European Vacation: July 1, 2006

Day 10

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Salzburg, Austria

Pat in the salt mines!

We slept much better last night. It really helped to change rooms. Also the weather is better today. We drove back to Berchtesgaden (about a 30-minute drive). Berchtesgaden is a German village at the foot of the Alps. It is absolutely beautiful. We toured the Saltzbergwerk salt mine. It was fun and educational. The slide down the rail was great but you sure can’t be claustrophobic and work in a mine.

After the salt mine tour, we went into the marketplace at Berchtesgaden. Pat wanted to buy a purse she saw yesterday. Then we went to see Mount Jenner and Lake Konigssee (about 15 minutes away). We wanted to take a cable car up to the top of Mount Jenner but due to the heavy fog, there wasn’t enough visibility. So instead, we took a boat ride on Lake Konigssee (Royal Lake), which allowed us to see beautiful scenery. The lake is a deep glacier-carved lake with steep mountain walls going straight down into the lake.

After the boat ride, we drove over to the area where you sign up to tour the Kehlsteinhaus (The Eagle’s Nest), which was about 15 minutes away. The Eagle’s Nest was one of Hitler’s retreats during WWII. We missed the last tour so we’ll come back tomorrow morning to see The Eagle’s Nest.

Scenes from Berchtesgaden, Germany