On Day 3 of my tour with the Bavarian Tourist Office and the National Tour Association, we visited the Berchtesgaden Salt Mine. When you arrive, they give you a black overall to wear over your clothes. It would have been smarter to have taken my coat off, as it's really not that cold in the mine and I was too bundled up. Once you are dressed, they take you to the waiting area for the train. It was lovely to see scripture written above the door, "You are the salt of the earth" Matthew 5,13. My favorite part of the tour was when we had a ride across the underground Mirror Lake accompanied by beautiful music and a light show. This is still a working mine and you can buy the salt they produce in the gift shop. We were all given a large pack and it's delicious!
After the salt mine, we met up with David Harper from Eagle's Nest Tours and as it was a gorgeous day, he was able to take us to the summit. The so-called “Eagle’s Nest” was built as teahouse for Adolf Hitler’s 50th birthday. It's perched up on a mountain summit, so to get there we had to take a train, then an elevator. In its day, it was a unique engineering feat. Hitler’s home and headquarters - the second seat of 3rd Reich power - were actually located at Obersalzberg, which is at the foot of the Eagle’s Nest mountain. David also took us to the underground bunkers, which are very extensive.
The end of the day was in Ruhpolding, which is a great place to be based in the Alps. We had a quick visit to the Woodcutter's Museum, then enjoyed a fun Bavarian meal complete with dancers!
