Saturday, June 27, 2009

Last Day of Travel! Obersalzburg and Salzburg

My last post from abroad (for a while, at least)! Today was an excellent capstone to our trip. We woke early to get on the road to Obersalzburg and Hitlers Eagles Nest. (I apologize for the lack of apostrophes...cant figure out how to make it work on a German keyboard). Driving through southern Germany was beautiful! We headed into the foothills of the Alps and saw accompanying Alpine-style architecture in the towns and cities we passed.

Our driver, Marich, through his skill was able to negotiate the narrow mountain roads up to the Eagles Nest documentation center where we collected our guide, James Wilson, who accompanied us on ANOTHER shuttle up to the vacation home built for Hitlers 50th birthday. The students will tell you about the anxiety-provoking heights we reached and the narrow road and tunnels we passed through on the way. James gave us a brief history of the building and we had time to explore, take pictures, and even catch a meal at what seemed the top of the world, all the while feeling a bit creepy about the fact that Hitler himself had walked the same rooms.

Then it was down the mountain (safely, thankfully) and off to Salzburg, Austria for a walking tour with a great guide: Analiza. The city, built mostly by the bishops who lived in the fortress above, is beautiful and it was a shame we couldnt get more time there. But then it was to the bus back to Munich in order to eat dinner and park the bus so our driver could get in his legally mandated break before our early departure to the airport tomorrow morning.

An early start tomorrow, as we leave the hotel at 4 AM to get to the airport and catch the first of 3 flights home. If all goes as planned, we will see you at Chi-Hi at 10:15 PM tomorrow!

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