Hallstatt, Austria: March 24

Today I went to Hallstatt which is a tiny town of about 750 people in Western Austria. I went with the Erasbus which provides cheap travel opportunities to Erasmus students. I went with my friend Justin from Canada, Pantelitsa from Cyprus, Pamela from Brazil, and Jan and Maciej from Poland. I was not expecting to have so many friends on this trip but I was super excited to know so many people. The bus ride was about four hours. We stopped at a rest stop about two hours in. We stayed at the rest stop for about thirty minutes. I thought that this was a bit excessive. As we got closer to Hallstatt, the scenery changed and was incredibly beautiful. Huge mountains surrounded our bus. I was amazed. The scenery is stunning. I’ve never seen anything like it.
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We arrived in Hallstatt and I was in awe. This tiny town is incredible. The houses are built on the steep mountain and sit just before a huge lake. On the other side of the lake are huge mountains. We took an hour tour of this small town. People cannot drive to their houses so they must walk up the mountain. I learned that this location is quite popular among Asians. Popular enough that China made an exact replica of this town in their country. I can’t believe they are that desperate to have scenery that looks like this. Anyways, that’s why there are a ton of Asian tourists at Hallstatt. Our tour guide states that the citizens of Hallstatt are greatful for tourism. Without tourism, they would not have a grocery store or a bakery. For larger purchases, citizens must travel to the next town. The tour ended and we had about three hours of free time.

My friends and I decided to participate in the Erasbus photo competition. We had to take photos at certain locations and had to complete other weird tasks such as making strangers sing with us, dancing in public, and doing the Titanic pose on top of the mountain. This was extremely fun and gave us something to do. We were very competitive and wanted to win. We completed every task. We were able to go up on top of the mountain using the vernacular. The view from atop the mountain was breathtaking. This was my favorite moment of my study abroad so far. 

By the end of the photo competition, it was 4:00 and I had not eaten lunch yet. There aren’t many food options in Hallstatt so I grabbed some Schnitzel and fries at a food stand. This was probably the worst Schnitzel I’ve ever had in Austria but the beauty of this town made up for that. I’m pretty sure the Schnitzel was chicken, not pork or veal. Oh well, we won the photo competition though! We each got 20€ off our next Erasbus trip. This was one of my favorite days of my study abroad. 

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