München-Berchtesgaden

This past weekend I traveled to the southernmost German state, Bayern (or Bavaria), for the second time in 2 months. My previous trip there was short and only included a visit to Munich.
The second time around was a bit different from the touring perspective. On Friday, my partner in crime, Nick, and I bought a day pass for Munich's public transport and headed to the Olympia Zentrum. Munich hosted the Summer Olympics in 1972, perhaps best known for the kidnapping and the killing of 11 Israeli team members (among them were athletes, coaches and referees). It was a sad moment in West Germany's history who at the time was trying to cope with the aftermath of WWII and did not need this to happen on its territory. Nevertheless, we visited the grounds and the Olympic stadium.
I must admit that Berlin's Olympic Stadium is more of a sight but Munich's Olympic Center and park as a whole are a nice area of the city, complete with many sporting compounds (arenas, pools, fields, etc.) and a lake in the middle of it.
After the visit we proceeded half a mile down the road to the BMW Museum. I am a big fan of BMW cars and this tour was really exciting for me. The museum and the BMW Welt buildings themselves are architectural beauties.
The interior of the museum is enhanced by a very modern design. Collaboration with Apple is evident as all of technology within the compound is Apple made plus there is this "experience" feel to the whole thing. Furthermore, the colors are very simple, white and black for most of it. The building is then sectioned into different BMW eras, each room containing historical information as well as the best cars, motorcycles and engines of each decade. A cool add-on is headphones above engines that allow you to listen to that particular motor's rumble.
One car in particular caught my interest. It is a 1956 507 model, which is just a nice looking sports car. To be honest, even though one can see many features of this car belonging to the 50s, I see it as a car ahead of its times. In fact, this car was located on the floor next to the 1996 Z3 and 1999 Z8 models, and it didn't not stick out like a sore thumb, but rather it was, in my opinion, more beautiful than the other two.
After the BMW Museum tour it was time for lunch. We hopped on a subway and were supposed to ride it for 4 stops. On the third stop, for some unknown reason, the subway stopped and sat idle for about 20 minutes. It was funny to see people run out of the train we were sitting in and get on another one on the other platform and perform the same process multiple times back and forth. I guess the loudspeaker announcements weren't really helpful explaining people what to do. Anyway, after a long delay, we were finally at our destination: The English Gardens and more specifically the Chinese Tower. Now this place is famous for a gazebo-looking building resembling a typical Chinese architecture but in reality there is nothing Chinese about it. In fact it is a beautiful Biergarten in middle of a huge park. As you can see, I took the opportunity to indulge in a real Bavarian lunch: Bratwurst mit Knödell (dumpling) und Püre (mashed potatoes) and of course a brewski. The rest of the afternoon we spent enjoying München but called it an early night as we had more traveling planned for the following day.

We took a train from Munich to Freilassing, about a 2 hour ordeal, and from there another train to Berchtesgaden. This place is famous for being the location of Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle's Nest), which was built by Hitler. I must admit that the whole ride down to Berchtesgaden was beautiful. The landscape was a series of rolling hills filled with alternating evergreen woods, beautiful pastures, and farmland (animal as well as some corn and hops).
Once at Berchtesgaden, we took a bus to Obersalzburg, which is where the tour to Eagle's Nest starts. Then another bus takes you 6km (about 3.7 miles) up the mountain on a very narrow road with breathtaking sights. On a clear day one can see Salzburg, which is just across the border in Austria, about 20km (or 12 miles) away. Once the bus has reached the final destination, tourists can either opt for a 120 meter elevator ride up to the Kehlsteinhaus or take a walking path. We did both (the elevator on the way up and the path on the way down).
It is a strange feeling to be enjoying gorgeous views from above knowing that such an evil man had this place built for his enjoyment. I guess one can say that at least he didn't lack taste in his "secret layer" selection. The amazing thing about this place is that all of it was built within 13 months, including the road and the elevator.
On the mountains around this place there is some snow that failed to melt even though it was definitely above freezing on the day we were there. To complement the views, a few hang gliders were roaming around making me feel jealous; I can only imagine the view they had.

I am really glad that I was able to see some of the countryside besides the major German cities. Now I am back in Cologne and the next few weeks will be very busy. Finals start in a week and a half; and this week I am in a Logistics Seminar from 9am till 5:30pm every day. It is crazy to think that this experience will soon come to an end, and that I will have to get back into a work routine. However, before that happens two more trips are coming up. I am going to Paris on July 18th for 3 days and then on July 22nd I am off to Naples to spend the remaining 10 days with my family. I cannot wait.