Hallstatt/Salzburg/Kaprun

Hallstatt has its feet in the water

and its back to the mountain

and all the falls - there're a lot of them -  pour in channels through the town...

Its essential grace, even with all the tourists...

and the fact that Austrians still smoke like Vesuvius

 seems to have remained intact

Cat ladder

We hiked up to the salt mines which kept the princes' coffers stocked for centuries and where Rupert built a cool tower.

The town is just built on the delta of all those falls whose waters were directed through the mines, piped down the mountain and boiled so the recrystallized salt could keep the Prince-Archbishops out of the poor house.

If you don't want to hike, you can pedal a swan

And the weissebier is excellent

Salzburg (salt town) is a small city with a fast green river 

and apparently no suburbs.  The buildings just bump up against green hills

In 1854 Franz Joseph opened the Mirabelle gardens to the public - 

the Public

... and the fountains have the cleanest water we've ever seen in a city

We also found, in front of the cathedral, a stand of absolutely flawless fruits and vegetables

Went to a baroque string concert in the Marble Room of the Schloss Mirabelle... 

where Susan sat at intermission inappropriately swinging her feet

after which, it was too late for a restaurant, so we ate in our room

We drove out of Salzburg in swirling clouds and a steady rain but arrived in Kaprun in sun. 

So we decided to take a walk

\

Susan and I were also on the lookout for an Alpine Coaster 

which in time seemed like a mistake

though Susan likes to drive faster than me

We made our way up the side of the Kitzsteinhorn

There are 1000 alpine huts in Austria

but you have to climb, in and out of cloud and sun

to a pair of high lakes

which are really power-generating reservoirs

with impressive dams

 

 

and, well...  lunch