Best Trip Ever--Day Eight

Highlights: The bed and breakfast we stayed at in Hallstatt was great. They had a cute breakfast room right on the lake. We enjoyed eating our breakfast and watching the fog clear off the surface of the lake as the sun came out from behind the mountains.

I love Hallstatt. To me it is a fairytale town that exists outside of time and reality. We spent a lot of time walking around old Hallstatt, visiting the churches, souvenir shopping at all the little stores (I bought a scarf and Christmas ornaments. Jon bought a backpack at a little REI-style store.) We also rode the tram to the top of the mountain and did a little hiking.

Then we drove the back roads through Austria's lake district (this is where at least 500 of my 2000 photos were taken.) We arrived in Schwanstein kind of late, but we found a little B&B (thanks again Rick Steves) with a funny old German lady who spoke very little English. She was very sweet and helped us find one restaurant that was still open. Our room had a small balcony with a view of Neuschwanstein lit up at night.

Hallstatt, Austria

I couldn't resist this picture. Schmuck means jewelry in German.

I have a million shots from the car because Jon got sick of stopping every time I wanted to take pictures. I made him stop for this town. :)

I can't tell you how much I loved seeing a little bit of Fall. In Doha we have two seasons: warm and hot.