On the Sun of Memorial Day weekend, I went on a USO sponsored bus tour to a historic WWII site called "The Eagle's Nest" (God bless the USO, they have been supporting service people for a long, long time).
The tour bus was leaving from a base (Army calls it a "barracks") 30 minutes away and they requested that everyone be there 15 minutes early. Bus was leaving a 0500 (that's 5:00 am for those of you on a 12 hour clock). That meant I would have to get up by 0345 (3:45 am, that is the last time I am doing that, once we get past noon, just add 12 hours) to get to the bus in time to board. Well...who said having fun was easy. Sat night, I was not looking forward to getting up that early. On the bright side, 0345 here is only 2145 (remember to subtract 12) back on the East coast (Hi Honey, or just insert your name here if you are not my wife and reading this).
The Eagle's Nest can be seen at : http://www.scrapbookpages.com/eaglesnest/exterior.com and
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/kehsteinhaus (pls click on these sites, the first on offers much better then the pics I took and the second offers a great deal of info).
By the way, I have a Flickr.com website where I post a fair number of pics that I can not post here. If you would like an invite to the site (only way to visit), pls email me and I will sent you an invite to join the group (don't you want to be part of the collective??). You can also see pics of by very smart and beautiful wife, Jodi.
Well, the bus left on time but it was a very long ride. We got to our destination at 1030. That was 5.5 hours on the road with a 45 min stop for breakfast.
I should point out that the bus can only travel at a max of 55 mph (I think) which is relatively slow. We stopped for 45 minutes to eat which cut into the day, also. I should also point out that food is pretty expensive in Europe. 3 eggs, ham, bread, and coffee was USD $12. Take that IHOP and Waffle House with your cheap and tasty food ((God bless IHOP and the Waffle House, make sure you get them scattered, smothered and covered (Northern readers don't be afraid to ask the Southern readers about Waffle House, we are all friends here)).
So, we finally got to the vistors center where we have 20 or so minutes to mill about. I decide to "hit the head" (non Marines or Sailors will need to ask a Marine or Sailor about the terminology. Tim O: what to they call them on Coast Guard ships?). Remember my story about the EUR $.30 to use the restroom on the streets of Stuttgart? Turns out that "pay to pee" is the way it is in Europe. Seems like I should be able to pee for free. I spent EUR $2 on this trip peeing and don't even have the t-shirt to show for it. Next trip, I will just bring an empty Gatorade bottle.
If you are ever in Germany and are looking for a free place to pee, check this out:
http://www.gratispinkeln.de/ It's in German, but when you have to pee, you will figure it out. Otherwise, cough up the USD $.75.
So, it is finally our turn to make our way up the moutain. The Eagle's Nest is a construction marvel and, although Hitler only visited a dozen times, he often boasted about it for that very reason. The EN has no bedrooms and was designed as a place to entertain diaplomats, VIPs, and General Officers of the Third Reich. Its primary purpose was that of a conference center and a destination for day trips. It was presented to Hitler as a 50th birthday present in 1939. Many of the directions taken by the Third Reich were conceived right here.
It is situated on a ridge at the top of a 1834m high moutain reached by driving up a one lane 4 mile road. The last last 400 ft of the jouney are reached by an elevator bored straight down through the moutain linked to the drop off point by a long granite lined tunnel.
The inside of the large elevator car is surfaced with polished brass, Venetian mirrors, and green leather. 12 workers died while building this elevator. I walked down the same tunnel and am now standing in the same elevator as the devils that brought so much death and destruction. It was very somber.
As we exited the elevator you are greeted by some of the most incredible views I have ever experienced. The Alps are just incredible. I have lived in Denver but this is even more spactacular then the Rockies. I can understand why this spot was chosen. (the elevator is on the right of the pic)
You turn the corner of the building and are located where the still functional kitchen is. Continue walking along the outside of the building and you enter the Eagle's Nest through a long greenhouse like hallway and into the tea room (often called Eva Braun's tea room as she did a great deal of entertaining of the wives of dignataries and diplomats, and high ranking members of the party (see pic of me above in a room lined with pine and is the small room sticking out on the left side of the pic of the EN.)
Turn left and go up three steps. You are now in a very large conference room. The outer wall is lined with windows. The most noteworthy feature in this room is a large, red marble fireplace which was Mussolini's gift to the EN. You can see on the closeup photo on the flicker site that there are pieces of mable chipped off the fireplace. This was done by Allied soliders who wanted a souvenier. It is unlikely that they knew the origins of the fireplace (see pic).
Continue up a few steps to the right of the fireplace and you enter the dining room. The only original piece remaining is a very large buffet which was constructed in the room. You would have to cut it into pieces to get it out.
As I mentioned, it was smaller then I thought it would be but a real piece of history. Worth the trip for sure.
We also toured a 500 yr old salt mine that is still very much operational and went down a couple of hundred feet.
On the way home, we sat at a dead stop on the autobahn for 1.5 hours because of a multi car wreck and the highway was closed in both directions We eventually were rerouted by making a uturn on to the autobahn going the oppisite direction and detoured around the accident. We arrived back at the pick up point 3.5 hours later then scheduled and the time was 0300.
Rember to check flikr for all the snap shots.
Cheers.
Michael
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