Salzburg: the Big Day (Day 4+)

July 1: FINALLY! We've made it to July! (Which means that in three weeks we'll be flying home.)

No rehearsals today, just the concert in the evening. So Cindy and I have most of the day to play on our own.

We begin with a tour to Eagle's Nest (pictured at the top of this post in a historic photo, and called the Kehlsteinhaus), a mountaintop retreat that Hitler used for important meetings. This was captured by the Allies, renamed Eagle's Nest, and used as a military command post until 1960, when it was returned to the State of Bavaria.

This was an odd place; it was built literally at the top of this mountain, far away from any populated places, and Hitler and members of the Nazi Party used it only for government and social meetings. There were no sleeping accommodations there, so there was this painfully long trek by car up to the tunnel leading to the elevator that took guests to the building even higher--and then they would have to reverse the process to leave the meetings.

These days it's used as a hotel and restaurant--and it still feels a very long way from any populated places. We took a tour bus to a way station, where we boarded a separate bus that took us the rest of the way to the tunnel.

From there we took the elevator up to the actual building.

It is a very well polished brass-and-mirrors elevator; we might know of a wannabe dictator who would really like that car.

Did I mention that it was raining when we left Salzburg? Yep, just a few sprinkles then--but the rain got much more serious about its task as we rode into the German countryside. By the time we got to the way station where we changed buses, it was steadily raining. That translated at the top of the mountain to this:

So much for the spectacular views, which clearly were a primary reason for taking this tour.

We ended up taking a break in the dining room, and ordered tea and a Riesen-Germknödel:

What Cindy had forgotten, when we ordered this (it's a special delicacy in Germany), was the translation of "riesen." GIANT. And yes, it was gigantic, and we really only needed to take a couple of bites to determine that we should perhaps have tried something else. The full translation is: "GIANT-GERMKNÖDEL,

Germ dough with Powidl filling, poppy seed sugar mixture and vanilla sauce." Not sure what some of this even means, but it is overwhelmingly sweet and very doughy. A little went a long way.

We went back to the way station to await our main tour bus. Again, here was the view:

And here was our tour guide:

Here's an interesting fact about the tours that go up to Eagle's Nest: they all have to be booked through the official website. Due to concern about neo-Nazis and post-war Nazi sympathizers, no external guides are permitted to conduct tours there.

From this station we traveled down the mountain to the village of Berchtesgaden, which looked as if it might have been the village that Heidi would have visited when going to town from her grandfather's house in the Alps.

More ominously, however, Berchtesgaden is the town closest to Eagle's Nest, and to Hitler's home, which was situated somewhere between this town and that ceremonial meeting place.

We were given time to wander, shop, have a beer and lunch--whatever suited our fancy. Fortunately the rain had mostly stopped, so it was quite pleasant to wander and wonder at all the beautifully painted buildings. And the fountains--so many interesting fountains, including this interactive model:

Our tour guide told us that the building below has the name of "monkey building" because all of the characters depicted have monkey faces. Apparently the artist(s) used the paintings to spoof all of the politicians and bureaucrats and their behavior.

I'm not sure why musicians should be included in this satirical story...

And another great fountain, this one with a salamander (fish? Are those fins or legs?) that looked as if it was getting its fair share of good-luck rubbing:

And finally, another imposing church, which we didn't enter:

As we headed to our bus, we encountered another tour bus and couldn't resist photographing it.

The purpose of that bus was clear to all.

Our tour was ending and we drove back to Salzburg with the fog beginning to lift. My impression of Eagle's Nest: meh. But I loved Berchtesgaden. So it balanced out.

Returning to our hotel, we found a street booth with really good vegetarian wraps that we took back to the room to eat before cleaning up for the concert. The ARTmosFLAIR was in full swing. No one was going to let the rain stop the fun.

Time for the concert, which was successfully presented to a full house.

And there you have it. We came, we rehearsed, we sang--and it was an awesome experience! And then it was over. Cindy and I went for dinner after the concert, then back to the room for a good night's sleep--our last night in Salzburg.

The next morning we had breakfast, packed up, and decided to forego the mass at the Dom, where the choir was going to again sing the Coronation Mass for the service.

Linzer Gasse, by the way, looked a bit bereft that morning. The weekend party was over, trash was neatly piled by overflowing dumpsters, and the rain was contributing to the sad look. Because it was Sunday, no one would do any cleanup work that day, and the shops were all closed.

Cindy and I had read that the cemetery at St. Sebastian's was worth exploring, and that was right across the street from us. We weren't meeting Edie until lunchtime, so we went to the cemetery, which did indeed have some amazing, elaborate memorials.

We found a Mozart here:

And a pioneer doctor, Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, who apparently is better known as Paracelsus. He emphasized the value of observation in combination with received wisdom and is credited as the father of toxicology.