Heading South of the Border ~ Day 1

On August 16th, we literally squished ourselves into another rental car and headed south of the border to Austria.  Before leaving, we were determined to get the GPS into English.  Tracy has been in German language school for about a month now so was able to poke enough buttons to eventually get us there.  So very thankful for English GPS!  Listening in German still takes so much effort for all of us.

Vehicles are very compact in Europe.  This car technically seats seven - I think it should be advertised that it seats seven three-year-olds.  All of the boys' knees were touching the seats in front of them.  We had bags at our feet and on our laps.  And yet, we were so glad that we could find a car that fits our family - a six seater can be hard to find!  After experiencing some of the narrowness of the roads though, we completely understand why the cars are so compact.



I found a little three bedroom apartment for rent in Leogang, Austria, so decided that would be a great place to stay for a few days as we explored the Alps.  Little did we know that Leogang is home to worldwide mountain bike races and has ski slopes galore.  Beautiful area!  We plan to return there in a few months for some skiing!

We stayed on the 3rd floor of Birnhornblick.



Because the drive to Leogang was about seven hours, we didn't make it in until around 10pm that evening.  We were able to see some of the mountains before darkness set in, but we didn't really get a great view until the next morning.  [Side-note - Several German friends were surprised that we'd drive that far for a weekend....that's a pretty short trip for us considering both our families live at least that far away from us in the States.]  I had packed a picnic dinner to eat in the car, and we took off just after Tracy's German class ended for the day.

The view from our third floor balcony - absolutely breathtaking!



Before heading to Berchtesgaden, Germany, for the day on Friday, we enjoyed breakfast at a local hotel.  We asked the gentleman that runs Birnhornblick where to go for a good breakfast.  Gernot suggested Cafe Ritter, a bakery just down the road from our place.  Because we wanted to eat a very filling breakfast, skip lunch and enjoy a nice dinner in Berchtesgaden, we opted for the hotel across the street saving Cafe Ritter for the next day.

A typical spread at a hotel breakfast is seveal kinds of breads with butter, honey or Nutella (the boys consumed much Nutella!), various meats and cheeses, fresh fruit with yoghurt, juices and some sort of cereal with milk.  This place had something like Coco-Puffs - also consumed in great quantities.



We arrived in Berchtesgaden with enough time before our scheduled tour that we could grab a quick snack at Rewe, a local grocery chain.  Then we boarded a bus for a four + hour tour of Eagle's Nest and the Obersalzburg Mountain.  The tour started with the history of the Nazi regime and the taking over of the Obersalzburg Mountain.  Eagle's Nest was a birthday present for Hitler's 50th birthday - yet a place Hitler only visited 14 times.  The idea behind it was more of a "look what we can do world" rather than a true gift as Hitler was afraid of heights and was claustrophobic.  The only way to reach Eagle's Nest is by a road with a 27% grade and then a walkway 400' into the mountain to catch an elevator that goes the 400' to the top.  Or one could hike it, I guess!  The elevator fits over 30 people at a time - built so large for Hitler's fear of enclosed spaces.  It only took 13 months start to finish, all the while the German people knew nothing of its construction or its cost of over 10 million US dollars - keep in mind that was in 1938.



This photo is looking back at Eagle's Nest and its view.  It isn't a large house - just three rooms.  No one ever spent the night in it.  In fact, the kitchen wasn't even used once when Hitler was in power.  The cooks found it easier to prepare the food at The Berghof and transport it in insulated containers.  There is now a restaurant located in it, but the boys wanted to rock climb rather than eat so we explored a bit in the rocks pictured below.



That is the Untersberg Mountain behind us to the left and Salzburg behind us
....can't you just hear music?!
I was singing songs from the 'Sound of Music' all day after that view!



Lake Königssee - our guide said that it is over 400 ft deep and is the
largest natural lake in Germany.  This photo makes it look so small,
yet it is a couple hours hike around it.

This is the tunnel leading into the mountain to reach the elevator....you can see Eagle's Nest perched at the top. Hitler's limo delivered him right to the elevator door.  Since Eagle's Nest opened to the public, the government has only allowed certain well designed and equipped buses to make the trek to the tunnel entrance because of the steep grade.  The road was designed to not be seen - and is not visible due to all the trees.  However, once out of the tree line the architect opted for the tunnel and elevator so that a road wouldn't detract from the accomplishment.

After hearing about all the happenings lower down the mountain where Hitler really resided at The Berghof, we ventured into the bunkers that weave underground for miles and miles.  They aren't truly bunkers but rather protective shelters constructed in case of an air raid, which eventually occurred on April 25, 1945.  Most all of the buildings on Obersalzburg were destroyed in that air raid and then again in 1952 - the Allied forces wanting to have nothing of Hitler and his cronies remaining....quite fascinating stories about all that was found though in the bunkers - such as the 10,000 bottles of French wine found in one of the bunkers...weren't about to die of thirst in case of attack!  Eagle's Nest was not bombed in either raid - it was a missed target in the first and determined to be of no consequence in the second since it wasn't really used by Hitler.  It was required though that it become something that could be used by the public and not a museum/shrine to Hitler, hence the restaurant.

One of the unfinished areas of the bunkers - there were actually three levels of bunkers.  The first level was where they were to reside, the second level was strictly a service area that could be accessed to fix and repair things, such as piping, and the third area of bunkers was only discovered in the last decade or so and appears to have been an escape route.

All of the tunnels were lined with a certain kind of black
plasic engineered specifically for the walls of the
bunkers - to help with moisture issues.  Then the tunnels were brick cased.

At the end of the tour, we asked our guide where she likes to go for pizza - since she is originally from the States, she was willing to tell us.  We have found that when we ask Germans for a restaurant suggestion or what the favorite dishes are on the menu, they refuse to tell us because our tastes might not be the same - interesting cultural difference.  She suggested Jolly's Pizzeria in Schönau am Königssee as it is owned by Italians and is the real deal.  Thankfully, there was room for us in the Biergarten as it was a lovely evening to be outside.

We had a nice view of the mountains in the background.

The menu suggested that this pizza would serve 4-6 people, so we ordered this and a medium sized one as well.  Those at the tables around us were getting such a kick out of the size of it.  It was the largest pizza I have ever seen!  And do you think we had leftovers?  We could have ordered two of these, I'm sure!

Our plates were so huge - when the waiter brought these to the table
before the pizza, the boys' eyes got quite big - huge plates
must mean huge slices, right?

After dinner we headed back to Leogang and all crashed early that night.  The second day was to be spent in Salzburg (for Mommy) and hiking a mountain (for the boys).  Turns out that it will be a day we won't soon forget - a day filled with more adventures than we planned!  (That post coming soon)