So, on September 22nd, my study abroad group boarded a large bus and departed the gorgeous city of Vienna. Our first stop was the Mauthausen Concentration camp that I posted about last. I will not be revisiting that experience, because I still get tears in my eyes every time I think about it. However, because the wi-fi was so bad at the different hotels we stayed at on the trip, I was unable to post about our many adventures. And since then...I've been oh so very busy. So...I will be posting a series of catch-ups with a myriad of photos, so stay tuned. This first post is about Halstatt, Austria (one of my most favorite places in the world.) To start off with, here are some pictures of the stop sign our tour bus almost wrecked. This is a photo through our window. The stop sign was quite literally a quarter of an inch (or less!) away from the glass. I was SO impressed that the bus driver got through that street. Roads in Austria are SO NARROW! After that fiasco, we made it to our Bed & Breakfast. I have to say that honestly, Halstatt is probably the most beautiful place I have ever been to in my life, and I would love to go back. It was so amazing. The first evening we were there, a bunch of us took boat rides in the beautiful lake, and it was SO much fun! We went with our friends Gwen & Dallin. (There are four married couples on this trip--Gwen & Dallin, Ben & Carli, Matt & Amanda, and us) Here are some pictures of us from the boat ride. It was marvelous. After that, we had some delightful pizza and walked around the town. It was a lot colder there than I was expecting, and so I was shivering the whole night. Pack warm clothes when you come to Austria! You never know what you are going to get! The next morning, we went with our whole group to tour the salt mines! (This is what Halstatt is famous for. They have these ancient salt mines that have been used for literally thousands of years.) I thought the mines were incredibly interesting. there were underground pools that were filled with water and the way to harvest the salt is by sucking the water out of the ground, and essentially boiling it until just the salt is left. How weird is that? I thought it was incredible. The best part was the fact that we all had to wear absolutely ridiculous outfits! They gave us these massive smock sets to cover our clothes. They were awesome because they protected our butts against splinters when we went down the huge wooden slides inside the mines that allowed us to travel from level to level. After the salt mines, us and two of the other couples decided to go on an adventure hike to Halstatt's glacier pools! It was so beautiful! I seriously felt like I was exploring an Elven forest from Lord of the Rings. And of course, we had to be adventurers and actually get in the freezing glacier water! Sounds like a perfect idea for someone who is almost always freezing, right? Ha. It seriously was the most beautiful hike I've ever been on, and among my most favorite things I've ever done. There were these beautiful waterfalls at the top of the hike, and I just sat by myself and stared at them for a solid ten minutes. The beauty of nature in this world is absolutely mind boggling. We are so lucky to live on such a beautiful planet. Last but not least: The Bone Church! One of the coolest things about Halstatt was the cemetery! Halstatt is this tiny town, so there was only one place people could bury their dead. Unfortunately...space is limited, so every few years, the bones would be taken out of the graves and put into a church. This allowed for more people to be respectfully interred at the time of their death. How cool is that? Recycling graves! In the bone church, the skulls are all painted beautifully with the name of the person on it. The bones are then placed respectfully on shelves beneath the display of skulls. I honestly thought it was beautiful, but supremely creepy at the same time. And it was also the singularly most beautiful cemeteries I have ever been in. Most of the graves are family graves purchased so that every member of one family can be put to rest in the same place. All in all...Halstatt was a dream. I can't wait to go back someday and take my whole family!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Mariah AllenI am a BYU student majoring in English and spending a semester interning and studying abroad in Vienna Austria. Archives
October 2016
Categories |