September 7...sorry it is late.

We began the day today with breakfast from Helga, and an informative discussion about things to see and do in Hallstatt. Although it has only 900 residents, Hallstatt is a major Celtic archaeological landmark and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We are having a bit more trouble with the language in Austria. They use the German language like the Swiss, but the dialects are so different that Helga told us that none of the Austrians can understand the Swiss and visa-versa. Also, the Austrians are not as dedicated to putting the English translations on their German signs as the Swiss are, so we are struggling a bit with the language barrier. The following may be more information than you want to have, but since we only brought one pair of shoes, we decided that we really needed some foot powder to put in our shoes at night to "clear the air". We went in a little store today to buy something to help us. After looking at all the choices, we finally purchased something with a picture of feet on the outside. The label reads "Fuss-Puder". We figured that was close enough. We put it first in Olen's shoes and since they did not self-destruct within an hour, I put some in mine. We will see.

We have met serveral Americans, which is nice. This morning we spent several minutes with a man from Vail, Colorado and his 13-year-old son. The son was a typical 13-year-old and reminded us so much of our oldest grandsons at home.

The photo shows me on the deck out in front of the zimmer. (You can see how far down the village is from where we are staying!) The second photo gives a view of where we are staying as seen from the base of the mountain. Our bed and breakfast is the house the highest up the mountain, and our room is in the brown (unpainted wood) part of the building. Helga has two rooms she shares with the public, and we were fortunate enough to be able to reserve one of them.

Helga suggested we visit the salt mine, which was very interesting. We walked to the base of the mountain (Quite a walk from where we were staying!) and then to the funicular that would take us up into the mountains to the salt mines. This salt mine claims to be the oldest in the world, a remarkable 7000 years old! We had to "suit up" in special jackets and pants over our street clothes for the tour. One of the main attractions (for some) was the slide down banisters originally used by the miners. I did the first one, but for me it was not a good experience, so I walked down the steps when they came to the second one.

When we left the mine it was noon, so we walked across the bridge in the photo and had lunch at the restaurant partially shown on the left. The weather was beautiful, so they were serving on a terrace overlooking the valley and the lake. Great experience!

Since we were filled and revived, we decided to hike back down the mountain to Hallstatt, and not take the funicular. Once in Hallstatt, we spent the remainder of the afternoon walking through the narrow cobblestone streets and taking photos. We made two very unusual discoveries on our walk.

We went to the "Bone Chapel" behind the Catholic church. In this building there are over 600 painted skulls along with the bones of past residents of Hallstatt. Burial space is a problem for this little village that hangs on the side of the mountain, so the expression "rest in peace" is only good for 20 years! After that time period, the bones of the departed are dug up so the grave can be used again. Loving family members have the skulls dated and painted and stored in the Bone Chapel. Some of the skulls we saw dated to the 1830's. Since the Catholic Church approved of cremation, this is not done as much, but was quite a common practice in the past.

We also went in a local sporting-goods shop. During a renovation, builders dug down and hit an area that was once an ancient Roman settlement. The owner of the shop is willing to share the ancient history, and we were able to walk into the area beneath the store and see the ancient pavement, walls and artifacts that have been preserved. Interesting, and very unexpected.

We spent the rest of the day walking around the village and finally climbed the many (I wish I had counted them!) steps up the mountain to our eagle's-nest home for the night. It is overcast and a little cool tonight so we plan to turn in early tonight. We need to leave early in the morning to begin to make our way to Venice. From salt mines to painted skulls to ancient Roman ruins...what a day this has been! We hope each of you have made wonderful discoveries of your own today.