Europe, Part 3

From Munich we were off to Berchtesgaden.  To get there we briefly crossed into Austria. 

Apparently you have to have a permit that costs 9 Euro to drive in Austria. Well...we didn't know that and right as we got off the exit Kyle was pulled over. They made him watch a video in their van - creepy. Then they politely gave him a $200 ticket. OUCH! There went the guys' beer fund for the next few days!

Our first stop was to check out the Eagle's Nest, but as you can see by the sign above it's crossed out.  The weather was still too bad high in the mountains to open tours.  What a bummer!  Fortunately Kyle had taken that tour before and said we weren't missing out.  I think he was just trying to make us feel better.

Although our day was not lost because the Obersalzburg Documentation Center was open.  This is a HUGE museum showing the rise and fall of Hitler.  After we toured the museum we toured the underground tunnels where Hitler's base camp was in hiding and operated from.

Above and Below:  These are photos of the tunnels.  We were all amazed by the size of the tunnels.  Kyle is 6'4" tall and he had plenty of clearance. 

The tunnels were used as a U.S. Army Recreation Camp until as recently as 1995 upon the fall of Hitler.  There are clear signs of troops being in the tunnels.  Lots of graffiti with people's names, dates, and states their from.

Above: This is a photo of a sniper location pointing at a set of stairs.

Below:  A photo of the stairs.

The Eagle's Nest can be seen just barely at the top of this mountain.  Hitler was actually afraid of heights and only visited the Eagle's Nest a handful of times.

Lederhosen is surprisingly expensive!

I'm also not all that fond of heights and this is a photo of Kyle and I - he's trying to get me as close to the edge as possible.  The mountain drops straight off!

View of the mountains from our hotel.

Kyle's Chevy truck was proving to be difficult when we couldn't find parking at a church we had planned to tour.  This road had some construction going on and we drove up and down it a million times looking for a spot to park.  The construction workers thought it was hilarious and would wave each time we drove by.  We make friends however we can get them.

Lake Konigsee

We took a boat ride on the lake to St. Bartholoma, a well known church on the edge of the lake.

During the peak of tourism, all these boats are out on the water and giving tours.

What a beautiful trip!

This is a view of the St. Bartholoma church.  Unfortunately someone (Mike) forgot to charge the camera so this was our last boat trip photo!  On the way back we saw a bunch of reindeer feeding on the grass near the lake.  It was great.  One of our favorite places from the entire trip.

From Berchtesgaden (I always feel like I'm from Jersey when I say that place) we drove to Mittersill where there was a castle we had planned to stay the night in.  Bummer though, when we got there they had JUST closed for some needed renovations.  Too bad because the castle is really neat and the family that runs it is super nice.

Off to Garmisch!