We have always stayed in Gasthof Simony, which has rooms facing directly on the lake. It's owner is now 89 years old, and some wonder what will become of it when she passes on.
Hallstatt's town square features a fountain surrounded by benches and several beautifully maintained homes. The most spectacular of these is the yellow house with its espaliered pear trees, which have become more beautiful and climbed higher with each visit we have made to Hallstatt over the past 15 years or more. We have enjoyed just sitting on the benches surrounding the the sights.
This time, Louise spotted a small flower box next to the door on the pear tree house. Maybe we could buy one, I suggested, and headed toward the door.
But almost at that moment, a man and woman in their eighties struggled up the slope of the town square toward the house. We had always wondered who might live there. I asked the man if he had made the flower box, and he said he had. "Do you have any for sale?" I asked. "Yes. Forty Euros," he said. I pulled the forty Euros from my wallet and handed them to him. Then I asked if I could take his picture. He seemed surprised, but agreed.
This his wife set about finding a box for my purchase, absolutely obsessed with having tape, which she couldn't find, to close it. Finally, she gave up on the tape and agreed to sit with her husband for some photos.
I now have two new friends in Hallstatt, Fannie and Christian Pilz. I learned from a nephew living in the house next door that Christian had made his living mining salt and selling a bit of woodwork. When I finished taking photographs, Fannie gave me a big hug and kiss.
Hallstatt has two churches: a Catholic church, a late Gothic masterpiece with ornate interior, sits on a high vantage point over the town. The Protestant church, on the same level as most of the town, features a portrait of Martin Luther.
The approach to the Catholic church is by an indirect, winding pathway or by a more direct but steep and long stairway. The roof over the stairs, I presume, is to protect people from falling rocks or snow slides.
Certainly the most fascinating and gory feature of the Catholic church on the hillside is the "bone house." The graveyard is small and quickly filed up. Since the steep mountainside left no room for expansion, the townspeople decided that after an appropriate time of burial, five to seven years, the bones of the deceased should be disinterred and put in the bone house. People who wished could make an arrangement with a town artist to have their skulls decorated.
The last person to be placed in the bone house passed away in 1983. one of his or her features of note is the gold tooth that protrudes.
The graves in the church yard are meticulously maintained by family members. This woman told me her parents were buried here.
Although the setting may seem somber, we could not resist taking some family pictures with Sam and Sarah at the church.
And Sarah petted a cat.
The next morning, Louise enjoys hot chocolate on the deck overlooking the lake.
While Sam and Sarah relax and take in the view...
of a swan taking off while a gondola sails by.
