The salt mine has been used since prehistoric times, for over 7000 years. They have found many old tools and even a preserved prehistoric body with clothing within the mine, which of course you don't get to see. The salt deposit is still being mined, but from a different part of the mountain now. The only thing they are extracting from the old mine now are truckloads of tourists' euros. In spite of all the interesting history, the tour is hokey with the most mundane sights embellished by cheesy displays. The tour does boast "central Europe's longest underground wooden slide". How's that for an obscure claim to fame! It did keep us out of the rain and my wad of Euros was weighing us down anyhow.
We grabbed some pastries, which the Austrians do very well, and had a snack before exploring the town.
We came across a sporting goods shop where the basement had been converted to a free archaeological tour. It seems that a number of years ago they were doing a remodel of the building and uncovered some interesting things. They found roman walls, an intact forge from hundreds of years ago, and more walls and items from a Hapsburg palace. All that history under one little building, and the tour was short and free!
Noelle and I toured the "bone church", a small sanctuary where they have stacked and decorated skulls and bones that were dug up from the tiny cemetery as it became overcrowded. Most of the skulls were from the 1700's but there is a skull from 1983 complete with a creepy gold tooth.
On the way back to the campsite we came across the ultimate playground. A lakeside park with a zip line, a slide into the lake, and a diving board. This find even had the kids declaring Hallstatt as their favorite.
I never realized how many playgrounds Europe has. I thought they just put old castles and cathedrals and bakeries over there. How fun to see the old world through young eyes.
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