Hallstatt, Austria

I have so much to post that I do not know where to start...so I will start with the present and work backward. After my brother left for the states, I stayed in Vienna for another night. I tried to catch up on emails and decide what I was going to do for the next few days before heading back to Poland. I actually did not decide until I was sitting in the train station. I had eaten breakfast at the hotel and checked out, caught the metro to the train station and was looking at the reader board when I decided to go to Hallstatt. It was one of the towns in my guidebook so I got the fahrplan from the infodesk and boarded the next train. A few hours later I got off the train and waited for a boat to take me across the lake. The town was so small and cute. I did not have a hotel reservation and the three places I called were booked. I headed for the information desk to see if they could help me and was told all rooms were full for the night. I figured I would just go to another town closer to Switzerland but a gal stopped me outside the info center saying that they just cancelled their room and told me where to go. I got a room to myself at the youth hostel!! ...with the waterfall right outside my single pane window. I dropped my things and headed out on the town...okay there is a main street and offshoots that lead to houses or hotels and restaurants.
I walked and took pictures. I found the internet cafe that was mentioned in my book--actually it was under a huge umbrella and you sit by the water as you surf the internet. I ended up at Strand Cafe for dinner. I had a pretty good Weinersnitzle and boiled potatoes. When I was done, a lady started talking to me and invited me to join the "locals" at the big table. We talked for quite some times and I also got to see some swans and babies--the dog tried to jump in the water and one of the swans started hissing and got really big, very protective of her little ducklings. We had spurts of rain and sun, but I stuck it out. I toured around the town a bit after dinner and listened to the booming thunder. I watched the sun kiss the mountains goodnight and then headed for the hotel.
This morning I packed up my things and went down for breakfast. I ate with a guy from Minnesota who had been studying in Germany. After breakfast I walked by the water trying to get that perfect reflection picture off the lake. Not quite crystal clear water, but pretty nonetheless. I checked out and headed for the boat dock to get to where the train stopped. I saw the guy I ate breakfast with at the boat dock. We talked and traveled to Salzburg together. I got on another train headed toward Innsbruck with a final destination of Chur. My first train left 5 minutes late--af first I was happy because I was able to get some lunch but then we had a 25 minute delay at one of the country borders. Miraculously enough my next two connection trains waited for us!! I arrived in Chur about an hour later than anticipated and headed to my hotel. The town looks cute and I will explore it in the morning. My goal for tomorrow is to get on the Glacier Express Train and ride through the Alps. I missed out on this when I was here in February and I do not have a ticket yet so we will see how it goes in the morning. A long travel day, but beautiful scenery and now I am back in Switzerland!!! I remember now why I loved it so much the first time!! Lots more posts to come!