We had ambitious plans for the day; first heading south to Kehlsteinhaus, or "the Eagle's Nest" which served as one of Hitler's summer homes and sits just inside the German border in Bavaria. Hitler was given the home in 1939 as a 50th birthday gift from the Austrian leaders at the time. It sits deep in the mountains, but perched high up with limited access. We stopped en route in a small nearby town when some sort of local, traditional ceremony seemed to be going on. Paul thought it was a funeral so it's probably for the best I didn't get snap happy. By the time we had parked it was over anyway- but pausing to take in the area and view was lovely.
Tomtom led us to a small village 30min south of Salzburg. As we headed south, Paul read aloud from Wikipedia:
"It is situated on a ridge at the top of the Kehlstein mountain 1,834 m (6,017 ft), reached by a 6.5 km (4.0 mi) long and 4 m (13 ft) wide road that cost 30 million RMs to build (about 150 million euros in 2007, adjusted in line with inflation). It includes five tunnels but only one hairpin turn and climbs 800 m (2,600 ft).
The last 124 m (407 ft) up to the Kehlsteinhaus are reached by an elevator bored straight down through the mountain and linked via a tunnel through the granite below that is 124 m (407 ft) long. The inside of the large elevator car is surfaced with polished brass, Venetian mirrors and green leather (the elevator is still used daily). Construction of the mountain elevator system cost the lives of 12 construction workers."
Curious about how such a site could have survived post-war demolition of Nazi-related infrastructure, my questinos were soon answered as Paul continued with his wikipedia narrations:
"Although the site is on the same mountain as the Berghof [another Nazi property], Hitler rarely visited the property. It has been suggested he only visited the Kehlsteinhaus around 10 times, and most times for no more than 30 minutes. However he did receive André François-Poncet (the departing French ambassador to Germany) there on October 18, 1938. As a result of the lack of close association with Hitler the property was saved from demolition at the end of the war."
We stopped partway up the mountain to pay a toll for the "panorama road" of 10 euro and continued on. Tomtom had us turn a sharp right onto a very narrow road. At the entrance was a sign in German- in retrospect it was a warning sign of sorts, but at the time we decided that as it didn't contain the word "auto" it wasn't telling us that cars were not allowed to pass.
The road quickly turned to gravel and took on a convex shape- it was like driving on top of a narrow archway.
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| And this was before it even got steep... |
The road continued to narrow, and returned to asphalt.
We crawled upward, as the road got narrower still.
"Do we think we should be driving this?" Ally asks.
"Hm..." says Paul, who is taking is slowly, but still confident behind the wheel.
"I don't know..." I chime in. By this point the road was less than 4m wide- and Paulina is a wide car. With hairpin turns every 10m, just as described in Wikipedia, this certainly was a tough "eagle's nest" to get to. It was when we passed a group of people walking up the steep "road" that we became more uncertain of our decision to drive.
We passed yet another group of walkers, and outcroppings of rock began to make these hairpin turns even more challenging.
We were getting anxious looking over the steep drops beside us as we weaved up the mountain at a snail's pace.
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| Ally looking out over the foggy edge...looking a bit nervous. |
By the time we were 4km along the narrow road, we were on the lookout for suitable turnaround points- otherwise it was going to be a painfully long and difficult reverse down the mountain. The tomtom indicated that we had another 1km to travel, but as we were climbing, the cloud and fog grew thicker. We made the decision to back down to the nearest spot that would suit to turnaround- which, on usual roads, one wouldn't even think of using for a 180.
Paul cooly navigated Paulina with Costas providing direction from the road. Ally and I gripped the arm rests.
The drive down was hard on the brakes, but we made it back safely. The hikers we had passed on the way up looked at us as if we were crazy. I think maybe we were.
When we finally reached the main parking lot at the bottom (the one we had whizzed by on our way up with a slight air of disregard), we saw that the walk to the eagle's nest was over 6km, and at a significant incline. And having made it most of the way up by car, we were well aware of how poor of a view we'd get with today's fog and clouds. We decided to call it quits (perhaps secretly a bit scared of another encounter with those hairpin turns, even if on foot) and head onto our next big activity of the day.... the world's biggest ice caves!
As we got back on the main motorway and headed toward Werfen, home of the "Eisriesenwelt" (ice caves), Ally took the wheel and Paul resumed his narration of wikipedia's description of the eagle's nest to find out what we'd missed:
"Today the building is owned by a charitable trust, and serves as a restaurant. The restaurant features an indoor dining area and an outdoor beer garden. It is a popular tourist attraction, particularly for Britons, Canadians and Americans attracted by the historical significance of the "Eagle's Nest". The house can be reached on foot (two hours of walking), the road having been closed to normal traffic since 1952."
Paul looks up, "Oh my. If only I had read one paragraph further before we tried to drive..."
We all laugh. Given our experiences with Austrian and German rule-following, we were somewhat concerned of the trouble we might get in...who knows who from... but for being those foolish tourist who tried to take a Sunday drive to Hitler's house.
But more legitimate adventure awaited...
http://www.eisriesenwelt.at/site/content/CB_ContentShow.php?coType=home&lang=EN
Austria's ice caves were described as one of the top 7 things to do in the Salzburg area and provided great views of the town of Werfen and the surrounding Alps. On our drive over we had brief conversation about how bundled we'd need to be.
"Just wear whatever you want, Costas." Traveling with the same folks shortens the temper...no matter the circumstances. Both Costas and Paul were in shorts while Ally and I planned to layer up.
We pulled into the main parking lot and climb out of the car. Costas is standing ahead of us, waiting. He comes back and pokes his head over the driver's door where Paul is gathering his things,
"Paul.... I don't see anyone with shorts."
They both laugh, and despite the evidence of a cold adventure to come, both boys begin the trek in shorts. Paul is wearing leather boat shoes.
We decided to hike up rather than take the funicular- a solid climb of about 75minutes reaching approximately 1600m from sea level.
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| Notice the loose shale footing. Paul got a curious look or two thanks to his boat shoes, from some better-equipped Germans who were on their way down. |
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| The town of Werfen |
Once at the top, we met up with the crowds of tourists offloading from the funicular and waited for the tour to begin. As we approached the cave we could feel the temperature drop and could now see our breath in the air.
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| At the entrance to the ice caves. |
The caves are certainly a must-see if you ever find yourself in the Salzburg area. They were discovered in the 1870s and stretch for nearly 14km into the mountain- with the caves itself continuing for over 40km! The steepest ice wall is at 70degrees- and they've managed to rig a set of stairs that climb at 45 degrees alongside it. The tour travels one kilometer deep into the caves, with temperatures sitting at zero degrees celcius. After the warming climb up, we were pretty chilled by the end of the tour.
I've borrowed a few pictures from google to give a sense of what the caves are like:
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| A promotional photo- but just imagine us in that group somewhere. |
The tours are well-guided, and despite the rule-following and precautious nature of Austrians (as we'd experienced it so far), you certainly had to watch out for yourself. Many parts of the route were without railings and there were frequent low rocks and cave walls- perfect for head-hitting while navigating the slippery steps. The guides burned coiled magnesium to create the white light that brought the caves to light. Very neat.
By the end of the tour we were chilled to the bone and raced back down to catch a cablecar to the car;
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