Eagle’s Nest in Bavaria

Eagle’s Nest in Bavaria

Salzburg, Austria, Europe

I got to spend another day in the beautiful mountains today, and it was great. I packed up my stuff and left it in a locker at my hostel for the day and went out to catch a bus. I got the 840 bus from outside of Mirabell Palace and it was a nice 45 minute ride up to Brechtesgaden. I then switched onto the 838 bus to go to Hintereck, which is at the base of the Eagle’s Nest. It was here that there was a decision to be made. I could either take the bus and then the golden elevator to the top, or I could walk. I didn’t walk.

After I paid €16 for the bus pass, I was so happy that I didn’t walk. It was a 4.5 mile road, but it was straight uphill the whole way. I found out after I got to the base of the elevator I was told that it is usually a 3-4 hour walk. That didn’t sound like fun at all. I then took the luxury golden elevator up another 124 meters and was even happier that I hadn’t hiked up there. It would have just been miserable.

I got to the top and was blown away by the view. The snow capped mountains surrounded the Eagle’s Nest which sat perched on the edge of a cliff. The weather wasn’t the best when I got to the top, but it could have been a lot worse. The forecast had been for rain and I had managed to avoid it up to this point. It did look like some weather was coming in so instead of going in the house, I went right up the path behind it to get some more pictures of the surroundings before it started to rain.

I made it to the top and just after I snapped my last picture and was ready to head back down, the first raindrop hit me. I was so lucky. I figured this was a perfect time to move into the house, just as a bunch of people left and started to wander up the path outside. Bad timing for them!

I was surprised that the inside of the Eagle’s Nest doesn’t really resemble a house anymore. It was a place built for Hitler as a gift for his 50th birthday and he used it as a place to entertain diplomats and show them an amazing view. After the war ended, almost everything was removed from the house and now it is just a big restaurant. There are a few posters up to show the construction of the house and some of the famous people who had been there, but that was it. The most impressive things were the view and the elevator.

I made the return journey back to Salzburg without a problem and as soon as I got back to Salzburg, it started to downpour! There was no point in going up to the castle as I had planned because I wouldn’t have even been able to see the city. I just went back to the hostel and chilled for a while. I went out for dinner and had an awesome burger at a place called BioBurger Meister. It was phenomenal!

I left the hostel at 11pm and had to find a random Park & Ride parking lot to get my bus to Prague. I got there plenty early enough and I’m now writing this from the back of a really nice Student Agency bus. Again, I have wifi and my own tv to watch movies on. I could get used to this kind of travel. I should arrive at Prague at 6:30am. Let’s see if I can get some sleep on this bus…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *