Days 11, 12 & 13: Hitler's Eagle's Nest and Schoenbrunn

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday

Busy, stressful days for us on Tuesday and Wednesday. Unfortunately, I have no photographs for Tuesday and Wednesday that are worth showing.

Tuesday morning we had breakfast at Frau Balwein's. We were planning on visiting Hitler's Eagle's Nest. (This is the area near Berchtesgaden, Germany, in the German Bavarian Alps where Hitler had a mountain retreat and an enormous bunker system. It was also where he committed suicide when the Allies stormed the area. You can read for yourself about this fascinating area on Wikipedia.) When we mentioned where we were headed, Frau Balwein told us that at least the Eagle's Nest itself was closed because there was still too much snow. We decided to go anyway, to at least see the bunker system and museum.

It was pouring rain as we waited for the bus to take us to the train station. After arriving at the station and making quite the effort to find the bus headed for Berchtesgaden, Germany, we boarded and made our way through roads under construction. We arrived at Berchtestgaden to no better weather. The mountains were completely socked in with fog. We found our bus and ascended the twisting roads. We were dropped off near a gift shop and restaurant, only to read a sign saying everything was closed until "tomorrow". What a disappointment. We went to the gift shop and, just to be sure, I asked the saleswoman if anything was open. Come to find out, the bunkers and museum were still open, just not the Eagle's Nest. In short, we spent hours at the fascinating museum of Nazi and holocaust history, and still only saw about half of it. We then toured the bunker system, which was elaborate yet eerie. There was only a small fraction of the bunkers open to the public, and even that portion was pretty big.

We caught our bus (again in the rain) back to Berchtesgaden. After reading the bus schedule, we decided we had until about 7 pm until the last bus. So we crossed the street and found an Italian restaurant with good atmosphere. We ordered a pizza and it literally covered the entire table. Arriving back at the bus station, we were surprised to see it virtually empty. No one waiting for any buses. We waited. And waited. And waited. I eventually re-read the schedule and found that the last bus actually came around 6 or so, and 7 pm was only for the weekends. I think it would help if I knew a little more German! I was extremely frustrated by this point. Again, long story short, we ended up taking the train back to Salzburg where we took the bus to another stop and waited for the bus to Moosstrasse (Frau Balwein's). Again, waiting 45 minutes and not knowing if we'd missed the last bus was nerve racking. Luckily, we didn't, and got home. What an exhausting day.

We left early the next morning for Vienna. From the train station, we procured a hotel room right inside the Old Town, but at no small expense. The train ride seemed long and we arrived in Vienna late afternoon. We decided to take a bus "tour" of the "Ring" that circles the Old Town and passes many monuments and sights. We saw all the buildings lit up at night. European cities are so cool.

The next morning, we left for Schoenbrunn Palace. Very simple to get there (thankfully) and we spent the day touring the palace and grounds. While the palace itself was great, I was getting rather irritated at all the people. People ev-ery-where. Pushing, sweating, loud, obnoxious, inconsiderate people. I was glad to get out of the palace and onto the grounds. The gardens were nice, but nothing like Versailles. Lots of monuments and fountains, etc.

We returned to Vienna early afternoon, and spent the rest of the day wandering the streets. Vienna is a beautiful, beautiful city, but, even though we came during the "off season", there were so many people. Stephensplatz, home of the enormous St. Stephen's Cathedral, was apparently the hub of activity. Street performers, artists, markets, and, of course, masses of PEOPLE. Part of me was longing for Gimmewald.

That evening, hearing music coming from another church, Jared and I entered during a service and stood at the back. It was ethereal and calming. It was a wholly reverent contrast to the congeries outside. A lady sang to the resounding pipes. A very spiritual moment, actually.

We had quite an eating adventure that night. It was already late, around 8:00 or so, and I thought it would be cool to eat farther outside of Old Town so we could avoid the crowds. After much walking and growling stomachs, we found a pub that served sausage by the centimeter. It was their trademark. Talk about health department violations. And yet, it was so much fun. I got to order in German and ask for things and the guy actually seemed to take me seriously. Anyway, despite the conditions of the kitchen (which we could clearly see from our vantage point), the food was delicious. We left full and happy.

Anyway, here are some photos of Schoenbrunn, the only ones worth showing from those three days.






Schoenbrunn Palace from the back. Oh, the people.






A very cool greenhouse. We would have gone in, but it cost extra and I had just finished paying a Euro (about $1.60) to use the bathroom (again). I wasn't in the mood.






Bad photo, great fountain. That would be Neptune up there on the top in case you didn't already know. Try to find this kind of stuff in America. Pretty difficult.






The Gloriette. Built by Maria Theresa for some ridiculously insignificant event. (I think it was Maria Theresa. I've forgotten already.) You can go up to the top if you want to pay more money. Nickels and dimes, nickels and dimes.






The back of the palace from the base of the Gloriette. You can see good king Neptune's head at the bottom center of the frame.






The impending storm clouds over the front of Schoenbrunn. Look closely. Yep, the palace was under construction.