Day 12: Hallstatt, Austria (Tuesday, August 19)

Well, I'm sick. I have like a sore throat/cold. I felt it coming on Sunday and last night it got worse. It's not unbearable yet, and really it seems to only be worse at night, so I'm hoping it won't ruin my trip too much. We'll see though. 

We had about the same morning as yesterday. Took some time to eat breakfast and shower. We weren't in a rush to leave. Ellen and Russ left before us to go pick up their rental car and we were going to meet up at the cemetery before driving to Hallstatt. 

This cemetery is where Beethoven, Schubert, Strauss, and Brahms. Mozart is buried at another cemetery, but there was a memorial for him along with the others. Pretty cool!

Is it weird that I kind of love cemeteries? Well really the ones with the statue type headstones. I find them so ... Intriguing? I can't think of the word I want. But they are just so interesting. And it helps when the landscape is so beautiful around it. 

The cathedral in the cemetery:

We also saw the Mormon plots. I guess it was only about five years ago that the land was dedicated as the land for Mormons. So there are only a few buried there. Kinda cool to have a Mormon section in this huge famous cemetery. 

Afterwards we stopped by a grocery store to pick up some lunch. I bought a Käsleberkäse. It's this meat with cheese in it in a roll. I was a little skeptical about it, but it was delicious!

Logan bought these dessert honey waffle things that he let me try. They are similar to strop waffles which I have been craving for years, literally, ever since my friend Heather's dad gave me one since he served his mission in Holland. 

The drive went well. I mostly read. I slept for a bit and then jerked awake which resulted in scaring Liz and Tom. It was funny. But then I wasn't able to fall asleep after that, so I read some more. 

Hallstatt is this city surrounded by mountains and a big lake. I've decided Austria is the prettiest country! Between Klagenfurt and Hallstatt, it is winning in my books. 

That is real life. Amazing, right?!

We spent most of our time here walking through the city looking at little shops and mostly just taking in the breathtaking views that were everywhere you looked! We also went on a little motorboat ride for 30 minutes each (we split up into two groups of three so we split the hour long rental) to really take in the beautiful city view. And now here are a ton of pictures that will do more talking than I can..

We got dinner at another street vendor type thing. I got the same thing as last night but in a wrap instead of on a bun. Also, in case anyone was wondering, this is the meat in my meal. They just shave some off of the rotating chunk of whatever meat it is...

I'm fine not knowing what kind of meat it is cause it's good and that's all I care about! We walked around a little more while we ate before getting back to our cars to move on to the next stop. 

Another 2 1/2 hour drive later, in which I finished my book, we made it to our hostel in Munich. And now I need to get to bed. This cold isn't going away until I get some good sleep! Now I just pray that the cold doesn't prevent me from sleeping..

Tomorrow: Munich, Germany!