Salzburg, Part 3 (final)

Before we headed to bed Monday night we planned out Tuesday.  It had been grey and rainy since we got to Salzburg, but the weather was supposed to be nice on Tuesday.  Cold, but sunny.  On the drive to Salzburg we had passed Chiemsee, which is where King Ludwig II built one of his three castles.  We said that if we had time, and weather permitting, we'd go visit it.  Shanna had also heard about the Salt Mines in Berchtesgaden.  Both were back in Germany, and only a 30 minute drive.

The next morning we headed to the Salt Mines first.  We figured it might be grey & foggy in the morning, so it would be better to visit the mines where weather didn't matter.  It turned out to be a good decision, because sure enough it was grey and cloudy that morning.  When we got to the Salt Mines we walked in with the tickets we had already purchased the night before, and the first thing they do is hand you a Miner uniform that you put on over your clothes.

I even got to practice my German when I asked someone to take our picture!  Unfortunately they said picture taking was forbidden, but I was able to sneak one shot.  The tour guide gave the tour in German, but gave us English audio guides so we would know what he was saying.  The tour started with us sitting on a little train that descended into the mine.  When we got to the bottom, we disembarked and started the tour.  They first told us the history of the salt mine, then we walked a bit to a giant wooden slide.  I thought it was used to send materials or something further into the mine, but I was wrong...it was a quick way of getting from one level of the mine down to another.  They had a walking path for people who didn't want to take the slide, but Shanna & I couldn't wait to get on it.  We FLEW down...it was amazing how fast we went.  At the bottom they had sand to slow you to a stop.  We got up, and once everyone was down we continued the tour.  We got to a room where they showed us a video of how they determine if a spot is worth drilling by taking core samples, then if they decide it's worth it, they drill far down and fill it with water.  The water slowly expands and separates the rock from the salt.  The salt mixes with the water.  It takes several years before it's ready to be flushed out.  When it is, they send the water to a processing facility where the water is evaporated and the salt is collected.  It was a fascinating video seeing how the whole process worked.  After that it was time to head to yet another slide further down in the mountain.

Next up was Mirror Lake.  This was at the bottom of the previous slide, and Shanna & I were one of the first ones down.  We walked up and I was able to sneak a quick picture before the guide came down.

When you first looked at it, I thought we were seeing crystal clear water, and the ground underneath it.  Turns out it was an exact mirror reflection of the ceiling.  What you can't see in this picture is on the far right there is a boat.  We got on the boat and took it across, and when people started getting on it there was a ripple effect in the water and you could see the image distorted.  While we were on the boat crossing the lake, the lights went out and they had this huge laser show.  The lights would reflect on the water, causing an amazing reflective effect.

The rest of the tour they showed us drilling equipment, and talked a little more about the mining process.  They also had a bubbling fountain that contained the brine (the salt & water mix) that we could taste.  Shanna didn't want to, but I was curious.  I put my finger in the water, then tasted my finger.  It was by far the saltiest thing I'd ever tasted.  I was literally still tasting it in my mouth an hour later.  Once the tour was over we took another train to the surface.

At this point the sun had FINALLY come out.  Below is a picture of a brook near the salt mines.

Next up was Chiemsee.  We plugged the address into the GPS, and headed that way.  When we got to the dock, we parked the car and got our ferry tickets.  By now it was a beautiful day, and the Chiemsee ("see" means "Sea" in German) looked amazing.  Below is a picture taken from the Ferry as we headed to the Herren Island where the Schloss Herren-Chiemsee was.

When we got to the island we started the walk to the Castle.  It was only a 10 minute walk, and we soon came to the castle.  Even though it's called a Castle, it really looked more like a palace to me.  One of his other castles, Neuschwanstein, looks like how I picture a castle.  Just like Newschwanstein, though, no pictures were allowed during the tour.  They claim it's to preserve the items, but I'm sure it's just so they can sell you pictures at the end of the tour.  It was neat though...while this castle was also never completed (like Neuschwanstein), it was more complete then Neuschwanstein is.  It was modeled after Versailles, so there's all kinds of references to French design inside.  At the end of the tour we were able to walk through a small museum that included, amongst other things, Ludwig II's baptismal robe.  Once the tour was over we headed to the other castle on the island, the original one that has been there since the 7th century.  It was pretty disappointing, though...it was more like an art gallery then anything else.

Once we were done there we took the ferry back to the main land, and drove back to the hotel.  That night we walked around looking for somewhere different to eat.  We found a little restaurant that looked promising, so we headed in.  They had an amazing "HerbstBier" (Fall Beer) on tap that was one of the best beers I'd had in awhile.  We started off with soup, and Shanna ordered the Pumpkin soup.  It was pumpkin soup, served in a real carved out pumpkin.

It was GOOD.  We over heard the couple sitting next to us speaking American English, so Shanna asked where they were from.  They were here on their Honeymoon and were from Philly.  They were nice, so we talked with them a bit through out dinner.

The next morning we were ready to head home.  We checked out, and had one last stop in mind.  The little shop we stopped in in Mondsee had some great breakfast items, so we decided to drive back there for breakfast.  It was only 15Km from Salzburg, so it's not like it was going to add a lot of time to the trip home.  We got there, and wouldn't you know it...Wednesday they are closed.  We ended up eating at a cafe across the street that had great apple strudel also.  While driving home, we were able to capture this picture that portrays, as close as a photograph can, the sheer size of the mountains.

So over all this was a great trip.  We both had a lot of fun, and Austria is definitely a country I want to explore further.  If you ever find yourself in Europe, and can make it down there, it's well worth it.

To see pictures, click here or any pictures above.