these beautiful mountains.  Here are a few photos from the next day's paper:

We were really lucky to have missed getting stuck/washed out!  I feel terrible for the people whose homes and businesses were damaged.  Hallstatt will recover, and it needs to, because it is paradise on Earth!  The residents there have lived through this time and time again, and they will prosper.  <3

***

View from our hotel in Bad Hofgastein.

Spa bed!  The whole town (and in fact the name of the town) is centered around the natural hot springs of this area.

D hangin' out in our little kitchen.

We brought limoncello and Bacetti for C (along with some American goodies).  Here we are about to crack into the limoncello!

Bleeding hearts in Bad Hofgastein outside our hotel.

Our lovely hotel.

Bad Hofgastein.

Heading away to Graz.

We stopped for lunch in Murau, where I spotted this really neat little jumping spider.  Fortunately it was outside, which means I was not forced to smush him.

Graz.

"Beach party" on the river in Graz.  The city is a well-known university hot-spot (there are six here) and impressed me the most of any city in Austria.  It's young-feeling, exciting, lots of activities and fun things to do, and really just a neat place.  It has one of the best-preserved "old towns" in Europe.  In 1999, Graz was added to the UNESCO list of World Cultural Heritage Sites, and the site was extended in 2010 by Schloss Eggenberg. Graz was the Cultural Capital of Europe for 2003 and got the title of a City of Culinary Delights in 2008. (Wikipedia)

Invader-esque graffiti in Graz.

Sitting by the maypole in Graz's City Hall Square.  Every May 1, residents participate in the May Day celebrations and hold a maypole dance.  We saw maypoles all over Austria!

Walking up into the Old City.

Hanging out at the clocktower (or Urhturm) in Graz on the Schlossburg.  This clock dates to the 1500s and was spared by Napoleon because of a ransom the townspeople paid to spare this building and the bell tower from destruction.  It is rare in that the hands on the clock are reversed.  The long hand is hour and the small hand is minutes.  The clock in this photo is therefore reading 8:40 pm.

  Graz has a very Italian feel, due to its construction at a time when architects of Venice were present.  It has the largest number of enclosed courtyards of any place in Austria.

Friends since 2006 and going strong!

Captured the moon!

Davvero?

Cafe in the middle of the Mur River.

We happened upon a rehearsal for a performance in the old medieval theater on the Schlossburg.  They were practicing for a performance later that night of great film themes.  When I took this photo, they were singing the theme song to Lord of the Rings.  They were excellent!  Wish we could have stayed for the performance!

This is the song they were playing.  I know you know it!  Love the children's choir that comes in towards the middle.  :)

Austrian firefighters on a drill.

The Hackher Lion.

Graz center by Town Hall (or Rathaus).

Entering Rust, Austria.

Every summer, white storks migrate to Rust from Africa, where they return to the same nests every year to raise their young.  The community totally supports them (literally! HAHA!).

Description of the animal life in town.

7-ft. high hollyhocks growing on the sidewalk in Rust.

Rust is lakeside, on the border between Austria and Hungary.  We stopped by the marshes for photos.  D saw some kind of interesting little weasel-creature, but it was too fast to photograph!