Blue Lagoon Traveler

 Saturday Sept 30 - Hallstatt Austria  We left Salzburg and headed to Hallstatt Austria.  We drove through the in lower Alps and saw gondolas and lakes and chalets along the way.  We stopped and toured Kaiserville on the way.  Kaiserville was the summer residence and hunting lodge of Emperor Frans Josef and wife Sisi’s.  It was in this lodge, in the city of Bad Ischl that the declaration of war for WWI was signed.  It was Frans Josef’s nephew and heir who was killed in Sarajevo.   Some background of the lovely town of Hallstatt, Hallstatt Austria is one of the oldest inhabited settlements in entire Europe. Apart from being a UNESCO heritage site, Hallstatt is known for salt mine, ice cave and Hallstatt Lake, it has had an active working salt mine since approx 400bc .  7000 years ago there were civilizations here. 100 years ago every family had at least one person working in the mines.  There is also an active archaeology site in the salt...

 Friday September 29 2023. - touring Salzburg.  Before the brief history, I will give you a run down of what we did in Salzburg.  Thursday night, we just toured around the city for an hour, then went out to dinner in old town Salzburg and had Wiener schnitzel.  Friday was a full day.  We started with a guided tour of the city for 2-3 hours.  Then we had a cooking class to make Apple strudel, then ate lunch, was entertained by a young singer and waited for the strudel to cook.  After that, myself and another couple from the tour went on a 3.5 hour, 15km, bike ride to see all of the Sound of music sights that were accessible around town.  After that, dinner and Mozart concert up at the castle/fortress on the hill.  Hopefully, some good pictures wi follow.   The name Salzburg means salt castle, and the town was established because it was on the main salt trading route.  Back then, not only was salt used for preserving, but it was used ...