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The World was spinning like crazy when I got to bed… I spent part of night just sitting. Apparently, when Cait shut off the light in the middle of the night, she came to me to tell me to lie down, and I looked at her horrified. Sounds fun, but I have no recollection of this.

Anyway, no time to be hangover, I got places to be and see. I took a first train until the small town of Attnang-Puchheim for a rapid change.

The next small regional train took me to an incredibly scenic ride. Bright sun and perfect blue sky, gigantic mountains, and vast lakes at their feet. It was incredibly picturesque.

But not quite as much as the destination: Hallstatt! A fourth UNESCO Heritage site in a row (I swear I’m not doing that on purpose). Hallstatt is a tiny village built on an impossibly thin band of land between a lake and vertical mountains. Best of all, after you finish the scenic train ride, you need to take a boat to get to the village, as the train station is on the opposite side of the lake!

A post-hangover boat ride, what could possibly go wrong? Well nothing, the lake was perfectly still and the crossing smooth. I spent a few hours exploring the village, finding evermore breathtaking viewpoints.

And then, as I stand on the lakeshore, I saw it. A funicular to the mountain top!

No way I was going to miss it. Although it costs a whopping 12 € one-way, so I decided to hike back down. What a ride! This one is steep as well, and has a wooden rollercoaster feel to it. And at the top… holly molly, I will let the pictures talk for themselves. Certainly among the most awe-inspiring panorama I’ve ever seen, up there with Canyonlands NP in the United States or the Prekeistolen in Norway. I took an apple juice at the restaurant there, just so I had a table to write yesterday’s blog with an insane view.

And then, it was all downhill from there. Literally, as I walked back the STEEP path down to the village, but also figuratively. I was leaving this wonderful place, the weather turned to shit (there were waves on the lake, it took three attempts to dock ourselves), which made that so scenic ride not as good as on the way in.

Another quick train change, and I was on the fast train to Wien [Vienna], where we got in two hours.

I took a tram and walked a bit to the hostel, which hadn’t quite a warm reception, had to walk again to get cash (why Austrians hate card so much?), and finally could settle at the hostel, exhausted. I can feel tiredness bleeding me fast, I’ll take another break day soon.