Travel Blog: European Trip (Day 2)
View from the Eagle’s Nest
The Sports Chief Photography/Garett
After a much needed good night’s sleep, the alarm went off at 7:00 in the morning. We rolled out of bed in our hotel in Salzburg, Austria and headed downstairs to see what continental breakfast was like in Europe. Being used to continental breakfasts in America that are usually nothing special, we were pleasantly surprised when we walked in to see the nice spread of bacon, eggs, many fruits and breads, and a lot of other stuff we didn’t really know what it was. There was even something that looked just like a chunk of grass and dirt on a plate that nobody was brave enough to get. The other people eating breakfast were dressed up, so I felt a little out of place wearing a t-shirt and shorts. I didn’t make that mistake again for the rest of the week since apparently Europeans take their breakfast pretty seriously.
We hit the road ready to knock off the first thing on the agenda, which was Kehlsteinhaus, otherwise known as the Eagle’s Nest. It is located in Berchtesgaden, Germany, a short drive from our hotel. If you’re not familiar with the Eagle’s Nest, it was a meeting place for the Nazi Party, including Adolf Hitler who visited many times. Today it is a tourist site with a restaurant and many places to take in stellar views. We were pretty excited to have the opportunity to visit a site with such historical significance.
With the choice to take the two-hour hike up the mountain to the Eagle’s Nest or ride a bus for 7.50 euros, we easily decided to take the bus. The hike would have been very strenuous since all the mountains are pretty much straight up in the Alps. The bus dropped us off after about 15 minutes of climbing, leaving us at the base of the Eagle’s Nest. It was here we had to walk through a long, stone tunnel to get to an elevator that took us for a ride up through the mountain to the Third Reich era building at the summit; that was the exact same way Hitler and the rest of the Nazi members got to the top.
Tunnel leading up to the Eagle’s Nest
The Sports Chief Photography/Garett
The first thing we noticed were the amazing views at the top. The summit is over 6,000 feet in elevation, so we felt like we could see all of Bavaria. Before anything else, we had to walk around and snap some pictures of the views. Then it was time to go inside for lunch. The food was pretty good and the atmosphere was very casual. The restaurant wasn’t a fine-dining place, but instead served its purpose as a place to get some pretty decent food in a historic place before going outside to enjoy the natural beauty.
We wandered outside to get as many pictures as we could from every angle, because every way you turned was magnificent. On one side were mountain peaks covered in snow. Down the other were houses that dotted the landscape. On another was a lake tucked in between two mountains. It was all so beautiful. We all figured the Eagle’s Nest would be cool, but we left with it blowing away our expectations. And there’s something to be said for walking/standing/eating in the exact same place that Hitler did (something significant, but strange). It was a weird feeling knowing that you were in the same rooms where the Nazi Party made so many evil decisions.
With one more thing still on the Day 2 itinerary, we climbed back into the Mitsubishi and headed for Munich. The drive took several hours and seemed longer than that with the GPS taking us through country roads. That was one thing about the trip in general that wasn’t very fun and was exhausting: driving the long distances between stops. But it did allow us to see some beautiful countryside.
The Eagle’s Nest
The Sports Chief Photography/Garett
Finally getting to Munich, Germany, we parked and walked underground to hop onboard the subway. We were headed to the famous Oktoberfest. The most popular festival in the world (drawing over six million people every year) had been going on for two weeks and we were going on the last day. Before we left for our trip, we knew that Oktoberfest would be packed full of people. But it was every bit as packed as we had imagined, and then some. We entered through the gates and found ourselves marveling at how many people there were. Everywhere we walked, we were almost bumping into other people.
To be honest, I wasn’t all that impressed with Oktoberfest. But to be fair, we didn’t really get the true experience. That would have been getting a table in one of the main tents where you can drink beer with thousands of other people while the polka bands play and people are dancing. When we walked into those tents, we could hardly move. Going on a weekend, and the very last day of the festival, assured us that we weren’t going to find anywhere to sit down in the tents. So we headed out in search of a much smaller tent.
We came across a small Paulaner tent that served a few different types of Paulaner beer. After ordering, we found a small round table to stand around, while we drank some beer and ate our supper (which we had to walk to other tents to purchase). I found a porkchop sandwich that I brought back to the Paulaner tent that tasted so-so.
One thing that surprised me about Oktoberfest was the large number of rides. It was basically an amusement park with beer everywhere. I couldn’t imagine drinking too much beer and hopping onto the rides. That sounds like a Sandlot repeat. But I would conclude that Oktoberfest is like a mix of Carowinds and a county fair, with a lot of beer. It was interesting to say the least, but I wouldn’t put it too high on my favorite-things list from this trip. I’m very glad we did it though, just to say that we’ve been to the real Oktoberfest that places all over the world try to replicate.
The last thing we had to do for the day was something no one looked forward to: more driving. We had to drive about two hours to our hotel, which was far more similar to a bed & breakfast, out in the middle of nowhere in Germany. We wanted to stay close to our first destination for Day 3, which I’ll talk about in my next post.
The Eagle’s Nest
The Sports Chief Photography/Garett
The hotel was a decent place to stay, but there’s a few things I would like to take the time to share here. First, we didn’t have any air-conditioning. We thought this might be for that hotel only, but we found out throughout the week that Germany/Austria/Italy must not believe in air-conditioning. Maybe Europe altogether doesn’t, but unless you open the windows, it’s not quite sleeping temperatures inside those hotels to American tourists. The other thing I’d like to share was extremely interesting, but something that we all absolutely hated, and it had to do with the toilet.
Before the trip, I had heard of the infamous “shelf toilet” that was used in Germany and some surrounding countries many years ago. If you want to see what it looks like click HERE. To conserve water, there’s only a small amount of water in the front and the majority of the toilet is dry like a shelf. But basically everything I read before the trip said they were outdated and you really couldn’t find them anymore. Well, we found one. And I was lucky enough to test it out. My reaction was simple: it’s the worst thing ever, for the exact reasons you think it would be.
Check back tomorrow for the blog on Day 3 of our European adventures.
Note: I didn’t get any pictures at Oktoberfest because of the rain and extreme crowds prevented any good photo opportunities.
Garett