We went on a salt mine tour today. Took the funicular up the mountain, hiked to Salzwelten, checked in, put on our protective clothing, climbed a lot of stairs, walked through a long tunnel, saw salt on display, took a slide down the cave, got cold, watched a short film, walked some more, saw a light show projected onto the cave wall, took an even longer slide down even further, barely saw a subterranean lake (it was dark), saw what is believed to be the world’s oldest staircase (circa 1344 BC), took a train back to where we started, and returned the protective clothes. That was a long two hours. Hence, cold beer.
That’s what we did today. Tomorrow, we have to go to the only pharmacy in town to see the only doctor in town, and only between 5 and 7 pm. She was not working today, so her pharmacy was closed.
Salt Preserves!
Hallstatt is famous for its lake. It is also famous for its salt mine, which was actually a lake 250 million years ago. Salt mining started here 7,000 years ago. Yes, 7,000. In 1734, three miners found a body, now concluded to be that of a man who lived 3,000 years ago. The local priest didn’t want to bury him because he didn’t think the dude was baptized.
Errr…..this poor guy is from the year 1000 Before Christ. In fairness, the salt preserved his skin, hair, and clothing so well that they thought it was only a few hundred years old. So, while the salt cured the body, the poor dude remained dead. In the end, they buried him as a heathen outside of the church graveyard walls. My future neighbor.
Iodine Deficiency?
Speaking of salt, Mister Erickson has an ailment that the internet thinks is due to iodine deficiency. In the U.S., most salt is iodized, but we usually don’t find iodized salt in European restaurants, and certainly not in this huge salt mine. Irony, which is also why the salt rocks in one of the photos looks brownish. There’s iron, and it rusted.