The Hills are Alive

Day 8 Eagle’s Nest/Bad Reichenhall

Early start this morning as we had to leave the apartment by 8.30am to get to Berchtesgaden in order to catch our allotted 9.20am bus to Kehlsteinhsus aka Eagles Nest.

For anyone who doesn’t know, the Eagle’s Nest was a very important place during the Nazi rule. It was used to impress and entertain important guests and also as somewhere for Nazi bigwigs to discuss and plan their war strategies. Although it was built for him, Hitler didn’t go there very often because he was afraid of using the lift which ascends 124 metres. His henchmen loved it though and partied on down regularly.

We didn’t like the lift much either and seeing as there were 3 bus loads of people to go in it, we decided to walk up instead. As we walked, we were more and more entranced by the views. The hills are alive here for sure. Utterly stunning.

At the actual Eagle’s Nest, there is a cafe and restaurant but there are also benches placed at various viewing points so you can take in the beauty that surrounds you. It’s difficult to stop taking photos – it’s very, very beautiful.

Some hints if you go: best to book online. You can’t just rock up and drive to Eagle’s Nest. You have to take an official bus which goes at certain times.

You need to decide what time you want to return to your car when you book. We found 11/2 hours enough but you can alter your scheduled time when you get there if there is enough space on another bus.

Go early so you get the best chance of seeing the mountains before the clouds roll in.

With Eagle’s Nest off Steve’s must do list, it was time to buy lunch and dinner and get fuel. By the time we got back to Bad Reichenhall, we were tired but no rest for the wicked – it was time to get booking accommodation for our next part of the trip.

Sadly it’s not going to include Austria. The hills are deceased – well for us anyway. The weather is just not going to be conducive to hiking. The weather forecast predicts rain most days and if it’s not raining it’s going to be cloudy. I can hike in rain and cloud in the Uk. If you can’t see anything, you could be anywhere.

But the advantages of a road trip include being able to change your plans. So we have and we are going to the Italian Riveria, not far from San Remo near the French border.

One thorny issue has been finding somewhere to stay overnight that is equidistant between here and Imperia. Annoyingly we didn’t act quickly enough to snap up an agri turismo we really liked so it was back to the drawing board to find somewhere suitable. Eventually we found something that will do, so it was time to go out and explore Bad Reichenhall.

We started off with a walk by the river but soon got fed up of also having to walk next to a very busy road. Retracing our steps, we decided on a tour of Bad Reichenhall and found ourselves in the most fabulous spa garden. Specifically, The Royal Spa Garden.

If you’ve ever watched The Truman Show, it’s like that for retirees. An elderly person’s utopia, everyone looked so happy, either sitting around the fountain, or lying on a swing chair or just wandering about, enjoying the flowers. With the backdrop of the mountains, it looked a bit like a miniature version of the Capetown botanical gardens which are fabulous.

As we walked home, we could see the clouds starting to gather. We would have liked to stay another day to see Salzburg but our apartment is booked. Never mind. We’ve had a fab time. It’s been great to spend time in this little gem of a town.