Salzburg

Day 1
We took the train from Wien Westbahnhof at 6:57 AM and headed off to Salzburg. Salzburg is a quaint little town near the border with Germany. It is the birthplace of Mozart and they would not let you forget it. Everything there had some sort of reference to Mozart on it. Vienna is a city that is renowned for its classical music; however, in Salzburg music was part of anything and everything. Even the local bakeries had pretzels in the shape of treble clefs. As a piano player of 12 years, I found it very amusing and quite nostalgic since it brought me back to my piano playing days. All the souvenirs they sold there had something to do with either Mozart or the Sound of Music. The town is a complete tourist city and everything was catered toward tourism. The tours, food, accommodations, and entrance fees there were all very expensive, since they could get away with it.
First off we walked into town and visited some of the sites in town. It was a zoo there were tourists everywhere from all over the world. We walked into the Dom church and there were more people visiting there than there were when I visited Stephansdom. Afterwards, we decided to go on our own Sound of Music tour, since the one provided was so expensive. We were able to do it for 2 Euros instead of the 33 Euros required for Panorama tours. We visited the Hellbrunn, where the famous Pavilion in the movie stands. The Mirabelle Gardens where they sang “Do Re Mi” and “Favorite Things.” We also visited the abbey, where Maria and Mr. Von Trapp got married.
Day 2
We decided that since we were in Salzburg we would have to visit Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest and some salt mines. The tours offered for these two destinations would amount to about 90 Euro, so again we decided to do it ourselves for less than half the price. We took the bus to Berchtesgaden and on the way found a salt mine. The salt mine we visited was definitely a tourist trap, a lot like the subterranean lake we visited on our way back from the Alps. Once we entered we had to wear some ridiculous body suits and ride a minors train into the depths of the mountain. Inside we went on a slide and rode a boat across a salt lake. The boat ride across the salt lake was complete with a cheesy light show and some trippy music. At the end of the boat ride, they allowed us to taste the water of the lake and it was a lot saltier than I thought it would be. After the salt mine, we took the bus across the Austrian-Germany into Germany and eventually into Berchtesgaden Hauptbahnhof and then another bus to the foot of the mountain where the Kehlsteinhaus was located. From the foot of the mountain, we had to take another bus 20 minutes up the mountain and then an elevator to the peak. The peak offered beautiful views very similar to the views we saw while we were in Raxalpe. On the peak there was a cottage, which was Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest. It was a fiftieth birthday present to Hitler. I have to admit it was strange to be at Hitler’s birthday present on my birthday. I was very disappointed because once we got up there, there was really nothing to see besides the views. There was no museum or anything, just a restaurant where they were rude and charged ridiculous prices for the mediocre food. I did wonder about all the effort and manpower needed to create an eagle’s nest so far up a mountain. We went through a lot of trouble to get up there, imagine getting supplies and people up to the peak in order to build a tea house for Hitler, only the best for the Fuhrer I guess. On our way down the mountain, a large tour bus broke down, and we had to wait a while in order for them to clear to the side of the road so that we could pass by, this messed up our transfers to the other two busses back into Salzburg and our train back to Vienna, so we went back to Vienna a lot later than we had wanted to. Even with all that trouble, I am glad we went to visit Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest even though it was pretty anticlimactic because I know I would have regretted it if I was so close and I didn’t visit it.