My Favorite Bench... in the World

April 27, 2010

There it is.  My favorite bench in the world.  I suppose it has less to do with the bench and more to do with the placement and location of the bench, but regardless, I would happily sit on that bench and do nothing for at least...umm... 30 minutes.  Actually, at this point in the trip, I would happily sit on any bench or any chair and do nothing for at least 30 minutes.  But I would prefer that bench.

The bench is in Hallstatt, Austria, which happens to be one of my favorite places in the world.  It is postcard-picturesque, literally built on the shores of a serene and glassy lake at the base of towering snow-capped mountains.  The town is small and charming, with a church as its main focal point and alpine-style houses built up against the vertical mountain walls.  It is the kind of place where a grocery store (the only grocery store) can close for two hours during lunchtime each day and swans will apparently wander at will and challenge one another to flying-with-webbed-feet-dragging-in-water contests across the lake.   

Hallstatt is very small, with only 1,000 or so residents, but is famous for its "white gold" mines.  It is actually the home to one of the first salt mines in the world.  For centuries, salt mining was extremely lucrative.  In fact, salt production was a huge source of income to the royal families of Vienna and helped fund the Habsburg empire's expensive palace-building habit, among others.  

  

As if wandering around the town weren't enough to satisfy my quest for the perfect photo, we took the funicular 838 meters up the side of the mountain to the salt mines and had an amazing view of the lake and town below.  Did I mention that the salt mines were 3,000 years old?  Ridiculous.  That is a whole lot of salt.  I am going to appreciate my salty french fries, potato chips and pretzels even more after learning about all the men who lost their lives mining salt and engaging in wars to defend it.  

We wandered down the side of the mountain on a switchback trail that led to a beautiful waterfall and then back into town, where the kids quenched their seemingly insatiable thirst with delicious fresh spring water right out of the tap... a handful at a time.  All free.  If only the Habsburgs had figured out that people would actually pay money for WATER...  

It was late afternoon before we were able to drag ourselves away, but on the beautiful drive back to our hotel in Bad Gastein we still managed to work in quick stops to Bad Ischl, Grundlsee, St. Gilgin and Mondsee.  They were all beautiful and charming, but we were glad to come back to our cute little thermal bath/ski town of Bad Gastein.