May 19, 2007

Today was our first class trip. We headed out to Hallstatt which is small village (under 900 people) with the oldest salt mine in the world. The salt mine dates back 7000 years, yes you read that right 7000 years! We took an awesome tour of the mine. To get up to the mine you have to take a lift, which gives you a beautiful overlook of the town, then you hike up through the gorgeous mountains filled with picturesque views, streams, and wild flowers to the mine entrance (I could have hiked that mountain all day). Before entering the salt mine we were given protective garments for our clothes. They looked sort of like jump suits with reinforced bottoms. The tour itself was interesting and through. It was such a mind bloggling feeling to stand in a place that other human beings have been standing for 7000 years. As a part of the tour we learned how the salt mines came about, how the salt is cultivated and the history of the mine. Inside the mine there are slides, which are used as par of the transportation from one area to the next. It was quiet amusing to slide from one floor to another. After the mine we went into the town of Hallstatt to view a charnel house. The charnel house was developed out of a necessity for burial space. Thus every 10 years all the graves of Hallstatt are dug up and the remains/bones are placed the charnel house. It was interesting to see this practical solution to a lack of burial space.
Once we were done looking at the charnel house we had some free time to explore Hallstatt. A few of us looked around a bit and then split off for lunch. Liana and I found a hole in the wall deli and decided to sit and have a sausage. I had a Debreziner, which was described to me as the spicy sausage even though I found no kick to it. While eating lunch I struck up a conversation with the Deli lady, Bridgitte. I asked her about Hallstatt: what she thought of it, traditions, special places, frustrations, ect. I found out that Hallstatt only has one elementary school so all the other children must bus or take the train to neighboring towns. She went on about how she loved the beauty of Hallstatt but that the snow made it difficult to commute during winter months. Bridgitte also explained that people in Hallstatt love living there, but that because of the lack of jobs young people and families have to move to the bigger cities. However they tend to return to retire later in life. I also learned that Hallstatt is home to one of the most known and skilled schools for architecture/carpentry schools (which during the academic year raises Hallstatt's population by over 200). Brigitte also shared some stories about her father who use to work in the salt mines when it was all manual labor. I really enjoyed talking to a local and getting to hear their opinion of their town. Once Liana and I were through with lunch we wonder the town a bit and met up with the rest of the group.
The class loaded the buses around 2:30pm and headed out to Wolfgange lake (another quiet lake town) were we just chilled for about an hour and a half. We soon loaded back on the buses again to head home when Dr. M surprised us with a treated ride on a summer luge. It was FANTASTIC! I had such a great time!!!! Ok so a for the luge ride you sit down on this flat seat thing and are dragged to the top of a hill by a ski lift. At the top of the hill you move your seat thing to the luge track, sit down and go. You soar! curving with the bends of the track, in a way it seems you are one with the luge. It is such a blast. Definitely a highlight of the trip. After the awesome surprise we loaded up and headed home.