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AUGUST 20, 2003
We got the 9:50AM train to Salzburg and got there at 11:50AM. We took a bus out to the campground, Camping Kasern, which is a few miles out of the city. We are in a 4-person tent that has 4 cots, and a table with benches. It has 2 windows and a door, and it is tall enough to stand up anywhere in the tent. It just has a tarp for a floor. It should be nice sleeping out in the fresh air tonight. After we settled in, we walked over and bought some groceries because they have a small kitchen in the campground. We will cook dinner here tonight. About 2:30PM, we took the bus to Salzburg center, went to the tourist office, and walked around a bit. Then we walked up to Festung Hohensalzburg, a fortress overlooking the city, but we didn't go inside because we didn't want to pay the entrance fee. We really just wanted the exercise and to get up high to look ovr the city. The music festival is going on in August, but most performances are sold out well in advance. We did see a few street musicians, and I particularly like the violinist.
The only problem with the campground is its location. We need to take the bus to get to Salzburg center, so once we came back out here about 5:30PM we didn't want to bother to go back downtown for anything. It was very nice though, just siitting in the tent, reading and writing. Beside, we have a long day tomorrow. We will get the 6:20AM bus to the train station and take the train out to Berchtesgaden.
Salzburg is best known for Mozart and you can visit his birthplace and his former residence, and there is a big statue of him in the center. It is also known for the Sound of Music, because the von Trapp family lived here and the movie was filmed on location here.
We went back to the campground about 5:30PM and read and wrote notes. I went to the kitchen about 7PM to make tuna for our lunch tomorrow. After I finished the sandwiches, I went into the room next to the kitchen where a young couple was watching The Sound of Music video on a small TV. There was just a table with benches and the TV was up on a high stand in the room, and I sat down on one of the benches to watch the move a bit (I've seen it about 8 times). Shari came over at 7:45PM to see where I was and she sat down to watch it. Then 5 other people joined us, so now there are 9 of us in this tiny, crummy room sitting on the benches or floor watching a very poor quality video. The music was great though - I love that story. Shari and I were going to cook pasta for dinner, but the movie didn't end until 9:45, so we just ate cheese sandwiches, cole slaw and pepperoni and podding, for dessert, and then went to bed.
8/17: It was much cooler sleeping last night and everything felt a little damp when we got up this morning. We got up about 6AM and got the 6:20 bus and then took the 7:10 train for the one our ride to Berchtesgaden.
What a great day! We weren't sure about the weather because it looked like it might rain when we first arrived in Berchtesgaden, so we decided to do the Eagle's Nest first and the salt mines second. We wanted to be sure we got good views uo on the mountain. It is beautiful in Berchtesgaden. Even during the train ride we could start to see the mountains and it made me realize how much I miss them.
The trip to the Eagle's Nest was 16:70 euros, which included the bus ride from Berchtesgaden to Obersalzberg, the bus from Obersalzberg to the Eagle's Nest parking lot and then the elevator to the Eagle's Nest at the top of the mountain. Obersalzberg was a second seat of govrnment for the Third Reich. Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels and the rest of the Nazi hierarchy all had homes there. The Kehlstein (the Eagle's Nest) was a meeting house at the top of the mountain that Martin Boorman had built in 1939 as a 50th birthday gift for Hitler, but apparently it was seldom used by Hitler. The road from Obersalzberg to the Eagle's Nest parking lot is a feat of engineering. It was blasted out of solid rock in just 13 months. It is a beautiful bus ride on a narrow winding road. The building sits atop the mountain at 1,834 meters (6,017 feet). A 407 foot tunnel leads from the parking lot straight into the side of the mountain and then an elevator takes you another 407 feet up through the mountain, and into the building in 41 seconds. The view at the top is spectacular!
There are some hiking trails coming off the mountain at the top, but none of the literature mentioned what you could do at the top so we only wore shoes, not hiking boots. We took pictures and walked around a bit on the trails, but the rocks were pretty smooth and we didn't want to walk too far without boots.
There is a restaurant at the top and most of the people just go up to take pictures and maybe have lunch and drinks. I think they should improve their brochures to let people know there is more to do at the top than just admire the view.
Our next adventure was a trip to the salt mines. we took the bus down from Obersalzberg to Berchtesgaden anf then walked about 20 minutes out to the Salzbergwerk Salt Mine for their tour, which cost 12.50 euros. It was really fun. First we had to dress in miner's protective clothing (jacket, pants, belt) and then we rode a mine train into the interior of the mountain. We also rode down steep steps (which were really fun) and took a raft across a small salt lake. We also walked quite a bit through the mine and the guide stopped every so often to tell us about the operation and history of the mine. There was also a video that gave an overview of the mine. The mine has been in operation since 1517 an still produces salt brine (from which they extract salt) today. Salt was such an important commodity in early times because it was used to preserve food,and it was referred to as "white gold." It was even used as a form of curreny in early times, and was extremely valuable.
We finished the mine tour about 3PM and walked about a half hour back to the train station to get the 4:15 train back to Salzburg and then the bus to the campground.
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