We met our tour guide Andreas at the market square and than headed out to the Bavarian Alps and the salt mines. Andreas had a great sense of humor and told great stories.
Such beautiful country. Our first stop was to view The Eagle's Nest ". There are no tours to the Eagle's Nest this time of year. I think the first tour goes around May 15th. The Eagle's Nest sits on a mountain peak above Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps. The Eagel's nest was given to Adolf Hitler as a birthday gift by Martin Bormann. Today it is a restaurant with a spectacular 360 degree view of the Alps.
There it is sitting on the right peak - that very small looking building.
The Allies had tried to destory the Eagle's Nest but never did succeed. As Andreaus put it " Certainly not for lack of trying" ! They sent 300 planes, with 300 bombs and never hit the place. He surmissed the pilots had had 300 drinks of schnapps before going on the mission. Probably there is a much better explanation but this one makes a good story.
Our next stop was at Berchtesgaden. Berchtesgaden and neighboring cities are known for their salt production. In recent history, the name became well known to the general public for more unfortunate reasons, the Nazi dictator, Adolf Hitler had his summer getaway on the peak in a complex of buildings know as the Berghof at Obersalzberg. He only visited it a couple of times. In Germany it is known as the Kehlisteinhaus and was dubbed "The Eagles Nest" by occupying forces after the war.
Wedged into Austria and framed by six formidable mountain ranges, the Berchtesgarden land is a drop-dead gorgeous corner of Bavaria steeped in myths and legends. Local lore has it that angel's given the task to distributing the earth's wonders were startled by God's order to get a move on and dropped them all here.
Andreas told us there are 37 fountains in Berchtesgaden. We started to look for them and were having a hard time finding any.
Finally a fountain.
two...
I think we only found three in our limited time in the city. Andreas threatened to leave me here until I found all 37 but after begging and pleading he consented to let me continue the tour. 
Andreas' favorite place to have a beer or a coffee and a possible treat.
We visited another cemetery. What a lovely place to rest.
A lovely little church alongside the cemetery.
Here we are - "glammed" up for the salt mines.
PIctures on the wall as you enter and board the train for your ride to the mines.
We rode a train, horeback style into the mines. Now I'm claustrophic and it's a long narrow tunnel into the mines, did I mention, long and narrow. I made it but not without doing some "yoga breathing" to relax. We were told we couldn't take any pictures for security reasons. Once I am sure you all have read this blog I am going to destroy these pictures.
If caught I am going to plead innocent. Andreas told us to go ahead and take pictures. He reminded us that we are never going to see "that man" again.
The trip to the mines involved not only the train ride but a funicular, a raft, and down slides. Sounds like an amusement park.
In former times only privileged dignitaries were allowed to visit Berchtesgaden's salt mines which has been in operation since 1517. We were given head phones which informed us of the mining history and techniques. We were accompainied by a guide who did give the tour in German. He was also the "picture Nazi".
A mystical "light and sound" show. And someone saying " Lady, I told you no picutres"!
The top of one of the "slides" .
Lady, I told you no pictures.
Lady, I told you no pictures!. I don't know how he always caught me when I had my camera out. I
think he was picking on me. Everyone was taking pictures.
The was an interactive display "all about salt" ! Very well done.
We got to slide down to two areas of the mine. What fun!
This slide took us to a beautiful underground lake. Only 6 feet deep but absolutely clear,
We had a beautiful light show - salt crystals I think.
This is the train that you board horseback style that takes you into the mine. We took this picture after we had been "elevated" to ground level on the funicular. We headed back to Salzburg listening to some Austrian folk songs.
We had the afternoon free so decided to go see the fountains at Hellbruun. If you recall this is the place where the gazebo from The Sound of Music was moved.
Hellbruun is a vertible jewel on the edge of the city of Salzburg. The spacious park combines artificially landscaped park land and natural biotopes. The water games and trick fountains are atruly unique experience.
Tthis lovely example of Mannerist architecture is the only surviving example of the water fun parks that used to be a common status symbol among the Italian aristocracy. Hellbruun's first owner Archbishop Marcus Sittikus had a faible for delighting his many guests with watery surprises.
Just an oridinary table to enjoy a lovely dinner with the archbishop. Everything's fine if you are sitting in his chair ( where the young girl and I are seated). All other guests would get drenched when the archbishop or whomever held the control decided to push the button. Up came the water behind the chairs and through the slots on the seats.
Here's our guide for the day - with the control.
Beautiful statue with a small mask like face below and the tongue moves. While we're looking at the statue the guide pushed a button and streams of water came out of the floor. Obviously we were not going to stay dry during this tour. Fortunately it was a lovely warm day.
The grotto itself was beautifuol.
These wooden figurines are just two of many that can be found in the gardens of Hellbruun. TThroughout the centuries they have been moving in various water automats or decorated other playful elements in the park.
Bresides their decorative purpose, the movable figures of the water automats should demonstrate the technical mastery over the element water. The prince archbishop could thus present to his visitors what his engineers were capable of.
A wonderful theater in minature. The figures moved and music played. Of course viewers beware...
A perfect niche for me and my golden hat.
The hat was set on a fountain and when the water was turned on up went the hat dancing above the fountain.
Only one way out. Through an archway of water. I managed to make it to the other side without getting wet. Poor Sharon was run into my a young boy who was running back and forth in the fountain. I had almost gotten tripped by him but managed to escape falling. Sharon was not so lucky - her iPad flew and down she went. Fortunately, she and the iPad escaped any serious damage but of course she got soaked. The young man was forced to apologize by his mother and since language was a barrier he put out his hand and he and Sharon shook hands.
We went into the palace to have a look around.
This was the music room.
After the gardens we went back to the hotel, rested a minute and than decided to go have a drink at a hotel roof top cafe that Andreas had recommended.
He must have told every tour group he had about this cafe. It was crowded but we waited patiently and finally got a great table to enjoy the view and the lovely evening.
We walked back to the hotel and decided to just have a pizza in the little Osteria close to the hotel.
It was crowded and we weren't able to get a table outdoors - darn but we had a great pizza and salad and called it a night.
Here's Sharon in front of our hotel. A quick picture before heading inside.
We headed back to Vienna in the morning. We had had just beautiful weather on this trip but we left Salzburg in the rain and got into Vienna in the rain. We walked around the city a bit and had a nice lunch than headed back to the hotel. We had to get up at 4:45 am to catch our plane back to Bologna. We were tired and ready to head home. It had been a fabulous week.
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