The second night in Hallstat we decided to find somewhere other than the hotel to eat and decided on Gasthof Zauner (http://www.zauner.hallstatt.net) which is just at the edge of the town square – a whopping 20 meters from our hotel.

The restaurant is located directly in the center between the blue building and the building with yellow shutters. Very hard to see from this photo.

It was quite quiet outside (8pm on Tuesday) so we went in and found that the restaurant was on the first floor. It was packed with people (this was a good sign) all eating and enjoying themselves.

We sat down and ordered a beer each (Edelweiss-Hefeweizen)

Even though the restaurant was very busy once they took our order it came quite quickly.

Chris had a pork Weiner Schnitzel – it was very nice – quite basic but well executed and tasted great.

Pam had a small pasta dish which was made using sour cream – it too was very nice

Costs:

• Chris – 11.40 Euro
• Pam – 6.70 Euro (pasta) + 4.00 Euro (Apple Strudel)
• Beer – 7.40 Euro

They take credit cards as payment as well – useful to know.

We would highly recommend this family run restaurant – it has been in their family since 1893 – and they are obviously doing something right!

We ate in our Hotel the first night we arrived in Hallstatt.

The menu looked good, was quite expensive compared to other places, and Pam had seen good reviews online.

Chris had a roast beef with onions and potato – the beef was overcooked and generally pretty boring, the gravy tasted like a Maggi gravy mix or something like that. Quite disappointing.

Pam had a whole trout from the lake – it should have been great but it was overcooked as well and generally pretty boring to look at. Presentation skills not on the agenda here.

Costs:

• Chris – 16 EURO
• Pam – 20 Euro
• There was also a tax of 2.80 per person for eating after 6pm – bit of a con really especially since you are staying in the hotel.

The yellow building is our hotel  - Hotel Grüner Baum on the edge of Lake Hallstat. If you count the windows from the top of the building our room was located at the  6th and 7th window with a huge balcony. It is a fantastic location right in the center of town.

Our room and balcony

The room is very spacious and includes a small tv, there is no air-con (could be a problem in summer) and no fridge. The balcony for this room is very large. Our room number was 203 which is on the 2nd level – no elevator – but a simple climb up two levels.

The other side of the hotel overlooking the town square

A pretty similar view of the town square taken in 1888, 122 years ago.

The breakfast room in the hotel

Our local subway station was called Nestroplatz a quick 150 meters from the hotel.   Two stops away was St Stephen’s Cathedral

A small panorama looking at Square Michaelerplatz – see on google, bing

I asked one of the hotel staff where the market was and he said 3 stops away. We caught the underground, went the wrong way, and go out somewhere quiet.

We walked around and Pam asked someone directions to the market – the lady spoke some English and directed us to go back the other way. We did this can travelled about 6 stops back and got out and found the market right at the underground station.

We walked mainly through the food sections with some lovely foods on offer.

There was a lot of selection and a lot of very good quality produce. As always we could not buy anything much since we were without cooking facilities, but we did buy cheese and bread and I bought a bunch of radishes (very good snack)

We had a quick lunch at WurstWarren a sausage bar at one end of the market – pretty simple – but very tasty bratwurst sausages.

Pam and I are sitting on our balcony and it is so peaceful - the sounds of water, ducks, birds, the odd person and that is about it.

Occasionally the peace is broken by a train on the other side of the lake or the ferry boat puttering across the lake to meet the train.

Today the sun is out so it makes it even more special, the last few days have been a bit cloudy.

We am really enjoying this!

The day has been overcast with a slight chill in the air - but not cold enough not to sit outside with a weiss beer overlooking the lake.

i have taken some nice photo's but still have no internet so can not upload any yet.

Last night's meal was in the hotel restruant and was not great.

Chris had a roast beef dish with onions and gravy and potatoes. The roast beef was overcooked and it was disapointing.

Pam had a local trout which was also overcooked - so two bad dishes. We won't be eating in the hotel restruant again.

On the bright side the breakfast (included with room) was very good. There was bacon + eggs, toast, ham, cheese, yogurt and cerials
and good bread.

All of the bread is great here - put's our bread in nz to shame.

Well back to my beer + book (lee child - 61 hours)

We arrived in Hallstatt - unfortunately the sun was not shining. The photos i took while on the ferry from the train station on the other side of the lake will not be that great.

The hotel Seehotel Gruner Baum is definetly located on the lake front. Our room is 203 which is on the second floor (no lift).

The room is very tidy and spacious, our balcony is about 16 square meters (huge) with a wonderful view over the lake.

Just had a Gin and now we are going to checkout the town which looks pretty tiny.

ps: Pam did a flying leap off the train!

Today we are off to Hallstat - we are travelling by train - it takes about 4 hours abd we managed to get one with 0 connections.

The ticket cost was 40 euro each in second class.

Hallstat is a very picturesque location nestled on the edge of a lake.

We are staying in a room with a small balcony that overlooks the lake.

We are currently sitting at the train station waiting for our train.

We caught the subway to the end of the simmerring line and then a tram to the Zentralfriedhof cementry.

There is a lot of graves here - over 2.5 million.

Gruppe 32a is the musician area - there are Brahms, Beethoven, Strauss (multiple), Mozart and others that we do not know all within a few meters of each other.

The place is huge and very relaxing. There are lots of big trees and most of the graves have huge gravestones and lots of fresh flowers on them.