We all got up at 8:00am to eat breakfast which consisted of sweet breads, cold meats, cheese, yogurt and muesli. I enjoy the muesli, breads and the hot chocolate. Brady had the hot chocolate which I tried and it was very good. It isn't as sweet as ours which makes it taste much better.
Headed off to the salt mine tour. Beginning in 550BC the Celts moved to the area and started salt mining shortly after that. The salt mines made the area very wealthy. The mines have since closed down because, by modern standards, the salt concentration isn't that great. The mine tour was pretty enjoyable. We took "trains" into the mountain and then walked most of the way from there. The walking was interspersed with wooden slides that 2-3 sit on at a time (imagine a log ride position) and slide down to the next lower level. We also ferried across a manmade lake inside the cave. They formed a cavern in the mine which they flooded. The water would leach out the salt from the rock walls and they would slowly drain the water out into holding tanks. They then heated up the water to evaporation point which left only the salt. The tour took about 2-3 hours.
We then headed to Berchtesgaden for lunch. What a beautiful little town; although kind of touristy. Wanda and I ate a fantastic mushroom and dumpling dish at a sidewalk cafe. We then walked around and shopped for a litte bit. Yes Craig, I bought another pair of shoes but they were really inexpensive and very European looking.
On to Eagle's Nest which was a Hitler retreat (that he very seldom used) on top of a mountain. We had to ride to the top in a bus and I don't mind telling you that Travis and I were pretty scared. The bus would swing out onto the outside edge of the mountain curve which had no sidewall, no trees and was straight down for a very long ways. Ugh. The scenery was incredibly beautiful but I still couldn't look. It was a different kind of view than you see in the Colorado mountains because the next mountains are so far away that you can see villages, lakes, rivers, etc for miles and miles. Really incredible. Once we reached the top we took an elevator up for another 160 feet (I think) to the Eagle's Nest. It was an absolutely stunning view and I'll post pictures later. (Christopher has to show me how to post pictures.) We had an hour up there and timed it perfectly because when we arrived it was sunny but the clouds rolled in around us and it started to rain as we left.
We drove back to Salzburg to look around and have dinner. Linda and I went into some castle grounds first but they weren't anything spectacular... good thing I only spent E3.80 to get in. We met up with everyone else to find a restaurant for dinner. We walked quite a while and finally decided on a little restaurant. Our first clue that it probably wasn't the best restaurant should have been that absolutely no one is the restaurant. Hmmmm... we sat down in the back and the owner (the only other person in the restaurant) took our drink order. He brought our drinks two at a time... no big deal. He then came back to take our meal order. There were several foods that he only had one item left... again no big deal. He then went back to the kitchen to start cooking our dinner and promptly came back out to say he didn't have tomato soup, we laughed a little bit with him and we changed our orders. Again, he went back to the kitchen. Travis and I heard him clang something really loudly and curse a little bit. He promptly came back to tell us he didn't have some other food (can't remember what) that we had ordered. Again, we laughed with him and those of us who needed to, changed their orders. He went back to the kitchen. He came back again and said he didn't have something else. We laughed. He laughed. We suggested that we would just pay for our drinks and head on. He got upset (we think with himself), threw down his order pad and pen and stormed into the kitchen. Gary, Linda and I think he is close to going out of business and was frustrated with the situation but still he shouldn't have left his "specials" on the board if he didn't have them. We moved on to a different restaurant where our food was OK but we mostly just ordered soups or small dishes. The waiter was friendly and pleasant throughout the meal. However, when we were paying and leaving he said that we should come back and order a main course when we were hungry and then he started to tell Linda how hard his job is as a waiter. We must be doing something wrong and we just don't realize it.
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