Hallstatt, Austria: The most perfect village

So where was I? Oh yes, our romantic stroll along the lakeside in the most perfect little village on the face of the earth. Let's just say it was an afternoon well spent.

We stopped in a few of the cute shops along the waterfront and tried on a few hundred Euro worth of traditional German/Austrian attire: dirndl for me and lederhosen for Matt (as seen on the gentleman in the fourth picture from the top). Word on the street is that you can find killer deals on these when purchased secondhand at thrift stores in Germany, so hopefully someday we'll have time to search for them! We purchased slightly less expensive mementos from the shop this time around.

We left the store and headed back to the town square to buy a little treat when out of nowhere, a rainstorm hit. This was not just any rain--this was a torrential downpour. Just like the one that had us corralled up in Vienna but worse because of the cobblestone and dirt roads that we had to walk through to get anywhere. Matt and I found shelter under a giant tent at a little bar that doubled as an internet cafe. We figured out our train schedules for the next few days and chatted with other tourists before braving the storm and heading to the ferry.

Luckily this time we were prepared for the rain! Matt had adamantly insisted that we buy an umbrella early that afternoon, even though the sun was high and the clouds were white and puffy. I told him it was entirely unnecessary since it was now sunny in Hallstatt and we definitely wouldn't need it in Italy. But then I caved when we came across this cute plaid one (I'm a sucker for tan, black and red plaid). Naturally, Matt was gloating when it came up big time.

Still, an umbrella could only do so much, and we ended up drenched from the knees down by the time the ferry picked us up. These kinds of things still seem fun, though, when they happen in Hallstatt!

The not-so-fun part came after we left the village, as we sat wet and cold for two-and-a-half hours on our train ride to Salzburg. Needless to say, our nice, warm hotel in Salzburg that night was extra comforting. We crashed the second we walked in the door and enjoyed a wonderful night's sleep before catching our early train to Venice.