Austria with the Kids — Hallstatt: 24 Hours

August 24–25, 2014. Chasing a dream all the way to Hallstatt: 24 hours in a World Heritage landscape.

I bought my first DSLR in 2009. Five years and no fewer than 98,765 photographs later, friends would often come to me for advice on metering, shutter priority versus aperture priority, white balance, ISO, rule-of-thirds composition, S-curves, V-shapes… Anyone who can rattle off that much jargon must clearly be a master photographer—or at least a master of sounding like one.

Since fate has brought you here today, I will finally reveal my closely guarded photography secret.

It is…

Do not blink. Miss this announcement and you will have to wait another five years.

It is—“scenery priority.”

Go to the right place and it does not matter whether you are holding a DSLR or a phone. Either one can produce a photograph impressive enough to fool people. Do not say I am bluffing: the next shot came from a phone.

A lakeside view of Hallstatt photographed with a phone — Proof of the “scenery priority” technique—shot on a phone.

All right, enough hot air.

What everyone really wants is probably “My Days in Hallstatt”—or, in English, “Hallstatt 24 Hour” XD

Let us begin.

The Morning Show

06:00 AM. The sky was just beginning to brighten when I reached the lakeside with my camera.

Hallstatt lakeside scenery at six in the morning — 06:00 AM, as daylight slowly reached Hallstatt.

06:30 AM. The lake and village slowly woke up.

07:30 AM. In a place like this, it is easy to suspect someone has slipped a postcard in front of the lens.

Hallstatt’s lake and mountain scenery at seven-thirty — 07:30 AM, with the view looking like a postcard.

08:00 AM. A brief interruption: one particularly rude friend is silently wondering why I am trying to pass off postcards as my own photographs. Yes, you. No need to look around XD

To prove we really were in Hallstatt, I sent in two models to clear up the misunderstanding.

Lisa, Belle—give me a smile ^.^

Lisa and Belle smiling together in Hallstatt — Lisa and Belle—give me a smile ^.^

A bigger smile! Yes, exactly like that…click.

Lisa and Belle laughing together for a photograph — A bigger smile! Yes, just like that…click.

Friends wishing to book a children’s portrait session may call our toll-free service line: zero-eight-zero-zero, zero-nine-six, zero-zero-zero.

Back at the Hotel

Job done. Time to return to the hotel for breakfast.

Breakfast time at the hotel in Hallstatt — Morning shoot complete; time for breakfast at the hotel.

My friends, breakfast with a lake-and-mountain view. Beautiful, right?

Afterward we went upstairs and continued enjoying the postcard scenery from our room.

A view of Lake Hallstatt from the hotel room — Back in the room, with the postcard view still outside.

With time to spare, we toasted some “bread”: front first, then the back XD

A holiday was no excuse to neglect schoolwork. I am the legendary tiger dad—crack, crack goes the whip. Once the work was done, we played a duet of the Taiwanese folk song “Diu Diu Tong” ^.^

Children studying or practicing music in the hotel room — Homework on holiday, followed by a duet of “Diu Diu Tong.”

After the music practice, we headed downstairs. The hotel entrance faced the town square; the other side looked out over the lake.

A view toward Hallstatt’s town square from Seehotel Grüner Baum — One side of the hotel opened directly onto the town square.

The promised ice cream came with one condition: Lisa had to take her little sister to the counter and order it herself.

I'd like to order two kids surprise.

I think Lisa will always remember the first sentence she used to order from someone in another country XD

Lisa and Belle with the ice creams they ordered at the counter — Lisa’s first English order earned them two surprise ice creams.

Oh, right—where did our “Hallstatt 24 Hour” broadcast go? Sorry, sorry. Let us resume at 01:30 PM XD

The Afternoon Show

From 01:30 through 02:00 PM, we wandered slowly along the town’s one main street.

The view near the far end of Hallstatt at two in the afternoon — 02:00 PM, nearing the other end of the village.

And that was it. The place where I photographed the dawn was at one end of the village; by this point we were nearly out the other side. Without stopping, the walk would take about ten minutes. At a fast enough pace, you could probably cross it nine times in an hour XD

Yet in this beautiful little town, it took us eight hours to make our way from one end to the other ^.^

During our 2014 visit, daytime vehicle access was restricted and we left the car in a parking area outside the village. There were also other outings nearby, including the salt mine and Dachstein Ice Cave. We drove roughly ten minutes to the ice cave that afternoon, but that story belongs in another post. Three days and two nights would have made for a wonderfully unhurried stay.

Rewind to the Previous Afternoon

Back to “Hallstatt 24 Hour.” We now rewind to the previous afternoon.

03:00 PM.

The scene shortly after arriving in Hallstatt at three in the afternoon — 03:00 PM, rewinding to the afternoon we arrived in Hallstatt.

We had left Vienna by car at 11:00 that morning and reached Hallstatt at around 2:30 PM. Beside the parking area outside the village was the starting point for the salt-mine excursion, another story saved for a separate post.

Now, about choosing a place to stay.

I began researching online three months before the trip. Many travelers on Taiwan’s Backpackers forum recommended Pension Sarstein near the village entrance. The place where I photographed the dawn was close by, and both its rates and views sounded excellent at the time. Unfortunately, rooms were scarce, summer accommodation was full, and many properties were not keen on one-night guests. Rooms on the hillside could be cheaper and still have lake views—but did we really want to drag our luggage all the way from the parking area outside town, groaning uphill with every step?

Then a photograph posted by another traveler provided a clue: Seehotel Grüner Baum, right on the town square. One side faced the square and the other the lake. The description on the booking page alone made it nearly impossible not to pull out a credit card.

Back in 2004, an email forwarded by someone I cannot remember had already shown me photographs of Hallstatt looking like paradise on earth. I was beside myself: how had I spent time wandering around Europe without knowing this place existed? >.<'"

After dreaming about it for so long, I had finally arrived. Gritting my teeth, I booked the room. To be fair, it did not cost more than The Lalu at Sun Moon Lake ~.~'"

The next photographs were all taken from our balcony.

Lake Hallstatt viewed from a balcony at Seehotel Grüner Baum — From our balcony, Lake Hallstatt was right in front of us.

For me, Hallstatt was a place where staying overnight made all the difference. During the day, the crowds made it hard to savor the village. Once they dispersed, we could wander the streets, stop at a window for no reason, and finally feel that we were on holiday ^.^