Good Mornin’ Austria!

And now for the last few days of our road trip: 

We spent 2 nights in Hallstatt which is my new favorite place in the world. It may be the pinnacle of my life so far. I am not exaggerating. 

So Hallstatt is a beautiful little town settled between the Alps and a lake. It claims the worlds oldest salt mine which we toured! One of the best parts of the tours was the gangsta clothes we had to wear:

In the salt mine we got from one area to another by going down slides. It was sort of like Disneyland! After the tour we bought lunch and went swimming in the lake. I really love Berlin, however it was so nice to get out of the city. Austria is all about hiking, swimming, and being out in nature, which I love! After we went swimming we hiked up to a waterfall. I drank water from the mountain spring and it was the best water I have ever tasted! We also hiked up to another bigger waterfall where we had a great view of the valley. It was there that I decided that Hallstatt is the most beautiful place on earth. 

On the way down from the mountain, a few of the guys had this crazy idea to jump into a pool of the freezing cold river water. It was sooo cold: the kind of cold that activates all of your survival reflexes. One by one we all decided to jump into the water and let the river baptize us. We jumped in boys and girls and emerged men and women.  It was such a cool experience that is hard to describe in written words. (There if a video of it on FB if any are interested) Here are pictures of the group after we jumped in:

So that is a little bit about my short time in Hallstatt. I would love to go back! This place is honeymoon material. If it is any tribute to the beauty of the town, On 2 June 2012, Chinese mining company China Minmetals Corporation built a full-scale replica of the entire town in Huizhou, Guangdong province. 

 Ok...one last photo. Mmmmm.

The next day we went to Salzburg (where the hills are alive with the sound of music)! It was a really really warm day, but fun nonetheless. We enjoyed reenacting this movie starring Julie Andrews (it is obscure and you probably haven't heard of it)! As with most places, my favorite part of Salzburg was the gardens. Here are some photos:

The last town we went to on our road trip was Dorfgastein. It is a little skiing town in Austria that is pretty quiet in the summer. We went on a wonderful hike in the Alps! 

We ate lunch at a restaurant on the mountain and I drank fresh milk from grazing cows nearby. Here is a picture of our meal:

Our plate was a wooden slab and our only utensils were knives. It made me feel like a mountain woman in the best way possible. As we continued hiking I gathered flowers and put them in my hair. 

 So far, I really like this land called Austria. I would like to stay here for a couple weeks...