Ugly history in a gorgeous setting

We almost missed our tour of Hitler's Eagle's Nest due to a tiny major glitch in our GPS time estimator.  The tour was in exactly an hour and a half when we discovered we were exactly an hour and a half away.  This made for a stressful drive full of phone calls to the tour desk to assure them that we would be showing up, just not the 15 minutes early they wished for.  They doubted we'd avoid a traffic jam so I had to call again when we were two minutes away.  They had the bus totally loaded and only waited the extra minute for us because I told them we could see the street they were on.  They told us to pay later, we rushed on, apologizing to all the people who had planned appropriately for their day, sat down and continued to hold the pee we had been holding for the previous hour or so.  We are so glad we made it because the 4 hour tour was beautiful, fascinating and informative.  

The Eagle's Nest was a retreat home built by some of Hitler's people as a gift to him.  They ended up spending more time here than he did because it is incredibly high up and he was rather afraid of heights! It was strange to hear how this area was used to manipulate people's viewpoint on Hitler and continue to perpetuate the propaganda he set out spread.  People would hike for miles up the hill just to see him wave to the crowd for a minute each day.  Some big decisions were made here involving strategies for the war. It's scary to think about the conversations that were had and the plans that were made.

  The place is not all that big but the views are outstanding.

If you have seen the Band of Brothers this is the path the soldiers are walking up in the final minutes.

We drove for half an hour to the tunnel systems, then hopped on another bus for half an hour which climbed steeply and took us around sharp curves on a one-lane road.  From there we got in an elevator which shot up for about 40 seconds to the "nest."  We were high up!

 The tour took us through the vast tunnel system that was made part way up the hill towards the Eagle's Nest.  The plan was to use this as a hide-out if things went wrong.  It didn't end up getting finished or used much since most of the men ran away or killed themselves first.  

If this had been my retreat home I think I would have used it often!

Munich: The edge of Bavaria

Munich is a delightful city!  Some say it's snobby but we didn't feel this way.  People were helpful, relaxed and enjoying life most places we went.  We stayed by the huge park that has a river winding its way through grassy fields where college students lounge on blankets or play frisbee with their dogs. (Think Bellingham with German accents and alcohol allowed in public places.)

We discovered a delicious pastry called a Schmalznudel.  It's light, flaky and sprinkled with sugar. We needed more than one.  

 

We loved the way there were beer gardens everywhere.  They were just huge "parks" with picnic benches, beer, humongous pretzels and every kind of grilled meat you could think of.  This is pretty much what people do on a beautiful evening/afternoon/morning!  

One man told us to repeat something in German when he took our picture.  I realized I probably shouldn't have done this when he wouldn't translate it for us afterwards and his whole table laughed...

This weird pole at the farmers market has something to do with Octoberfest and the main breweries of Munich.  

We got a great view of the main square and the city from up in the tower of St. Peter's Church.

 Nate recognized this walking man because it was part of his work's parent company.  We didn't go in to say hello to anyone...

 

We stopped by the Dachau concentration camp.  It was somber and quiet and informative.  Memorials are found throughout.  There were many stories and specifics about groups of people and individuals who were brought here.  I was particularly struck by the details of those who put up resistance to the very end.

Beautiful Bavaria

 Nate and I had a long day of driving ahead of us from Wurzberg to Fussen so we stopped at a "Mozart Cafe" and stuffed ourselves in order to give us fuel for the day.  This is my dream kind of meal: An overflowing cheese and meat plate, fruit, yogurt and buttery croissants.  Yum!

We used our car to drive down through Bavaria, weaving our way on skinny twisting roads through fields upon fields of wheat which is used to make their delicious "weiss" beer.   Other common sights were big boxy houses, tall slanted roofs, darling little inns and plenty of flowers lining the windows.

















We visited Rothenberg which has its original wall going around the central part of city.  You can walk inside the wall in order to get a wonderful view of the rooftops.

This was one of the only days of our whole trip that contained quite a bit of rain.  Rain jackets and coffee helped us deal the Pacific Northwest-type drizzle.

Fussen is in southernmost Bavaria nestled up against the Alps.  We stayed for one night in a darling bed and breakfast with views of the mountains stretching up in front of us.  The main attraction of this cute little town is the famous castle built for Ludwig Van II.  

This bridge we were standing on  was shaking from all the people on it and the boards moved under our feet.  We got off it as soon as possible!


Neuschwanstein Castle was built for Ludwig II of Bavaria.  This castle was one that inspired Disney when he created the fantasyland castle later on.  The panoramic views from up there were gorgeous.  

Adventures of a rental car

We rented a car for most of our trip. It was a sleek four-door that even had a USB slot so I could plug in my I-pod! One of the main reasons was so we could drive down the "Romantic Road" stopping at the little Bavarian villages along the way and taking in the beautiful scenery at our own pace.  This turned out to be a wonderful idea...and more difficult than the time we rented a car in Ireland where we drove in the right side of the car on the left side of the road!  We are so glad we had a car but had a few hiccups along the way.

Getting to Heidelberg was easy and we were rewarded by sunshine, an old bridge, a castle and some "Weissbier."  

About 20 km from Heidelberg Nate discovered there was a problem with the clutch.  It wouldn't go in reverse at all and wasn't catching well in other gears, plus the engine was starting to smell as a result of the clutch problems.  We couldn't continue like this.  Thankfully we had a pay by the minute cell phone that works in Europe.  We called our car rental agency, explained our problem and promptly got put on hold.  We anxiously let the pay-by-the minute minutes go by and were dismayed to then get disconnected.  Two phone calls later plus another disconnection we finally asked a nice German man to speak to customer service for us.  Whatever he said convinced them that we actually needed help.  45 minutes went by and a man who spoke ONLY German arrived from the rental place.  Pointing and gesturing gave him the info he needed, he grabbed a tool and 10 minutes later our car was good to go!  Since we had imagined being stranded in a little town 1 1/2 hours away from our next destination a 3 hour delay was not the worst that could have happened to us.

   
            

As I said, we loved having a car because we got to drive down the Romantic Road.  We quickly discovered that this was not a "road" per se, but a "route" that took us through specific cities.  This meant that we could not plug this route into our GPS, MEANING we had to look for signs which told us where to go.  These signs say "Romantische Straße" and we had to constantly be on the lookout to make sure we did not miss a turn.  We took to shouting excitedly each time we found the next sign..."Romantische Straße!!" pronounced in our goofy American way "Romantic Straw-bey!"

We mostly did a good job of following these signs except the time we went 30ish km west instead of south and the times we came across signs like this,

which mean "you can't actually go on this road you were planning to go on but we won't give you suggestions of other ways to go, except the opposite direction. " 

Almost getting stuck with our car in a parking garage, a small bump into concrete, (no scratch!) another person bumping our parked car when we were gone (a scratch!) and some minor major GPS misinformation were a few other difficulties we faced.  Other than that, having a car was totally worth it for the sights we saw and as easy as pie!  

Travel Buddies

The "perfect" travel companions!

Death Valley antics.  We were fun and unpredictable back then!

In less than 24 hours Nate and I will be on a 10 1/2 hour direct flight to Frankfurt.  In our almost 6 years of marriage we have made traveling one of our priorities in our lives.  We love it.  Seeing new places, experiencing different cultures, walking for hours and trying some tons of new foods are a few of our favorite things.  And I think we complement each other pretty well in terms of traveling compatibility.  We have come a long way compared to the first real trip we went on as a dating couple with our good friends Jake and Amie.  That trip brought up some of our first conflicts.  In our road trip to the Grand Canyon we discovered we had differences in planning, (I didn't) making decisions, (I felt no need) being tidy, (I wasn't) needing food (I always did) and needing bathrooms (me again.)  All of his structure drove me just as crazy as my free spirit drove him crazy.  Still, this did not stop us from plowing on to many more excursions, and I'm so glad we did. 

If it weren't for that first incredibly fun yet frustrating trip I don't think I'd appreciate the slow changes that have occurred in us. We've listened to each other, adapted to each other and edged our preferences towards each other.  NOW, I am happy to arrive to all scheduled departures abundantly early so Nate won't be stressed out.  He keeps his eyes out for logical rest/food stops at all times.  I mark restaurants and sights I would like to see BEFORE we leave (mostly).  He sits and reads books at cute little cafes (for a bit.)  Neither of us are outrageously tidy in a hotel room.  We agree that days should be balanced between planned and wandering, we are willing to ask people to take pictures of us and we will always split our meal if we both feel like the same thing.  Breakfast must always be eaten, and mornings shouldn't be rushed unless absolutely necessary.  Transit systems are meant to be navigated by Nate, walking is perfect for burning the calories of rich and delicious meals and evenings are for watching sunsets/street performers/people in general.  

We know some of the things this trip holds in store for us, such as a visit to a concentration camp, lots of schnitzel, a drive through Bavaria, Hitler's Eagle's Nest, the Sound of Music Tour, sausage tasting and various beer gardens.  However, we have just enough mystery left to leave me giddy with excitement to find out what will happen in the next 19 days!