RO: In cea de-a treia zi pe drumul spre casa am condus cel mai putin. O singura ora de la cazare pana in Hallstatt si apoi alte trei ore pana in Viena. Am ales sa facem asa pentru a ne fi mai usor intregul drum, chiar daca am adaugat o zi suplimentara traseului. Si cum sansele ca luni Olanda sa fie scoasa de pe lista tarilor pentru care este obligatorie izolarea, pur si simplu nu am vrut sa ne grabim. In felul acesta chiar ne simtim de parca am avea o mica vacanta inainte de cele doua saptamani de izolare care ne asteapta acasa 🙂 Si adevarul e ca ne era un dor nebun, nebun de Hallstatt. Chiar daca il vazusem deja de doua ori in anii anteriori, eram foarte curiosi sa il vedem si vara. Si mai ales fara aglomeratia si miile de turisti, fara autocare si fara haosul unei zile obisnuite de duminica. Sau cel putin acestea ne erau asteptarile inainte de a ajunge in Hallstatt 🙂

EN: On the third day on the way home we drove the least. One hour to Hallstatt and then three more hours to Vienna. We chose to do so to make our whole journey easier, even if we added an extra day to the route. And due to the fact that were really low chances to have Netherlands being removed on Monday from the list of countries for which isolation is mandatory, we simply did not want to rush. This way we really feel like we have a small vacation before those two weeks of isolation that will follow at home 🙂 And truth is that we really missed Hallstatt. Even though we’ve seen it twice already, we were very curious to see it during summer. Without the crowds and thousands of tourists, without touristic buses and without the chaos of an ordinary Sunday. Or at least those were our expectations before we arrived to Hallstatt 🙂

RO: Pentru ca spre surprinderea noastra, a fost mult mai aglomerat decat ne-am inchipuit. Probabil mai putin ca in alti ani pe timp de vara (avand in vedere ca lipseau cu desavarsire turistii chinezi si turismul de masa, cu autocare), insa a fost chiar o surpriza sa vedem parcarile absolut pline si intregul satuc plin de oameni. De dragul lui Alexei, fascinat de masini si trenuri si funiculare, am vrut sa urcam sa vedem privelistea faimoasa Skywalk. Iar acest lucru ne-a adus destul de mult stres pentru ca nu am anticipat cat de aglomerat avea sa fie acest funicular. Ce-i drept oamenii purtau fara exceptie masti, insa nu exista absolut nicio regula de securitate implementata. Nu erau fluxuri de trafic, indicatoare care sa incurajeze distantarea, nimic. Ne-a stresat destul de mult aceasta urcare (si coborare) insa am incercat sa fim cat am putut de precauti.

EN: To our surprise, it was way more crowded than we thought. Probably less than in other years during summertime (given the fact that the Chinese tourists and mass tourism in general were completely missing now), but it was a surprise to see the parking lots absolutely full and the whole village full of people. Because Alexei is currently fascinated by cars and trains and funiculars, we wanted to go up on the mountain, to see the famous Skywalk view. And this brought us quite a lot of stress because we did not anticipate how crowded this funicular would be. It is true that people were wearing masks without exception, but there was absolutely no security rule implemented. There were no traffic flows, no signs to encourage keeping the distance, nothing. We were quite stressed by this ascent (and descent) but we tried to be as careful as possible.




RO: Si restul satucului era destul de aglomerat iar cand am decis sa plecam (aproape de ora 12) deja veneau grupuri de turisti (peste 30 de persoane). Fata de experienta zilei trecute in Munich, cand chiar am observat ca lumea era foarte precauta iar terasa unde am fost era foarte putin populata (cel mult o treime din locuri ocupate), astazi in Hallstatt a parut ca nimic nu s-a schimbat in urma pandemiei. Si chiar daca stim ca vietile (prin urmare si calatoritul) isi reiau cursul normal, avem cumva niste sentimente contradictorii 🙂 Intr-un mod bizar, ni s-a parut mai fireasca abordarea bavarezilor, mai precauti si cu mai multe reguli (chiar daca ne-a dat o stare destul de neplacuta), decat cea a austriecilor (parca fix la extrema cealalta, prea relaxata).

EN: The rest of the village was quite crowded as well and when we decided to leave (almost 12 o’clock) groups of tourists were already coming (groups of over 30 people). Compared to lyesterday’s experience in Munich, when we noticed that people were very cautious and the terrace where we’ve been was sparsely populated (a third of the seats were occupied), today in Hallstatt seemed that nothing has changed since the pandemic. And even if we know that lives (and also travelling) resume their normal course, we somehow have some mixed feelings 🙂 In a bizarre way, we think that the Bavarian’s approach was normal, more cautious and with more rules (even if we didn’t have a pleasant vibe), compared to the Austrians (who seemed completely opposite, a bit too relaxed).


RO: Nu am petrecut foarte mult timp in Hallstatt, in special din cauza faptului ca deja se facuse extrem de cald (au fost peste 30 de grade), dar ne-ar fi placut mult sa facem o plimbare cu hidrobicicletele pe lac. Si poate ca am fi facut-o daca nu as fi fost eu destul de speriata de o astfel de “aventura” pe lac cu Alexei 🙂 Iar intr-o perioada mai putin bizara, cu siguranta am fi petrecut ceva timp la o terasa, bucurandu-ne de mancarea locala si o bere rece 🙂 Insa in conditiile actuale am preferat sa evitam restaurantele si terasele (oricum nu aveam de ales, pentru ca nu am fi gasit loc, atat erau de pline si aglomerate). Cert e ca Hallstatt, oricat de aglomerat ar fi, este absolut superb. Ori de cate ori l-am vedea si oricat de aglomerat ar fi, ramane minunat, fermecator si pitoresc si isi merita pe deplin titlul de cel mai frumos satuc austriac.

EN: We didn’t spend much time in Hallstatt, especially because it was already extremely hot (over 30 degrees), but we would have loved to take a water bike ride on the lake. And maybe we would have done it if I wouldn’t have been scared enough of such an “adventure” on the lake with Alexei 🙂 And in less weird times, we would certainly have spent some time on a terrace, enjoying the local food and a cold beer 🙂 But in the current conditions we preferred to avoid restaurants and terraces (anyways we didn’t have a choice, because there were no seats available, that’s how crowded they were). For sure Hallstatt is absolutely gorgeous, no matter how crowded it might be. It doesn’t matter how many times we see it or how crowded it might get, it will still remain wonderful, charming and picturesque and it fully deserves the title of the most beautiful Austrian village.



RO: Restul zilei l-am petrecut pe drumul catre Viena (3 ore), cu o singura oprire pentru a lua pranzul intr-o parcare de pe marginea autostrazii. Nu am nimerit un loc foarte potrivit (cum au fost cele din Germania, cu banci, mese si spatii verzi pentru picnic) dar a fost necesara o astfel de oprire. Am ajuns in Viena spre finalul zilei, si chiar daca initial planuisem sa vizitam putin centrul orasului (am ales un apartament AirBnB din centrul orasului), eram atat de obositi incat am preferat sa ramanem la cazare, sa gatim pentru cina si pentru pranzul de a doua zi si sa ne linistim putin, urmand ca a doua zi (daca nu va ploua precum se anunta) sa vizitam putin zona MuseumsQuartier si eventual sa luam micul dejun la Palmenhaus (daca va fi terasa deschisa).

EN: We spent the rest of the day on our way to Vienna (3 hours), with one stop to have lunch in a parking lot on the side of the highway. I t wasn’t a great place to have lunch (like the ones in Germany, with benches, tables and green spaces for picnic) but it was necessary to stop. We arrived in Vienna in the afternoon, and even though we  initially planned to visit the city center a bit (we chose an AirBnB apartment in the city center), we were very tired and we preferred to stay at the apartment, cooking for dinner and the next day’s lunch. We wanted to relax a bit and make plans for the next day: to visit the MuseumsQuartier area (if it will not rain as announced) and possibly have breakfast at the Palmenhaus (if the terrace will be open).


RO: Gata, de nedespart 1000 de kilometri de Bucuresti si inca doua zile petrecute pe drum 🙂 Planuim sa ajungem marti seara si sinceri sa fim, totul a decurs nesperat de bine pana in acest moment. Facand atat de multe opriri, nu simtim oboseala drumului, insa recunoastem ca ne streseaza putin situatia de la granita dintre Ungaria si Romania. Nu stim cum va fi, auzim povesti destul de diverse, insa inca ne mai gandim cum sa procedam si pe unde sa intram in tara. Dar mai avem atat de putin, parca nu ne vine sa credem ca in curand vom ajunge acasa 🙂

EN: So there are 1000 kilometers more to Bucharest and two more days on the road 🙂 We plan to arrive on Tuesday night and to be honest, everything went unexpectedly well so far. Because we stop so often, we do not feel tired but we have to admit that we are a little stressed by the situation on the border between Hungary and Romania. We don’t know what it will be like, we hear quite different stories, but we are still thinking about how to proceed and where to enter the country. We still can’t believe that we will soon arrive back home 🙂