We're back in Munich. Our train trip down to Berchtesgaden passed through and I needed to get my glasses fixed, so we stopped off for a couple of hours on the way through.
Berchtesgaden was fantastic. It's located in a little strip in the corner of Bavaria that pokes out into Austria. Our camp site was gorgeous, surrounded by high mountain peaks still dusted with snow. Despite the snow, it's been damn hot: 26-28 degrees. Nice weather. We spent a day in Berchtesgaden lazing beside the enormous Lake Konigsee. The next day we went down to Dokumentation Obersalzberg, a museum chronicling the Nazi era of Germany's history.
Then we went up to the Kehlsteinhaus, known in English as the Eagle's Nest. It's Hitler's mountain-top chalet, which you've probably seen in Eva Braun's home movies in documentaries and the like. You reach it by a 20 minute bus ride going right up the side of the mountain, with incredible and scary views down either side. Then it's a brass-panelled elevator to the peak and incredible views all the way into Austria to Salzburg. Brilliant!
Between this and all the stuff we saw in Berlin, I think we're pretty much WWIIed out, so we won't be mentioning the war. I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it!
Speaking of wars, we went to see the Germany vs Poland game in Berchtesgaden's public viewing area. It was always going to be a grudge match, this one, but I think the souvenir sellers could do with learning some historical sensitivity. A few of the guys were wearing little plastic helmets in the shape of WWI-era hun helmets, with the colours of the (modern) German flag. Not exactly appropriate when playing the country that has always borne the brunt of German expansionism.
So now we're in Munich. Lovely city with fantastic beer. We're finally seeing lots of Aussie fans, as opposed to the bandwagon-jumping Brazilian shirt wearers you see everywhere (and who are invariably not Brazilian. We're meeting up with Scott, Katie and Aidan who have driven across from London. We'll see the Brazil vs Australia match on Sunday, then drive around Southern Germany until the next match in Stuttgart.
No, we don't have tickets to any matches. Those have all been taken by bloody sponsors who don't bother turning up. Bastards! Still, the atmosphere in the fan fests has been pretty amazing so far, and I'm sure between Australians and Brazilians we can have a pretty wild time!
That's all for now. No photos just yet, as our camera has gone on the fritz again. We've got a little disposable camera and are planning to buy a new digital. Any suggestions? We want ultra-compact 4MP or more and taking SD cards.