This morning, we woke to sun and better temperatures.  We went down to breakfast and then asked a couple of questions about where to go today.  We also needed help with the safe since it appeared locked and we couldn’t use it.  Petra came up to help us.  Wolfgang, her husband, told us the Eagle’s Nest was the best place to go.  It was cheaper than the Jenner Mountain lookout.  He promised that we would be able to see even with the clouds.

Apparently, there is a cam that operates up at the Eagle’s Nest and the hotels all check it to advise their guests if the day looks good for a trip up the mountain.  Today was one of those good days.

We drove up the mountain in that direction and parked at the bus station.  You buy a ticket for the bus and the tour at the bottom.  Then you ride in a bus to the entrance.  A tunnel takes you into the mountain where you find an elevator lined with gold material.  I don’t think it is 14 carat, but it is shiny.  The elevator takes you up to the first landing at the Eagle’s Nest.

Now for a short history lesson.  In 1937 and 1939, the Socialist party built this summer home for Adolf Hitler as a present.  This became the main location where Hitler and his generals planned the war and strategies.  The house is small, but extends into the mountainside.  The location is in Germany, but overlooks Austria, which is Hitler’s birth country.

We stepped out into the hallway of marble and made our way outside.  At first, it is breathtaking that you are in the clouds with only the white fluffy stuff around you.  As the clouds move, you can get a glimpse of the scenery around the mountaintop.  We could see the Konigssee Lake off to the west.  To the north was Austria.

We walked east of the platform and down some stairs to a point that overlooks Austria.  At first, the clouds were full and we couldn’t see anything beyond the point.  They slowly cleared and the valley into view.  Then clouds moved in and swallowed the view from us.

We made our way back up to the platform so we could move around to the west.  The main part of the building had been turned into a restaurant.  This included the patio on the western side of the house.  We continued to walk around the house and went up the stairs away from the Nest.  This took us further up the mountain.

The clouds swirled around and provided openings here and there to view different parts of the valleys on all side of the Nest.  It was like a dream to have the clouds suddenly open and expose the scenery.  Then the white would start to cover up and then all of the view was gone.  You would be looking at a white moving cloud with no way to see behind it.

We continued to move up the mountain.  There was a cross erected with a memorial for 1951.  I’m not sure what it was for exactly.  We used this as a marker when the clouds would start to go over the path, which didn’t obscure things, but gave it a spooky feeling.

At the end of the trail, there was a canyon through the mountain that stopped at an overlook showing the granite walls opposite.  You could see a rock fence that someone had made to create an enclosure in a small valley.  I assume this was a shepherd who uses the spot to house his animals as he has them in the pastures up here for the summer.

We climbed further up to view the northwestern side of the mountains.  Here, we could see the Kongissee Lake when the clouds would break.  There were benches arranged in the rough terrain so you could sit and admire the mountains.  As the clouds moved around, I got a great view of the range with clouds lining the tops.

The climb back down was a little rougher for me, but slow and steady means that I got down safely.  We started moving back toward the Eagle’s Nest and stopping to view the valleys on either side.  With the restaurant close by and the patio full of visitors eating, the crows were lining up to try their chances at getting something to eat.  Rich got a couple of great pictures of some very fat crows waiting around.  Reminded me of that cartoon with the two crows.

I stopped to look at a sign that explained the mountain range and the different heights of the mountains.  It was in German so it was a little hard to tell what was being said.  I tried to take pictures so I could study it later.  One of these pictures turned out with the Eagle’s Nest at the top of it.  I thought it was pretty cool.

We returned to the elevator to go back to the bus parking.  At this time, there wasn’t much of a line.  We were on the elevator pretty quickly.  Even a couple with a small dog got on.  Poor dog knew what was coming and was lying down and wouldn’t move.  He looked a little sick and was glad to get off at the bottom.

When we stepped out, we were met with a sea of faces.  The line to go up to the top was going well out into the tunnel.  Wolfgang was right about getting there early.  I went out to see if we could change the time for our bus trip back down the mountain.  The desk told me to talk to a bus driver to arrange an early departure.

We waited until the buses arrived and started to load.  I approached one of the drivers to ask if we could ride down on his bus earlier than our ticket was stamped for.  He was an older gentleman.  He took my tickets and was shaking his head like he didn’t know if he could do that.  In the meantime, he was ripping off the stub he needed for the return.  I didn’t understand at first and Rich had to tell me that he was having fun with me.  I laughed then.

We rode down to the bus station and walked around the building the Documentation Center, strange name for a museum, was charging admission and I didn’t feel I was that interested in seeing the information on how the Eagle’s Nest was built.  We went on down to the parking lot to find our car.

The lot was jammed packed!  We were only a handful of cars when we came in.  In the row next to us was a beautiful older Jaguar convertible.  I had to take a picture, it was so beautiful.  This would be something I thought my cousin, Mark, would have loved.  It was a nice example.

We got in the car and made our way through the masses to get back to town.  We continued around the traffic circle and went out to Konigssee Lake.  This is an emerald green lake that lies to the northeast of Berchtesgaden.  I noticed there was hiking in the area and a boat ride from end of the lake to another and then back again.

It was after lunch time by the time we arrived and parked.  Most of the lot was full, but we got into the overflow in a grassy field not far from the Tourist Information.  We started walking down to the lake to purchase tickets.  On the way, Rich saw the brotchzeit stand that sold brotchen and wurst.  Since he was hungry, he stopped to buy one.  We saw overlooking the old train station, which is now a restaurant, while he ate.

We continued our walk through the shopping and cafes down to the lakefront.  We were able to purchase tickets and jump right on a boat that was just getting ready to leave.  Most everyone on the boat was German.  I saw a few faces that probably weren’t originally German.  As the guide started to speak, I could pick up very little of what was said.  I had the English brochure, but figured we could make it through the explanations.

About halfway down the lake, the captain and the guide switched places.  The captain retrieved a trumpet from a case by the stairs and proceeded to play pieces of music.  He would play a phrase and we could hear it echoed back to us from the mountains.  It made his single instrument sound like a brass section.

We stopped at St Barnabas Monastery as the first stop on the tour.  You could get off the boat here, walk the shore, hike on back to the end of the lake, or enjoy lunch in one of the restaurants.  We stayed on the boat.  We were able to move to better seats so we could get pictures.

The boat filled with more people and we continued to the end of the lake at Salet.  Everyone got off the boat.  The captain told us in English that everyone had to get off.  We got in line to get onto the next boat leaving.  We found seats near the back of the boat, sitting with a lady and her little white poodle.  You can take your dog just about everywhere here.

All along the way, we saw waterfalls, hiking trails, ice caves, and mountain structures.  It was very pretty back on the lake.   The boats that run up and down here have been electric since 1908 and this is supposed to be the cleanest lake in Germany.  Definitely, the green color of the waters is beautiful.

We got St. Barnabas again and some people got off.  Rich and I moved to the back of the boat so we could have window seats.  The back of the boat was full of kids in their late teens and early 20s.  They had obviously been drinking.  There were laughing, giggling, teasing, and playing jokes on each other.  You could tell the troublemakers because the group kept saying their names.  One of the guys was always whistling some part of a tune throughout the rest of the ride.

We came back to Konigssee Seelande harbor again after about an hour and a half.  The town here is so beautiful with typical German buildings and homes.  There are boathouses all along the shore for the fishermen and the tour boats.  It had an almost East coast sort of feel.

We started back up the road and decided to stop for kaffee and kuchen.  Rich was running low on his caffeine levels.  Rich ordered plum kuchen and I got a cappuccino as well.  Somehow, the plum cake here is so delicious. I don’t think it was just the boat ride either.  We enjoyed our coffees and watched the crowd walk by.

Finishing up, we headed back to the hotel where we rested up and cleaned up a bit.  After 6:00, we walked up the hill to the Golden Bear.  We had decided this is where we were eating tonight.  We sat inside since it was damp and chilly outside.  We were seated a large table, but only there by ourselves.  We ordered beers, since this is where the good dunkel was at.  We ordered our food and sat back to enjoy.  This was a wonderful experience of German food and beer.  We rested and then ordered apple strudel and coffees to end out the night.

We paid our bill and walked around the market square to try and wear off some of dinner.  There was an umpa band playing in one of the biergartens.  We stopped for a bit to listen.  We decided to walk around the back side of the street to go down to our hotel.  There wasn’t much traffic and the hill was less steep than taking the graveyard route.  We still had to negotiate the big hill right over the hotel though.

Back in our room, we settled in and did our own thing.  For me, that was downloading pictures and writing up blogs.  I got all caught up, except for today’s.  I attempted to get started writing, but soon couldn’t keep my eyes open.  I’ll finish this one tomorrow.