Today was an odd mirror of yesterday, in that we went to the same areas. We did see different things, which was great, and Meredith did a great job of helping me to manage the heat (the temperatures were in the high 80s).

We started the day off going back to Berchtesgaden, Germany, which is about a twenty-minute drive away. We were there to take the hour-and-a-half tour of the salt mine, which is still active, although the active part is about six hundred and fifty feet below the level on which the old mine is located.

I love knowing how things work, so I was already interested in the mine tour. Add in that it was in the low 60s in the mine, and the tour started on a mine train (narrow and low ceiling), and I was hooked.

It was great. We learned how the pre-1900 miners manually carved at rock (to the tune of about an inch per day), then moved up to pneumatic drilling and blasting (about six feet per day) and finally moved up to a modern drilling machine in 2000. I learned that water is injected into drilled vertical holes, and it slowly dissolves the salt out of the rock. This water is pumped in fresh every two years, and it takes thirty years for a cavern to form and be ready to pump the salty brine out of. I had no idea it took that long to get salt out of a modern mine.

We had to get dressed in working overalls, and we got to use two wooden slides that miners used to use to get down to the next level. Since these slides were over 150 feet long, we got up some speed. It was great.

We got to take a boat across a brine lake that reflected the ceiling because of all the particles in the water (it was 27% salt, compared with 3-4% for ocean water). They lowered the lights in the cavern, and we got to see a programmed light show, which had nothing to do with mining, but was very beautiful.

The entire tour lasted over an hour in the mine, and I never felt bored (ha!). It was much fun, and I actually did learn a fair amount.

We then drove slightly south to Germany’s largest lake, Konigssee. Konigssee is a protected national park, and the lake is large and deep, stretching over 4.5 miles in length and reaching depths of up to 650 feet. Swimming is allowed, although the water is very cold, but the only boats allowed on the lake are the special tour boats used to take tourists out to St. Bartholomew’s church, which is right on the lake, and to some hiking points beyond. We took the boat out to the church, which is about a thirty-five-minute trip.

The time was well spent. We had a guide who spoke in German and some halting English, but he was still really funny. Judging from the laughter around us, his German jokes were going over very well. He also played a trumpet for us, aiming it at an echo wall on a cliff that bordered the lake. It was eerie how exactly the sound came back. I know it has to since it is an echo, but it was so clear that it messed with my ears as to where it was coming from.
The church is very beautiful, white with onion-shaped domes typical of the region, with the domes painted red. It turns out the church itself is very small, with maybe a dozen pews. The main part of the building, the part away from the lake, is a restaurant and a souvenir shop.

Happily, as in all parts of this region, there were hiking trails, so we could get away from the crush of people. We stuck along the lake and even waded in a bit, although we did not stay in the water too long because the bottom of the lake is all small rocks that hurt to walk on. The water sure felt good, though.

We took our time, sitting on benches and admiring the setting. There were cliffs all around, and you could just make out Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest house on the top of one of the mountains. We also found it entertaining to watch the paragliders who were three thousand feet (or higher) above us as they floated around the mountains.

We wandered back to catch the boat, and hit the only rough part of the day — there was a long wait for the return boats. I did not keep track, but it felt like it was over half an hour, and while the line was inside a barn to be out of the sun, it also meant there was no breeze. Eventually we were heading back to the main parking area. Once there, we stopped at a restaurant that we had seen advertising two foods my brother insisted we try, which turned out to be very good and very filling (a dense mac and cheese, and a pancake-like pastry that was huge enough for us to share).

After we got back to our room on the outskirts of Salzburg, we stopped off in the room to rest for about thirty minutes and regroup. Mer wanted to go back downtown again, and it was her day, so even though I was pretty tired, we went back to the old town. I am very happy we did.

Mer’s plan was for us to walk along the mountain/cliff that overlooks the river and lower town. This whole cliff area used to be all defensive, with walls and towers dating back to the late 1300s, and it ends in the magnificent castle on the far side of town. Many of the old walls and towers still exist, and some of the towers have been converted into cool-looking private homes. In addition, many of the new homes have been built in a castle-looking style, so the whole area looks like a fortress, stretching for a mile. And we did all of this as the sun was going down, so we had another evening of spectacular lighting of buildings.

One interesting thing that happened on the walk was the church bells — as we got off the public elevator that can take you to the top, all the major church bells started tolling; it was 8:00 pm. They all tolled for five full minutes, and since the lower town has a cliff at the back, the echoes were everywhere. Plus, Salzburg has over thirty churches, and while they were not all ringing their bells, the biggest ones were certainly chiming in. It was an incredible sound.

We ended the evening by sitting by the river for twenty minutes while waiting for the bus. It was a random Thursday evening about 9:30, but the place was bustling. This from a city not quite the size of Akron. We both agreed that Europeans have a livelier community life, and we both like that very much — it feels festive.