Without question, the most beautiful place in the world. (The world I’ve seen, at least.) Also, the place on our trip that most precisely displayed the concept of gemutlisch. As I sat out on the lake and wrote in my journal, the owner of the place we stayed (Pension Haus Sarstein) rowed out on the lake in lederhosen, his young son (grandson?) in tow. Everything was quiet, peaceful, and majestically beautiful. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves:

View of Halstatt Lake from the balcony of our pension room.

Little gemutlisch town!

The Austrians here have tamed these trees into submission. E said they’re like 3D objects they’ve attempted to force into a 2D lifestyle. Can’t be good for the foundation, but it’s awfully pretty.

Hiking up the side of the mountain.

Where we had a picnic!

Grafitti on the mountain, the work of bored gemutlisch Austrian punks, no doubt.

Here’s where things get a little odd. Yes, those are human skulls, located in the beinhaus of the Catholic Church atop the hill. In this area, up until as recently as 1960, they would dig up bones whenever they ran out of room in the cemetary. They would then paint the names of the dead on their skulls, as well as some dainty little flowers and other decorations. (Me to E: “Even the fucking skulls here are gemutlisch!”)

Okay, back to the land of the living. A pretty lake, a pretty town, a pretty day. Could life get any better?

Swans (like the rest of their bird cohorts) are evil. This feathered demon attempted to attack the adorable little boy from our pension house. Just look at those beady, plotting eyes.

I have this as a desktop background.

Dramatic skies.

E’s favorite photo - a lucky occurrence as I was fiddling with the night settings on my camera.

Notes I jotted down in my journal:

- The German word for jewelry is “schmuck.” Insert any number of jokes about people being suckers for buying expensive jewelry.

- Cats rule this town! There are several little wooden walkways leading out of the windows of many of the houses, made specifically for feline traffic. Even when we were at the local schmecker (mart), I noticed a significantly greater portion of the pet food aisle devoted to cat food, as compared to dog food (opposite of most places).

- Like most little towns in Europe, Hallstatt is divided by the Protestants, who worship at a modestly sober lakeside Lutheran church, and the Catholics, whose cathedral is positioned higher up, on the side of the mountain. The vestiges of the Protestant - Catholic divide manifest in bell-ringing wars: on the hour, the Protestant church’s bells would ring first, for a solid minute; swiftly thereafter followed the Catholic bells.

- There was another tiny town across the lake, perpetually shrouded in fog. If fairies suddenly swarmed out of the middle of the waters, I would not have been surprised; this place was so magical.

- The Alps! I was in the mothereffing Alps! How crazy is that?!

- None of us wanted to leave. How could the trip possibly get any better?