Munich 2012 - Day 2

Submitted bydkranker onMon, 10/01/2012 - 22:57

Had the motel call us so that we could wake up early, they also got us a cab for 7:00 AM.  We had a 8:00 AM train to Freilassing with a change about 10:00 AM for Berchtesgaden.  Made it to Berchtesgaden around 11:30 AM and walked around the area finding the actual Hofbrauhaus across from the train station.  They only take cash, so we asked a couple outside for the nearest ATM and they said there's a bank in the center of town.  A little more direction from a gas station attendant got us right into the heart of the historic district of Berchtesgaden.  There was an ATM and a little Oompah band or local group that had got together for a celebration.  Being Sunday, most shops were closed but we took a look in a couple of the windows and made it back to Hofbrauhaus for lunch.  We asked what would be the quickest and they recommended soup, and we got it right away and was able to get back over to the pickup point for the tour across the street. There were some nice looking buildings and good scenery since Berchtesgaden sits right in a valley, with a perfectly clear mountain stream right though the center of town.  Kristi and I both would like to come back there.  It's a resort town or vacation town for Germans as well it would appear, the scenery and atmosphere reminded me a lot of Branson.  I'm going to have to look into seeing if they do trout fishing tours there.  There was fresh trout on the menu from the restaurant caught from the nearby lake Konigssee.  We walked by a small structure with a gate over the water that appeared to control the flow of the stream.  We took the bus to a stop on the complex The Eagles Nest sits on.  During WWII the entire mountain was divided into security zones, with areas for SS guard houses, and at one of the stops, we changed to buses operated by DB Bahn that were made to handle the steep grade and sharp turn of the one lane road leading up to the mountain top building.  We got out and went to another building that had been converted to the visitor center and had a lot about the history.  We entered the bunkers behind this building though what was a secret entrance that was only accessible at one time though the woods.  We left this area and entered a long corridor that was bored into the mountain taking an elevator to the top to The Eagles Nest (we got about 30-45 people in it).  The Eagles Nest only has about 3 rooms and is currently a restaurant operated by the German government.  We got back on the bus and then went back to the main site, getting back on our tour bus to head into Berchtesgaden.  We ate at Hofbrauhaus for dinner and took the trains back to Munich train station, with a cab to the room.