Happy in Hallstatt

After I changed my shoes we were off to start our adventure in Hallstatt.

The weather was looking very bleak.'

All our days in Europe so far had really been quite nice, so to have looming gray clouds above us seemed a bit discouraging.

But, hey! We were up for adventure... bring on the rain! We're going to Hallstatt!

I know.

Dramatic.

We were in Austria, though, we had to plug through regardless.

We had about a 2 hour drive on some quaint and windy roads and then through some awesomely lengthy tunnels to finally enter Hallstatt.

The threatening rain did just that... threatened.

It never did really rain. There may have been a sprinkle, but I don't think I really noticed because the place was beyond describable.

As soon as I got out of the car, this was the shot I took:

And Marc took this one of me taking my first shot in Hallstatt...

We walked down this cute little path to have a better look over the lake at the dock, but I got distracted by all the Asians... then I was distracted by this beautiful swan that didn't seem to mind me being close to it.

Marc got a snap of me shooting the swan... hee hee! Sounds funny!

And then he took this awesome shot while I was taking the swan shots.

I never did get any shots like this with my camera showing the reflection on the lake, he caught it at just the right time! He's a natural at photography!

In fact you will see a lot of his shots from my camera and even Achim was having some fun. I'll make sure to let you know who took what shots... if I can remember...

Anyway, I hope in these photos you will see why I was so excited to get pictures of this swan in front of such a beautiful backdrop. Not to mention I like photographing things that are living.

 Oh. And there were a couple of ducks too.

After this, I just couldn't get enough photos in. It was the same feeling I had when we first walked into Vienna, just a feeling of appreciation for all the beautiful architecture and traditional nostalgia that lined the one street of Hallstatt.

This bike picture is my favorite. I really want to have it hanging in my home...
along with many, many others... but this will definitely be one.

Katy, this is a sample of some of the ones I took for you (smile).

Breathtaking, right?

Ya, and this was all just in the first 20 minutes!

But, before I tell you more about Hallstatt I'll give you a shout out from home.

Brother sang in his last Choir Concert of the school year tonight. I brought my good camera so I could get some decent shots of him to share (and I'll get to those soon). Marc and I are so proud of him!

Remember how excited we were that he wanted to be in Men's Choir? Well, his teacher informed me tonight that when she asked if he wanted to just do regular choir or men's choir next year, he told her he wanted to be in Footnotes! Footnotes is the performance Choir of the Junior High! Can you believe he wants to aspire to that!? He's getting so brave! I am so proud of him. I don't know that this will be a possibility, but I REALLY hope it will be. He would love it so much, not to mention I think our buttons would burst with pride!