The idyllic town of Hallstatt, Austria

The idyllic town of Hallstatt, Austria

A few weeks ago I shared one of the most beautiful and memorable experiences of my life, boating on Lake Hallstatt. Floating on the crystal clear Alpine lake was is bucket list worthy for any traveler. Exploring the sweet village of Hallstatt was similarly enchanting. (See how I’m already running out of adjectives? Let’s be clear, “enchanting” is not in my normal vocabulary.)

It wasn’t until 1928 that a formal road was constructed to reach the village, leaving it in near isolation for over 2,000 years since it’s founding in 1311 as a market town below the salt mines. Today the salt mine is still active (tour details to come) while the town has flourished with tourism.

Hallstatt is so beautiful that people travel from across the globe to see it – including a rich mining tycoon from China, so moved by what he say that he funded a 940 million dollar project to duplicate the city in the Chinese province of Guangdong. (Read about it HERE.)


After a day of boating and salt mine-touring, the girls and I strolled the idyllic streets of the village in search of something to eat. What we found was our favorite meal of the trip at ___. We ate, I sipped beer, Jen had a shorele, and for Tara it was , lingered and enjoyed the scene. What if we lived here? What if this was our home? Would we sing VanTrapp songs all day and lead lives of carefree ease? I think so.