Halstatt, Austria

Sorry Belgium, but you just got bumped off the number 1 spot for favorite country. Austria has now taken that spot. Austria is absolutely beautiful, Halstatt in particular. The town sits on the edge of a huge lake. The mountains seem to grow right from the middle of the lake. The fall colors are everywhere! Leaves are changing and falling creating a colorful blanket on the ground. In Colorado it seems like the leaves changing is so short. One day the trees are green and the next time you turn around they are already on the ground, or covered in snow. I have been enjoying the fall colors over here for the past two weeks, and it looks like I will get several more days to enjoy them.

There is not a lot to see or do in this small town, you are here just to sit, relax, and enjoy the views. However, the clouds and rain have begun, so that makes it a bit difficult.

I sat down to dinner at the hotel restaurant (evidently tomorrow is a holiday in Austria and many places are booked; I found out later the hostel was closed for the holiday). I had just ordered and the couple next to me asked if I wanted to join them. Here is where the world gets small.  Her name is Kitty, and his is George. They are from Austin, Texas, but have a niece that is a phd student at CSU In Ft. Collins! Crazy.

The next day I went to my first salt mine. It was a pretty cool experience even if it is all guided and you can't do much. They outfit you in some "miner's clothes" and you walk a long way into the salt mine.The guide spoke both German and English and translated the whole tour. There was a video explaining the process and a laser show explaining the history of salt mining. You do get to slide down two wooden shoots during the tour. On one of them, they even take your picture and clock how fast you were going. Of course, I just had to buy the picture at the end of the tour, I mean when else am I going to get a picture of myself in goofy clothes sliding down a piece of wood?

Kitty and George were also on the tour and they introduced me to Korinna (they had met at breakfast). Korinna is from Austrailia and has been traveling since August. We talked quite a bit about our travels and such. She has traveled in Singapore, Hungary, London, and Germany on her trip.

Seeing as the hostel was closed and I really didn't want to spend another 80 euros for another night at the hotel (there are so many better ways to spend my cash), I left for Salzburg a little early.