I had originally thought that Doug, John, Sarah & I would go to Nuremburg today. We’d been talking about it all week and were going to buy tickets early Friday morning. I suspect that Sarah changed her mind though, meaning everyone else changed their mind, and we ended up going to Eagle’s Nest instead.
Eagle’s Nest or Kehlstein is Hitler’s bunker in the south of Bavaria, straddling the German-Austrian border. I was fine with going, since it had been on my list of things to do, anyway. We left the apartment around 8:00am and caught the 8:48 train toward Salzburg. The train there was packed & we could only find seats in first class, which we had to give up once they began checking tickets. It cleared out quickly, though, and we were able to sit at least for the last leg of the trip. In total, it takes nearly three hours to get to Kehlstein using a combination of trains and buses and the ride there isn’t particularly pretty. Luckily, travel within Bavaria is extraordinarly cheap (27 Euros for up to 5 people anywhere in Bavaria).
If you ever have the opportunity to visit Kehlstein, I have one major suggestion — go with a tour group. For some reason, the company that currently runs Kehlstein only allows registered tour groups to visit the actual house. The poor saps, who like us, pay 15 Euros to simply take a bus and elevator up to the house, aren’t even allowed to see the inside of the house except for the portion which currently houses a restaurant. I was already a little pissed that Hitler’s secret bunker cost money to visit, and this didn’t make me much happier. The view from the top is quite pretty, though — you can see for miles when the sky is clear & it’s nice to grab a beer in Hitler’s old home.
Even for a somewhat overcast day, the Eagle’s Nest was very crowded. Every bus was full & there were people all over the top of the mountain. Certainly, some of them came because of the EuroCup which is taking place in nearby Salzburg. We saw several Greek, Russian, and Swedish jerseys at the top of the mountain.
On the way back, John, Sarah & Doug grabbed a couple beers at the Kiosk & started drinking on the train. I was already falling asleep, so I decided to stick to Coke. Lame, I know. I knew that we were meeting Sarah’s coworkers later that night, anyway, so I decided I was safe enough waiting a couple hours — at least until after dinner.
Tag: trips
Friday Update
I spent most of yesterday evening watching the Euro2008, although that isn’t singificantly different from what I’ve been doing the entire week. The first game, Germany-Croatia, was fairly boring. Germany played terribly & deserved to lose. The Austria-Poland game, on the other hand, was excellent. Poland scored an unearned goal in the first half on a missed offsides call, and Austria finally tied the game in the 92nd minute on a penalty kick. I’m glad Austria was able to tie Poland, because it leaves the bracket open & gives the Austria-Germany game on Monday even more meaning. In all reality, though, Austria outplayed Poland and should have won the game.
After lunch today I have to go pay my rent, which is probably the worst part of the month. Fortunately, I only have to pay this month & one more, and I’ll have a lot more financial freedom once my housing expenses are finally out of the way. I lucked out, too, because I pay 290 Euros a month including utilities, which for Munich is a fantastic deal.
Otherwise, things in Munich are quiet. The weather is terrible again, and I’m hoping that we’ll be able to keep our plans to travel to Nuremberg tomorrow. If not, I’ll probably end up reading or trying to find a good museum. I just finished Agatha Christie’s Mysterious Affair at Styles, and I’m starting in on Crime & Punishment. It’s not exactly the lightest reading to be doing on the subway, but it should be interesting.
Thursday Update
The past days have been fairly busy. I’ve been watching the EURO 2008 games with Doug at my apartment, although my team (Switzerland of course) was officially eliminated last night. In the 93rd minute, nonetheless. When I have spare time otherwise, I’ve been reading and watching Heroes. John lent me the first season & I’ve become hooked.
This weekend John, Doug, Sarah & I are planning a trip to Nuremburg if the weather holds. Lisha will be in Bonn for a DAAD event & will be unable to accompany us. I’m looking forward to it, if only because of the historical implications. I hear it’s quite beautiful, too. We also bought tickets to Wien for mid-July & have begun to plan our trip. If everything works out, we’ll be visiting Bratislava while we’re there, as well. All this travel means I have very little time in Munich. It’s somewhat unfortunate, as Ryan wants to visit, but I don’t know when I’ll be here. This weekend also will offer several major events surrounding Munich’s 850th birthday celebration.
Salzburg
It’s been quite some time since I posted, and a lot has been going on. Saturday, Doug, Lisha & I went to Salzburg, Austria. In order to give ourselves plenty of time, we left around 8:00 in the morning & arrived in Salzburg at 10:30. The entire way there, our train car was buffetted by rain & I thought we’d end up having to stay inside at various museums. Fortunately, it turned out to be a beautiful day. We were able to walk around Salzburg’s Getreidegasse (the famous shopping street), go up to the Festung (fortress), and see Mozart’s birth house. We also saw the Residenz & Salzburg’s beautiful churches.
It was a particularly great day to be in Salzburg, because Saturday marked the start of Euro 2008. The city had set up a stage with several large screens where football fans could watch the games. We were able to catch the first 15 minutes of the Switzerland-Czech game before having to catch the train home & it was a lot of fun to hear all of the cheering fans. Unfortunately, Switzerland lost 1-0.
Besides the site-seeing, the only other point to note is that coffee in Austria is “Melange.” Doug tried to order a coffee at a cafe & the waiter quite rudely told him: “In Austria, it is not coffee. It’s melange.” He was an ass.
Joseph Schaeffer 