Salt and Sun

One thing I neglected to tell about our first day was our tour of the Berchtesgaden Salzwerk, or salt mine! We had reservations for later in the afternoon so we headed there after a cool-off dip in the pool and before dinner.

Every time I sat down by the pool i was offered coffee and cake! And in this case, EisKaffee! 

We arrived at the mine and got all suited up for our adventure!

We were not allowed to take any photos on the mine tour, but we had such a good time! The whole process of extracting the salt was absolutely fascinating and they did a fantastic job on the tour. We got to ride in a boat on an underground lake, taste the walls (very salty), and see lots of very cool and pretty high-tech demonstrations. We now know more about salt than we ever thought we would!
Joshua's favorite parts were the two slides we got to go on. My favorite might be this picture they took on one of them. ;)

I stocked up on all our sodium needs in the store after the tour.

This salt, with blossoms and herbs, may very well be the best I've ever tasted.

The next morning we headed out onto the Konigssee (Kings Lake). It was a gorgeous day. The views were absolutely incredible and we spent most of the day either on the boat or hiking around different areas of the lake.

Kirche St. Bartholomae

Later that day (after a dip in the pool, of course) we went back up to Obersalzburg to check out the Sommerrodelbahn. It is a type of luge ride on little carts down a half-pipe track. We were going too fast to notice but when we weren't racing, the views were amazing!

Going back up the hill for another ride

And this lovely view was on the road to our hotel. A nice way to come "home" every evening...

And next up, one more day. But this one has a soundtrack....

Happy Independence Day!

We decided to celebrate our nation's birthday at the mountaintop resort of one of our biggest enemies.
Berchtesgaden and Hitler's Eagle's Nest had been on our bucket list since the first time we lived here but we just hadn't found the time to make the trip.

I must say, it was worth the wait.

As we got farther and farther south the mountains seemed to be calling our names....

And when we got to our hotel, they were practically singing! Or maybe that was us. What a gorgeous setting!

We stayed at Stoll's Alpina Hotel. It was perfect. Our first night there we ate outside on the patio (fresh caught trout) and enjoyed live music along with our beautiful views.
This was shaping up to be a great weekend.

The next morning we got up bright and early to get in the queue for the busses up to to the Eagle's Nest. We had done some research and we wanted to beat the crowds. Quick breakfast (on the patio again) and we were off.
Our timing was perfect and we didn't have much of a wait at all. There is only one road up the mountain to the Eagle's Nest. After driving a ways up the mountain to Ober-Salzburg you park and get on your assigned bus for the trip up the rest of the way to Hitler's famous brass elevator.

Once we arrived at the drop off point, we headed through the tunnel to the elevator, where we also beat the rush! You can see the top of the tunnel in the picture above and the top of the Eagle's Nest at the very top of the photo.

The ride up is in the original brass elevator that was used by Hitler (only a handful times as he was afraid of heights) and Eva Braun. Nowadays the ride is not quite as luxurious as they pack as many visitors into it as they possibly can at a time.

The views from the top were incredible.

We thoroughly enjoyed exploring the building and relaxed on the patio with some cool drinks and a snack. Not unlike these visitors 70 years ago (except our cool drinks were a little less potent (;  )

Most of you know that the 101st ABN (Air Assault) is near and dear to our hearts, as is Easy Company and the original paratroopers. It was so meaningful to be in that place on Independence Day.

Standing next to what remains of the marble fireplace gifted to Hitler by Mussolini

The room 70+ years ago....

We spent a lot of the morning outside hiking around and exploring....

                                        

'Merica!

 After we made it back down the mountain we took some time exploring the Documentation Center and the extensive underground tunnel system used by the Nazis. Not much of what was inside still exists, due to so many trophy-gatherers and souvenir seekers after the war. But the Documentation Center was very interesting (the Soldier could have stayed all day) and the tunnels were astounding. And entire city existed within that mountain...

Later that evening we had dinner in the valley and enjoyed talking about our day and looking up at the impressive heights we had been to that morning...

He got a little sun!

trout again for me...yummmmm

Way at the top

And that was the first day and a half of a really fantastic weekend....up next, outdoor adventuring!