Gasthof - Restaurant Kirchenwirt Schladming

After 2 days of biking mayhem, hiking down the Planai mountain watching practice and qualifying, it was finals day. Unfortunately we broke our camera trying to take a timed picture on top of the mountain. We rested it on a rail, i pressed the button and ran to where Clare was standing only to find when turning round the camera was not there anymore.... It had fell off and broke ...

... room.... but it got the thumbs up as it was clean, tidy and modern. The view from the room was amazing, perfect view of the Planai mountain slope, so good we could have sat there and watched the biking from our room!! Dropped our bags and went for our first meal out since leaving home, chilli fahitas and chicken burgers went down a treat, god bless Papa Joes!!!!

Our original Austrian itinerary included a day in Graz, but we are really running out of precious time so we decided to skip it so we could see the salt mine in Hallstatt. And having missed Graz only gives me a very good excuse to come back!<br><br>We spent a lot of time on the road today trying to get to Graz. The GPS got confused once we were off the main highway. The steep and winding roads ...

... but I'm getting worn out. Once to the top we had great views of the region and the lake. We also hiked down the mountain - thats probably worse then going up.<br><br>Before we had left for Hallstatt I had done a little wash in the sink - underwear and socks, and put them outside to dry. When we returned that evening my underwear was ALL over the room. Our little old lady friend had come into our room again (!) and brought in my stuff from outside. She put them on 2 ...

... funicular compared to the others I&#8217;d been on. It was very steep and long. And the views from the top were worth it, even though it was still cloudy and I couldn&#8217;t see the tops of the mountains. Instead of taking the funicular back down, I decided to walk down through the woods. It was nice, but I had to go really slowly because it was steep and I had my big backpack on.<br><br>When I got back to town I was hungry and decided to ...

... on, and it was the track directly opposite where I got off. Except that the display board for that track was displaying a destination of Vienna, and I think it said something underneath about it being 10 minutes late (in German, of course). A few minutes later I heard an announcement in German and all I could understand was &#8220;regional express.&#8221; I knew that was probably referring to my train, and I assumed they were announcing a track change for the ...

... as when<br>the sunset it got instantly cold....hmm this wasnt in the emma and<br>kathleen brochure! Tuesday morning we got up and went for a walk - well<br>mini hike really. I looked totally out of place... everyone had their<br>hiking boots and poles etc... then here I come, shorts and cardi,<br>converse sneakers and long pink ...

... and then hit the road for areas less populated. Destination: Hallstatt in the salzkammergut area of Austria.<br><br>An hour and a half out of Salzburg, the little village of Hallstatt sits perched on the edge of a lake. It is built on a hill, has really only one street suitable for cars, and is in a gorgeous mountainous setting. The camping is half a kilometer out of town, and across the road from the main city park with swimming area in the lake. Wahoo ...

... took us into a cave lined with ice. The ice is formed each Spring as the winter thaw seeps into the ceiling of the caves which maintain a constant subthermal temperature. The result is stalagtites and stalagmites formed in ice, as well as ice rivers and waterfalls. It was quite beautiful and very chilly!<br><br>We said "Vislat" to our new Hungarian friends and hopped in the car heading for Hungary.<br>

... one night (they have to watch it every night they work there and must be absolutely sick to death of it) but we'd only caught the tail end of the first viewing because we had been getting a little drunk in an awesome "local" beer garden in a non touristy section of town (but I was paying good money to stay in this hostel so I didn't feel too guilty ... just a little guilty). Anyway, it was great watching it and seeing all of the places we'd visited that day and ...