Halstatt, Austria - Scoffing at the Sound of Music
Set in Austria, the Sound of Music is an epic film spurring
dreams of a heavenly land in every child that sees the movie. In
truth, they should have filmed the movie in Halstatt, Austria.
Halstatt
I had been in Salzburg for four days and was growing restless.
The city was an eyeful with beautiful garden areas, architecture
and plenty of sites to see. At the end of the day though, it was
still a city. And an expensive city at that!
Flipping through my guidebook, a local I had made friends with
suggested I take a day trip to the little town of Halstatt. As I
looked under "H" in the index, he told me I wouldn't find it in
the book and I should just trust him. Off to the train station
we went.
Sitting on the train, I soon met a fellow traveler heading to
Halstatt. We chatted as the train puttered up into some of the
most impressive mountains I'd ever seen. Soon we were running
between the face of a mountain and a deep blue lake. The train
stopped and he indicated this was our stop. There was a small
shack, but no other buildings much less a small town. I began to
suspect my buddy in Salzburg had pulled on over on me.
Out of nowhere, a small ferry pulled up to our shack. On we
hopped and off we went across the lake. As we closed in on the
far shore, a small town began to take shape. Swiss chalets,
swans, cobble stone streets, outdoor cafes and...no cars. None.
Halstatt turned out to run about a mile along the shore of the
lake. It was like something out of heaven. It is amazing how
quiet things are when there are no cars, mopeds, trucks and
other vehicles. Frankly, it was surreal.
I rented a room in a chalet directly on the shore of the lake.
My window looked out over the lake. As the evening wound down,
it was hard to imagine a more peaceful place in the world. The
morning was more amazing.
Halstatt is located at a very high point in the Alps, which had
a surprising effect. Lying in bed, I stared out my window into
what looked like a television set gone bad. It was totally grey.
Walking to the window, I was stunned to realize we were so high
the clouds had settled roughly 20 feet above the lake. Words
fail me, but it was one of the most incredible things I've ever
seen. There was total silence, a slowly swirling cloud cover
being reflected by the lake and swans floating around. Truly a
site to behold.
Halstatt is a difficult one-day excursion from Salzburg? The
difficulty lies in leaving. I stayed for a week!