What a full day THIS was!  We had two objectives in mind.  One, Every since Zurich I had been promising the kids and LouAnn access to a mountainside summer toboggan run; no BACK SURGERY was going to give me a free pass on THAT one.  Also, Laurie had heard Hallstatt was beautiful, so we planned the afternoon around visiting.

The nearest toboggan run happened to be one of the LONGEST in Austria, at Hallein.  (Guenther’s hometown!)  We convoyed south of Salzburg to the small, mountain town, but alas, the GPS routed us to an empty parking lot.  Hmmm….  luckily Uncle Jon’s instincts won the day, and we found the chairlift.  LouAnn, Uncle Jon, Aunt Netter, and the kids made two rides down the 3km, single-track run while Aunt Laurie and I relaxed at the top of the mountain.  They loved it!  And it was a perfect day – sunny and 70 degrees.

From Hallein, we made our way to Hallstatt, which was STUNNING.  It is in the heart of the Salzkammergut east of Salzburg.  The mountains come straight down to the lake, Hallstatt See, and it’s incredibly picturesque.  We found a great spot by the river to have our lunch, and a man that lived nearby came out to talk with us.  Just being friendly.  He was in the middle of building a traditional Austrian longboat, carved out of one piece of wood.

We strolled down the boardwalk.  LouAnn, the kids, and I rented a little electric boat and tooled around the lake for an hour.  We snapped endless pictures, and headed back to Salzburg.

Beautiful, mountainside Hallein.

We found the chairlift!

At the top.

My final word of caution to the kids:  “Don’t use the handbrake too much, or you won’t go fast enough…”

She’s a KID!  I love it.

LouAnn’s self-recorded, second run down the mountain.

Picnic lunch in Hallstatt.

The ancient river behind us came down out of the mountain, and was pure enough for drinking.  We stuck with Almdudler.

On the lakefront in Hallstatt.

They say that this is the most-snapped photograph in Austria.  Check.

Papa and Jackrabbit.  Identical noses.

The little electric boat we rented on Hallstatt See.

Note Papa, Aunt Laurie, Uncle Jon, and Aunt Netter left behind on the dock….

Captain Super-Disc

Captain E-Bug.

Captain Goober.

“Kids, please just let us take ONE picture of ourselves without you messing it up!”

“I MEAN IT!  Just ONE!”

“Thank you.”

Went back and traded Mr. Backache for Aunt Netter.

A traditional Austrian longboat.

I just thought the sign was funny.

I LOVED this ancient house in Hallstatt.  I took about twenty photos of it.

This house had the most BEAUTIFUL pear tree growing up the outside of it.  It  looked fake.  But there were big, ripening pears all over it.

Later that night, Georgia got to spend some time at the Aunt Laurie Nail Spa.  She LOVED it.