Austria: Naked Beauty in Hallstatt

Author: Amanda

Hidden in the Austrian hills by a serene lake, is a town so beautiful the Chinese have copied it for their own.(Cheap knock-offs are one thing, but copying a European town takes things to a whole other level!)

Hallstatt lays claims to having the oldest salt mine in the world and has a rich history involving primitive tribes, the Romans and Austrian kings and queens (eg Franz Josef and his wife) who came to 'take the waters' for its curative properties. We also decided to 'take the waters' in our own way at the back of our pension house (home-style hotel) in the 14 degree water:

Technically, to be correct, the curative waters near Hallstatt are a short drive away at a pool and sauna facility in Bad Ischl... but we'll share that eye-and-pore opening experience with you a bit later in this story.

From our room we again had an amazing view. All this, ours - for a week!! I hope we'll take this memory with us until we're wrinkled and grey!

It was like this every morning

Our pension (homely hotel) owner, Claus, was a contented man who wore the traditional leather shorts and feathered hat of the region. He recommended a visit to the salt mine, the spas, a drive to the surrounding 'sound of music' countryside and a large mountain ice cave, so we decided to follow his advice (except for the last one due to time and money reasons).

The winding trek up the mountainside to the salt mine got our blood pumping. On the way up we saw large nets designed to catch rocks to prevent them from destroying the town below. In the past, boulders have flown down and smashed into the pretty little houses turning them into match sticks and parts of the town have been buried by land slides. It's amazing it's still there. At least there's that copy of it in China should something happen...

Deep inside the still-working salt mine we saw where bronze age people once mined for salt. The belongings and tools of these miners were left perfectly preserved in the salt; including those still on one unfortunate soul who was trapped in the mine around 500 BC. We were treated to a lame sound and light show but then got to slide down the wooden slides miners once used to get down to the lower parts of the mine easily. The second set of slides had us clocking our speeds on the speedometer that had been set up for tour groups such as ours. Our results weren't bad! It would be a great way to get to work in the morning, it was probably the highlight of the miner's day considering they were often buried in their work...

Slides in the salt mine - green light means go! 

When nice old Claus told us about the spa and sauna place he unfortunately neglected to share some rather crucial details regarding Austrian sauna habits. As we paid our admission the lady at the desk explained to us in broken English that the sauna area (the part I was most looking forward to) had nudity. We looked at each other with that, 'we've come all this way and I can hack it if you can' look, then confidently told the lady that would be fine. She then clarified that she meant co-gender nudity. Gulp. Slightly less confidently we murmured, 'okay'. Well, the Austrians could do as they pleased, our swimmers were staying put. We were just going to get an education, that's all. Right? Well, keep reading...

Inside the general area were pools with water jets, different salt levels and varying temperatures. After finishing with the whirlpool and a salt water pool that made our recently-shaved legs (me) and face (Jahda) itch, we walked into the sauna area. We were greeted with 'warning: entering nude area' signs and were promptly shown the complete external anatomy of some obviously confident old men snoozing in a prime viewing area. Thank you gentlemen for the prompt initiation into Austrian saunas.

We saw infra-red, dry and wet saunas of varying temperatures and a special 'salt mist' sauna that was like walking into thick stage fog and seeing vague body outlines near you. That was fun.

The highlight treatment appeared to be a large outdoor sauna that every hour had a 45 minute special sauna event. The schedule appeared to rotate sauna treatments titled 'citrus', 'mountain pine', 'ice' and 'honey'. The ice treatment sounded ominous so we lined up for a mountain pine experience - whatever that was going to be.

After waiting in the cold to enter into the special outdoor sauna room, everyone - either butt naked or wrapped in towels - walked inside. The attendant stopped us and told us firmly that no swimmers were allowed (even under our towels) so we stepped discreetly aside and removed them - while firmly holding our towels in place. Once inside, the doors were closed and we were instructed to place our towels under our bottoms and feet to prevent sweating into the wood. Hmmmm, .... dilemma. Everyone seemed okay with the situation, while Jahda and I exchanged concerned glances. Should we make a run for it or count it all down to an experience?

We found ourselves limbs-crossed and eyes-averted with 30 of our new Austrian friends...

After the first incredibly awkward 15 minutes it was quite a freeing experience; though I can't say I'd come back with a group of friends like those next to us! They were just chatting away, apparently unconcerned that they were stark naked. At this time we all had to get up, walk outside and rub some smelling gel on our skin then head back in where they ramped up the heat to skin burning temperature. As the heat increased, self-consciousness decreased and self-acceptance took its place. The heat was expertly whipped around the room by the attendant and each whoosh of air increased in heat until we covered our faces to prevent them from burning while welcoming the tantalizing hot sensations on our backs and limbs. At the last moment, a person or two left - unable to handle the heat any longer. It's a pity Jahda didn't realize there were only 30 more seconds to go!

After our naked sauna experience, we jumped in the cold (12 degree) plunge pool, donned our swimmers and headed back to the general pool area trying to untangle our thoughts - the nakedness was so off-putting but the sauna was so good (easily the best either of us had every experienced). A few hours later, our memory of the warm relaxing feelings outweighed our feelings of awkwardness. So, we headed back in and made some new friends. All in all, we're marking this down as a truly odd day.

On returning home, I found Claus and recounted our surprise in the sauna - gently noting that a warning might be a good idea for international visitors!

Here are some examples of the stunning countryside in the area. We enjoyed driving around and just taking it all in near Wolfgangsee lake, ... ... and the other side of lake Hallstatt.

[Jahda: At one stage we were trying to find our way to the top of one of the mountains in the hope of finding a lookout, or 'panorama' as they call it over here. We faithfully followed the roads on the GPS, even though they were looking more like country lanes, then back alleyways, then driveways... eventually as we drove through some fields we heard a farmer whistle at us (in German) as he and his two kids and cow waved their arms at us. We couldn't tell if they were angry or exited or just bemused, but they were certainly animated. We turned our eyes back to the 'road' and saw that it was actually now becoming a hiking path through the forest...hmm. We had only made it this far because our car was so small. Aah, faithful GPS. With no room to U-turn, we had to reverse back down the winding, descending, footpath of a road we'd driven up... But at least it meant the afternoon light was even more stunning by the time we took these photos.]

Capturing the special afternoon light

The local towns really encouraged the wearing of traditional clothes. I tried to capture a few pictures of brightly dressed women wearing their traditional dirndls to work but this was difficult without looking like a stalker! Walking down from the carpark into the town one day we came across the end of a wedding or baptismal service. The group were well dressed in beautiful formal dirndls for the women and lederhosen shorts, forest green jackets and pulled up white socks, complete with feathered hats, for the men.

The nearby town of Bad Aussee (not where troubled Australians go) had many traditional clothing shops with both pre-made and pick-and-tailor options. The clothes were not cheap because they never go out of fashion and can last for years, sometimes decades. Thankfully we found a nice dress/dirndl on special and I'm now the owner of a dirndl; although I'll probably wear it without the apron unless I want people to throw money, expecting me to dance or something...

In the same area I came across the work of Viktor Schauberger: a man who studied the properties of water, including its energy potential (different to the systems we currently use I believe) and how its surface tension changes according to different factors like temperature (affecting salmon swimming upstream for instance and log floating). One of his findings is that an egg or egg-shaped item will slide UP a flow of water towards a hose if suspended on a string! Apparently his ideas and models were used by the Nazis (against his will) and were later taken by the American government. He died of a broken heart shortly after. We have since spoken to a leading scientist and discovered that a few scientists are incorporating Schauberger's controversial but powerful concepts.

The beautiful countryside truly is Sound of Music territory. The Von Trapp family singers used to holiday in the area and then the movie was made nearby also. We had fun seeing the different locations were the movie was made in Salzburg...and getting lost up steep hills in the city in the process. We also ventured down to the little house where Joseph Mohr lived (he wrote the lyrics to Silent Night, one of our favourite Christmas carols). A few footsteps away, was the original road from Salzburg to Rome - it was a thin, slightly winding street. We took a few strides towards Rome then veered right to cross a bridge into downtown Salzburg... just like the Von Trapps.

[Jahda: Walking around the various sites of Salzburg, I discovered that lines from songs in the musical were going around and around in my head endlessly. Many were lines I didn't even know... Then I realised it wasn't in my head, but Amanda singing, humming and whistling them as I walked along beside her!]

Amanda sets out on the original road to Rome

Salzburg

A brush with fame... Or at least a nome that had a brush with fame

We found our way to a special little cathedral which looked exactly like the one in the wedding scene where frauline Maria gets married to the captain. Somehow we timed it really well as a choral performance was just starting. Small groups of trained singers were gathered in different locations amongst everyone inside. At different times they raised their voices, which blended in and out with the harmonies softened to greater beauty by the acoustics of the building. Following this 10 minute performance we walked quickly through the cobblestone streets past shops selling 'mozart chocolates' as the rain began to pour down.

[Jahda: It seems as though Mozart-themed pianos and violins (and anything he was actually know for), were not big sellers among the tourists. So the enterprising Austrians have taken the logical next step and replaced such merchandise with chocolates covered with aluminum foil ordained with his likeness. They're proving much more popular. Hmm?]

Fun fact: the Von Trapp family enjoyed singing but only took it up as their livelihood when they lost their large wealth by opposing the Nazis. They sang to feed the children while they were refugees and it developed from there. They settled in America.

Hint: the cherubim and the crown they are holding are attached to the cathedral which is actually about 50m behind the statue!

Leaving the peaceful restorative area of Hallstatt, we pointed our noses in the direction of our next destination which was a small blip on the map. Once again, I'd booked us into a place in the middle of nowhere, just for the fun of discovery! From this 'blip' place we wound our way up to the majestic Melk abbey, stopping in at two mind-expanding places on the way. We cover these and more in the next blog!