Month: October 2018

When we arrived in Hobart, Tasmania mid-day today (Oct 30th)m we new that the Tasmanian Devill was iconic Tasmania. However, we were a bit surprsed when we discovered a Tasmanian Devil sculpture in the baggage claim (luggage arrival) area. No real marsupials in sight however.

Hobart is a city of about 260,000 on the southeast coast of Tasmania. The whole island has a population of 520,000 which isn’t surprising considering the ruggedness of the terrain and the location. The city is as far south as Portsmouth, NH and hilly as the Adirondack Mountains. We really just had time for a walking tour of the city today, but what we saw was fascinating.

This really was a penal colony for criminals from England and Ireland in the 1800s. Rumor has it that after the American Revolution, The UK had to find a not drop off point for their criminals, and hey… they had this new place called Australia. Hobart was isolated and made a great penal colony. Murder dictated a life sentence, I guess that was reasonable. Burning down a house netted fourteen years labor. Lesser offenses such as theft of turnips, bread or a woman’s handkerchief warranted only seven years of labor.

The harbor is beautiful with many original buildings still standing. The city has done a great job of repurposing building over two centuries. The sandstone buildings are in remarkable condition and have reportedly never needed cleaning. (The facades… not the insides) This is the result of high-quality sandstone available in Tasmanian quarries, the climate, and lack of industrial pollution and the resulting acids. These sandstone buildings are original warehouse from the early 1800s.Today they are taverns and restaurants.

As we crossed back into Germany from Austria, we traveled through this region and visited the legendary Eagle’s Nest fortress. We arrived early and were on one of the first busses to the entrance. Access to the park area is limited – you arrive at the welcome center and park your car (or bus in our case). Once you’ve purchased your entry ticket, you board a park bus for the trip to the entrance to the Eagle’s Nest.

The fortress was built during the Second World War as a retreat and command center for Hitler. The only access is via a long tunnel that was cut through the base of the mountain and then up an ornate elevator. The tunnel is large enough to accommodate an automobile, and high ranking officials were frequently driven into the mountain and dropped off at the elevator. We walked.

Exiting the elevator, I was struck by the size of the place. This is where my cinema bias from the movie “Where Eagles Dare” came into play. I recalled that Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood were running all over the place; up and down stairwells, down long halls and into numerous rooms where they hid. Well, the reality is that this place is much smaller than expected but still beautiful and interesting.

We walked through the public areas including the great room. Our guide provided interesting insight and gave us a solid historical perspective on the building and function of the retreat. However, stepping outside, we the best part – the view was awesome.

Whichever direction we looked, we had an incredible view. At an elevation of 1,835 m (6,020 ft.), the Eagle’s Nest (Kehlsteinhaus) sits high above the surrounding landscapes. The group of us walked up the path outside the Eagle’s Nest and captured stunning pictures. After about 30 minutes, we headed down the elevator. In less than an hour since we’d arrived there was a mass of visitors that had been dropped off by subsequent busses. It was a good thing that we got on that first bus and beat the crowds.

Munich – Again

By mid-afternoon, we were back in Munich where we’d started this tour over a week earlier. We had a nice dinner planned at the Ratskeller Restaurant and we stopped for a beer with several of our traveling companions on the way. Dinner was more like a gathering of old friends than a farewell to traveling companions who’d been strangers a week earlier.