Life in a year full of Saturdays: Hallstat

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Hallstat (AUSTRIA) - It's chocolate, coated in chocolate, wrapped in chocolate

Hallstat (Austria)

13 September - 15 September 2015

No doubt, I was grateful that this would be the last stop on such 'bomb riddled' ride across the continent. Of course there had been highlights and of course there were moments of collective enjoyment, but the exercise of mandating active journeying for 'tick box' purposes made no sense, and neither did the active complaining. Still, Hallstat as the final destination was to be a real highlight.

Perhaps some 16-18 months earlier I had opened the travel section on a beautiful Sunday morning and come across Hallstat for the first time. A fairy tale like alpine village nestled between the Hallstater See and the Dachstein mountains. The Sydney Morning Herald had nominated it as one of their prettiest villages in Europe and hence is automatically made it onto the travel schedule that I had created for my parents as they traveled around Europe that year. I could not have imagined then all the changes that took place between that time and me arriving now. All the participants were the same except for me, I had replaced my father in this mission. Still, I'm glad that he had the opportunity to have seen it when he did.

Hallstat - Austria

Hallstat - Gmunden district - Upper Austria

Obertraun - Austria

Hallstat - Gmunden district - Upper Austria

Without question, this village is the epitome of cute, or sweet, or 'picture postcard' perfect. It has everything going right for it. Gorgeous scenery, picturesque architecture, a lovely cool climate, clean, crisp air. It's dream-like in Summer and I can only assume that Winter turs this place into something unearthly. It really is that impressive.

We actually took up residence in a town on the other side of the lake, a short drive from Hallstat, named Obertraun. Quaint in its on right but infuriatingly heedless, or unmindful, by way of their numbering system for commercial/residential premises. There literally is no rhyme or reason to the way they do it, No.2 stands next to No.47, No. 63 stands next to No.17. There's no logic, no algorithm, no code that can comfortably distill what you have into something that you may safely utilise to find your way. What's more, asking for assistance will either get you blank looks or directions that are unlikely to be of any real use. Apparently the travel crew had encountered exactly the same mindless situation the year before, and hey presto, he we were giving it another whirl just for kicks.

Hallstat - Austria

Hallstat - Gmunden district - Upper Austria

Hallstat - Austria

Another kick in the gonads was received whilst we checked in at the DORMIO RESORT in Obertraun. I wrote about this ridiculous situation on TripAdvisor, which you can also read about via this link SHOCKING BILLING PRACTICES - DORMIO RESORT (OBERTRAUN)

...the short of it being that a one night stay of 181 euros had a little 'cleaning fee' of 191 euros added to the bill, apparently 'fine print' which I had missed whilst making the reservation on booking.com. I've also seen that amount described by other people in the same situation has a 'Hallstat tourist tax' or some other fanciful name. Either way, completely bogus and shameful I have to say.

DO NOT STAY HERE! DORMIO RESORT - OBERTRAUN - AUSTRIA

Our days in Hallstat were pleasant, its hard not to appreciate a place as beautiful as this. Scenery and views in such abundance in the same sort of way that extremely attractive people somehow don't feel right to walk amongst the also-rans, they just feel so far removed from normal that they edge into uncomfortably abnormal territory - right! - you know what I mean.

An interesting attraction in that area are the salt mines, which have an estimated date of first utilisation sometime between the 8th and 5th centuries BC. Who knows, maybe I had some ancient ancestors that cruised this area for salt back in the day? Ancestry.com tells me that it's a possibility at least.

Salzwelten - Hallstat - Austria

Hallstat - Austria

At the end of the day you go to Hallstat for a dose of beauty and perhaps a great schnitzel, if you do that then guaranteed you won't be disappointed.

Somewhere on the road in Serbia - motoring back to Belgrade

After a couple of days we finally turned the car south and heading back to Belgrade, what was to become my new home. This trip, mercifully, had come to an end, but new adventures were just starting to appear on the horizon, and boy, the 'holiday attack' fleet looked absolutely stacked. I really had no idea.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Sydney: All the easy shots down the line - this one is for you dad

Sydney (Australia)
23 December 2014

Yesterday I saw your car parked outside of the house and for a split second, before my brain allowed me to truly remember, I got excited because I thought you were home, and then when I realised what I'd done, I tried to hold onto that feeling of you still being with us for a few seconds longer. I took those few seconds for all they were worth.

I still have the 2014 World Cup chart pinned up on the wall next to my desk, it gives me a chance to assign a day, time and place to the games that we watched. That was our thing. Waking up at 3am, making coffee, watching Australia play or watching any world cup match that we thought might be interesting. Sometimes I'd dose through the second half of games but I'd try and hide it from you, I'm sure that you knew I was sleeping, even when you would ask 'Henry, are you watching?'.

I hated hearing the racing channel blaring at anytime. I couldn't stand the sound of live race calls, but now I wish there was a reason for me to hear it again other than it allowing for me to remember you in my mind. I watch games of football and I know I lack the insight and intuition that you had to be able to analyse a game and see events before they happened. I never quite understood how you were able to do that, but you could do it, just as in the same manner you were able to read the character of a person so much faster than anyone else.

Now I look at photos and can't seem to reconcile the images of you smiling as you sailed on past Notre Dame, or the surprise on your face when I met you in Paris, with the memory of you. For now you exist for me in memory and in spirit, and whilst I'm thankful for all the great memories I have of you I would much rather be talking to you about them rather than thinking of them in order to give context to such a great person that was you, my dad.

So now, I leave this. Times that we shared whilst travelling. I was lucky enough to have had some fabulous moments with you in the last few years and they will stay with me for the rest of my life. This last journey however is one that you must do on your own and I hope that wherever your destination is that you have a chance to sit back, watch a game or two and back a winner. Let me just say that for right here and now, the space that you left is enormous and I miss you being in it, maybe we'll meet somewhere and sometime else, maybe not, but for the last 39yrs you were fantastic person and I feel more than lucky to have had a father like you.