Holiday to Austria (Part 2) - Day trip to Germany

We arrived in Salzburg quite late on Saturday night, and there was a van waiting for us from our B&B. We found a place to stay through the Rick Steves' guide and it was fantastic! The mother/ daughter team that run this place were so helpful and our service was amazing. We ate in the restaurant for breakfast every morning and then a couple nights for dinner and were never once disappointed.

Can you see the joker behind the bars next to Blake? He was so scared of that guy and the next morning we came downstairs and he says, "Mommy, where is that loooser?" I had no idea what he was talking about until he pointed to that guy and said it was him. Max told him it was a joker, not a loooser. On Sunday, we scheduled an all day tour of the Eagle's Nest, the salt mines, and the Bavarian Mountains. We took a charter coach into Germany and made our way to the Eagle's Nest and the surrounding areas. The Eagle's Nest was Hitler's private mountain retreat. The stories of how it was built are amazing. There was a road 6.5k long and 4 meters wide that was carved out of the side of the mountains and up 800 meters of altitude. There are at least 5 tunnels and then a 124 meter high elevator shaft which was blasted out of the mountain. The elevator has green leather seats and brass mirrors on the walls. The road and the Eagle's Nest were built in 12 months in 1937/1938 by about 3000 men working 24/7 just in time to present to Hitler as a surprise on his 50th birthday. The actual building was used basically to hold meetings and dinners for Hitler and his guests. This is the only building left standing in the area after an air raid in 1945. The building still contains the original elevator, dining room, and a fireplace received as a gift from Mussolini, also for Hitler's 50th birthday.

The entrance into the Eagle's Nest. You walk through the tunnel and arrive at the beautiful elevator. The story is that Hitler's driver had to drive him through the tunnel to the elevator and reverse back out. When Hitler was ready to leave, the driver had to reverse into the tunnel to pick him up because Hitler always wanted to be facing forward.

The views were amazing and the weather was perfect!!

We made it to the top!!

Back on the bus

Our next stop was touring the salt mines. The boys loved dressing in the gear that the miners wore. We went down 2 steep slides in the mines and learned how they worked.

Does Dan look like he's having fun?! We then got back on the bus and were taken to a couple towns at the foot of the mountains to eat and to enjoy the views.

Poor Blake didn't even wake up the whole time. This began my favorite part of eating in Austria/Germany....having soft pretzels before the meal! Yummy...the boys and I had our share throughout the next few days in Salzburg. Pictures in the next post....

The best picture of Dee and JoAnn that I have ever seen!