A Quick Stop at Kehlsteinhaus

Mike and Steve left early Sunday morning and made their way to Munich to meet up with another one of their friends for Oktoberfest. I stayed behind, not wanting to intrude on "guy time" and looking forward to some peace and quiet after a week of visitors.  We also were planning on embarking on a two week road trip after Oktoberfest, so I knew I would need/want to get a few things done before leaving. After spending a couple of days ordering take out and watching girly movies, I flew down to Munich for the night before Mike and I headed out.  Our first stop was Slovenia, which will earn it's own post because it's my new favorite place, but we pulled an audible and decided to check out Kehlsteinhaus, also known as the Eagle's Nest, on our way there. 

Kehlsteinhaus was a gift to Hitler for his 50th birthday from his closest friends.  While he didn't frequent it that much , his friends, as well as his girlfriend Eva Braun, spent a considerable amount of time there.  It's tucked high up in the mountains and the road up to the chalet is quite impressive, which makes it seem like the perfect getaway/hideaway.  

You have the option to hike up or take the bus up, which comes every fifteen minutes.  We were not dressed for hiking and had limited time, so the bus it was!   We got out at the parking lot where you catch the bus and quickly realized the change in altitude also meant a change in temperature.  As we boarded the bus and made our way up, that change in temperature became even more apparent as we saw SNOW on the ground!  Brrrrr!! 

Once we were off the bus, we headed through a tunnel and up an elevator to get to the top of the chalet.  There is a restaurant there, but also a great lookout.  Unfortunately, it was foggy, so we couldn't see too far, but the fog and snow made for a pretty picturesque view. 

You can see the entrance to the tunnel at the bottom of the picture.  Once you go through the tunnel, you get to the elevator, which takes you to the chalet at the top of the hill that you can see at the top of the picture. 

We found the Eagle's Nest to be extremely interesting and a great stop along the way to Slovenia.  It was a beautiful lookout that also included a ton of history.  We ended our visit with soup at the restaurant by the parking lot, which was a great way to warm up before hitting the road again!