July 2, 2006

Day 11

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Salzburg, Austria

Giant chess game in Salzburg

This is our last full day in Salzburg, Austria.  What a beautiful city.  The weather is sunny and clear today so we went back to Berchtesgaden to see the Eagle’s Nest.  We’re so lucky to have sunny skies and good visibility on our bus ride up to the Eagle’s Nest.  After the bus drops us off, we walk through a 407-foot tunnel which leads to an elevator that goes up 407 feet to the summit.  What a beautiful view from “on top of the world”.  There are various restaurants to eat at with unbelievable views.  We walk the remaining incline where we stop and take our pictures of Berchtesgaden and Konigssee Lake. 

It was sad to leave Berchtesgaden.  It is such a lovely town.  We drive back to Salzburg and find our way to the Hohenzollern Fortress (looks like a castle overlooking the city).  We take a funicular up to the fortress and spend several hours sightseeing.  We’ve done a lot of walking today, but decide to walk down the mountain instead of taking the funicular down (Pat in her sandals).  With tired feet, we go back to our hotel room to rest before going to our Mozart dinner concert.

The Mozart dinner concert is a highlight of our trip so far.  We take a taxi from our hotel to the restaurant, the Stiftskeller St. Peter, which has the distinction of being the oldest restaurant in Salzburg, dating back to 803 AD.  Our dinner, which is prepared according to 18^th century recipes, is served during the intermissions.  The Amadeus Consort is an ensemble consisting of two opera singers and five musicians, all dressed in period costume.  The three-part program comprises the most popular arias and duets from the operas The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, and the Marriage of Figaro, as well as movements from Mozart’s Divertmenti and A Little Night Music.  The night was enchanting.  We sat at a table with 5 other people who were part of a tour from England.  Mike was trying to converse with a man from northern England who sounded more like he was from Scotland and was difficult to understand.

Scenes of Obersalzburg, Germany

407-foot tunnel leading to the Eagle Nest elevator

Hitler's Eagle Nest

Looking north toward Salzburg, Austria from the Eagle's Nest

View of Berchtesgaden, Germany from the Eagle's Nest

View of Konigssee Lake from the Eagle's Nest

Scenes of Salzburg, Austria

Salzach River running through Salzburg with Hohenzollern Fortress (background)

View from Hohenzollern Fortress

View of Salzburg from the Hohenzollern Fortress