Another day out in the company of two historians and where do we find ourselves?  The Eagles Nest, high above Berchtesgaden in Germany.  Not qualified to go into too many details of the background here and will simply say that on a beautiful morning such as this, it was simply glorious up there.

We drove to the car park, from where one buys tickets for the obligatory bus ride to the summit.  All wonderfully organised, the tickets allot each passenger a place on a specified bus number and on arrival at the summit, one reserves the return journey for a chosen time.

At the car park, we met our guide who explained much of the background of the place and enabled us to manage the system to our advantage...to wait until most had gone through that tunnel to the lift which goes up to the Eagles Nest itself and then to take us around the building, illustrating our visit with photographs of earlier days and previous occupants and visitors.

It was very interesting indeed and armed with a some background knowledge, a little easier to understand why it had been seldom used.

Today's a different story.  Lots of visitors enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful views. 

And maybe a beer or two.

with the Konigsee to the left

looking down towards  Berchtesgaden straight on

and down the valley towards Salzburg in the far distance to our right.

Breathtaking.