The Abercrombie Family: Hallstatt, Austria

After Rothenburg, we headed to another picturesque town: Hallstatt, Austria. Hallstatt was smaller than Rothenburg, but just as cute! It might even be a more beautiful because it is tucked up in the mountains next to a lake. It was gorgeous. We met the Hunter there. This is their last weekend here and we are glad we could spend part of it with them. We got there right in time to take a picture of the Market Square before it was too dark.

We grab a quick bite to eat. And I mean really quick, the restaurant was going to close just as we walked in. The chef wasn't too happy about how large our group was, but he let us eat as long as we were fast. So we ate fast.

We headed back to our hotel. We had an apartment like hotel room that slept both families. There were 2 rooms and a kitchen and dining area. Zack really liked waking up with his friends right there. All of the hotels that we have stayed have playpens for cribs. But this hotel had a real crib. I was wondering how Josh would do in it. I know he doens't remember his crib at home. He was very excited when he figured out that he could stand up in it. The sides in the play pen are too high for him to grab to pull himself up.

Luckily, we only had to lay him back down 2 times. Then he fell to sleep. What a good baby!

In the morning, it looked like it was going to be a cooler day. We didn't have any pants for Josh, so he got to stay in his pajamas. We headed off to town. We saw this cool pear tree in the Market Square. It grows right up the side of the house.

Here we are in front of Market Square. Can you see what a cute little town it is?

And, of course, our boys are looking right at the camera.

From here, we walked up a hill to St Micheal's Church. In front of the church is a cemetary.

It was a really cute cemetery. Each grave had a flower box filled with flowers.

Then we went into the chapel and saw this:

It has over 600 painted skulls with all the other bones under them.

Space was limited in the cemetery. Bones would only be there about 10-15 years before making room for the freshly dead. Many of those bones ended up in this chapel.

Interesting, huh?

We walked down to the opposite end of town, which is like a 10 minute walk, and found a boat to rent. we rented a really slow motor boat. It was very relaxing! Zack even got to 'drive' the boat. He thought he was pretty cool. Josh loved the bottom of the boat. He bum-scooted all around it. He also loved looking over the edge and waving hi to the water. The scenery was also amazing. There were just too many picture to have just one. Here is our lovely boat ride:

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After our ride, we ate some lunch and then went to tour the Giant Ice Cave. Here we are at the cave entrance.

This was magnificent inside.

It was really cold inside. But what do you expect when the ice was over 35 meters deep in some areas.

Here is one of the ice structures.

I can't remember what the guide said about it. She would talk for a really time in German and then say like one sentence in English. So I should remember that one sentence, but I don't.

This is our whole group at the bottom of the cave.