Modsee

The last thing we did Saturday was go swimming in the Modsee (see means lake in German).Our bus driver just randomly pulled over on the highway, where there was a picnic area next to the lake, so we all ran across the road to there. But then we discovered there was no bathroom so we had to go back to the bus and change into our suites there—well except for Megan who decided to where no suite at all ha. Not so uncommon in Europe, but still very awkward for the rest of us. Father Mark tried to casually walk away every time she entered and exited the lake and nicely asked everyone not to take or post any pictures. The water was freezing when I first got in but I was definitely glad I did it. Refreshing! Just another good experience. 

Some of girls after swimming.

Hallstatt

One of the last places we visited Saturday was Hallstatt. It was awesome seeing this town cause I had watched a show Rick Steve’s had done on it and wanted to visit it ever since. It was just as beautiful in person! I guess the town was such an attraction for Chinese tourists that they actually built an exact replica of the town in China! They had a church there that I had also seen on Rick Steve’s. It’s on a hill overlooking, the city and the lake, with a cemetery in its courtyard. Inside one of the buildings is a room for the bones of people who were once buried in the cemetery. There used to be so many people wanting to buried there, that you were only allowed to be buried for 10 years then your remains were dug up and your bones stored. Family members and loved ones would clean the skull and then paint it before it was put on display in the room. A lot of my peers were really grossed out by this and didn’t understand why anyone would want their skulls there. But honestly, I think it’s a neat tradition—all the love the family put into the decoration. And to have Hallstatt as your eternal view of the world—it would always be breathtaking.  I wanted to stay longer in Hallstatt! I think I’m going to go back for a day or weekend trip. It’s only like 45 mins away and you can rent a paddle boat to go on the lake for only 11 euros an hr. I’ll just have to find another sunny day to do it!

The city of Hallstatt.

The view from the church.

The bones.

You can see the decorations painted on the skulls. 

Kaiservilla

This was the hunting villa/ castle of one of the former Kaiser’s of Austria. His wife, Elizabeth, is very famous in history here.  She was a very progressive women, she smoked, had a tattoo of an anchor, and worked out rigorously. She also was very vain though and took  a lot of pride in her appearance. She had hair she never cut—it reached her ankles by the time she died—and it would take  3 hours every day for her to just brush the hair and one whole day every week to wash the hair. Her servants had to hang it up by ropes to make it dry! She also was unhealthily skinny—her waist sucked from 55cm to 48in with a corset. Women actually started breaking there ribs to try and follow the fad she started. 

The view if the villa through the trees.

St. Wolfgang

St. Wolfgang is a cute little old town on a lake. We stopped because there’s a church there with a famous wooden alter that is 100’s of years old. The Church was very gothic and intricate, but I just liked walking around the town the best. Like all of the country up here—it was beautiful!

St. Wolfgang Church--the large box being the famous alter.

  One of the pretty views from St. Wolfgang

There directions sign which had a bazillion things on it. Oh the places we can go!

Saltwelten

As I mentioned before the Saltwelten are salt mines that were first to discovered by a Celtic settlement and then rediscovered in the 1600’s and mined by the bishop, making him and Salzburg rich. It sounds kind of boring but it was actually pretty interesting. We actually went inside the mines. We took like a little train up inside the mountain and got to look around, then we went down a long wooden slides to get back out of the mountain! There was also a replica of a Celtic settlement that we toured through. They were pretty advanced for their time—although hygienic problems killed them a lot.

 Us in our jumpsuits were required to wear in the mine ha.

We technically crossed into Germany when we were in the mine. Here's the border ha.

Hohenwerfen Castle

It was hard to believe I was really in a castle all day! But then again there all over up here. I had slept on the bus ride and when we got off the bus I was so amazed by the Alps I didn’t realize there was a castle behind me until we started climbing to it ha! The Hohenwerfen Castle started to be built in 1077, which is weird to think that it’s so much older than the US. It was placed in the Alps at one of the only passage ways people could come through whether from Italy or the North. By placing it here on a hill they could first defend themselves well and second tax those who came through. The castle was also used as torcher chamber for Protestants who denied the catholic faith. The weapons of pain the used were so frightening. It gave me a weird feeling to think that I was in a place that was so many people’s personal hell. In WWII, the castle was also used a training camp for Adolf Hitler and after the war it was used as a Salzburg police school. So much history in one place!

 Me taking pictures of the Alps before I realized there was a castle.

 Carissa and I on the hike up to the castle. We were trying to get a jumping photo but failing haha.

 The Hohenwerfen Castle!

 The view from a window in the castle wall. It would have been used to shoot bows out of in the early ages, then guns and cannons later on.

Salzburg City

We did a scavenger hunt around Salzburg to try and get to know it better. Let’s just say my team got more than a little lost! We went two hours in the wrong direction trying to find the train station only to find out that it was only few blocks from where we lived! When we finally got our bearing and tried to finish the scavenger hunt, we went down in to the Altstadt—the famous down town of the city. Here we found a little kid, about 2 years old roaming the street saying “mama.” Well seeing as we didn’t see any parental figure around, this didn’t seem right so a few of tried to ask the kid where is mother was. We tried in English, German, Spanish, and Portuguese—he didn’t respond to any. Some Italian girls even tried to help Issa ask him in Italian and that didn’t work either. Finally, I saw a guy running down the street looking frantic—it was his father. The mom soon followed hugging the child and crying. It was one of the most moving things I’ve seen—her sadness for losing him and pure happiness in finding him illuminating her expression. By far the best and scariest part of my day. Oh and it turned out the kid spoke Arabic!

 The cobblestone streets of the Altstadt.

 One of the view from the river that runs though Salzburg.

My group for the scavenger hunt with the city and the castle behind us. The castle (Hohensalzburg) is on the hill.