Germany - Day 9: From Mountain to See

A very early start to a magnificent day! We left Burgoberbach at 7 AM and headed for the Konigssee (pronounced kern-ig-see) area. The Konigssee is a lake nestled in the German Alps in the extreme southeastern part of Germany right along the Austrian border. The drive took us about 3 hours, and admittedly I slept for most of it. It was well worth the drive.

When we first got to the lake area, we decided to take the tram up to the top of Jenner (pronounced yen-ner) Mountain. The tram ride was about 30 minutes long and takes you up to a height of 1800 meters, which is about 5905 ft. From where the tram drops you off, you walk another 74 meters to the top of Jenner which is about 6148 ft. While we didn't see any snow on Jenner, there was plenty still left on the mountains surrounding Jenner. The views were absolutely beautiful! At the tram station at the top had a restaurant and on the outside deck was a traditional German folk band playing, pretty cool. 

The tram with Manuel and Marcus

On our way up on the tram, there were a lot of cows grazing on the mountainside, and each cow had a bell around its neck, which reminded me of a riddle. Why do cows wear bells around their necks? Cause their horns don't work...get it? Anyway, take a look at this video and listen to the bells, it was really cool...

Cowbells on Jenner Mountain

http://youtu.be/cW1DwIPIK2g

Like I said, the views from the top of the mountain were incredible. I also noticed that most mountain tops have a cross at the top, and oddly enough, no one wants to take it down! What's wrong with this picture if...don't get me started. Anyway, take a look at the pics which includes some alpine flowers...

Konigssee (the lake)

The trail going to the top

The First rest top on the walk up

the final ascent to the top

360 Degree View from the top of Jenner Mountain

http://youtu.be/x4pHF3nhOhc

Some alpine flowers...

After we got back down the mountain, we headed over to catch the boat to go to St. Bartholoma (Bartholomew). Before arriving at St. Bartholoma, we stopped about halfway to a location on the lake called Echowand. Apparently this echo of Konigssee is famous. They stopped the boat, and the captain got out his horn and played. I recorded the entire song, most of which, if you listen carefully you can hear the echo...its faint. Unfortunately the camera did not pick up on it as much as what I would have liked it to. Turn the volume up to listen to the echo...

Echowand Echo

http://youtu.be/lPO0Gh6LYnk

We then went on to dock at St. Bartholoma, took some pics, had some eiskaffe (that's ice cream in coffee), pretty darn good. St. Bartholoma was the first chapel consecrated here in 1134. The chapel we see now was built in the 17th century. Bavarian Kings used to use this as their hunting castle, now it is a restaurant and cathedral.

The mountain in the background is the 2nd highest in Germany. It was also first climbed in 1881, and since then, over 99 people have lost their lives trying to climb it.

My eiskaffe

After we got back to the parking lot, I was able to get a good picture of Kehlsteinhaus, also known as Eagle's Nest. This is Hitler's diplomatic house. Now it is a restaurant.

Here is a close up...

From Konigssee, there was a rock formation called The Sleeping Witch, see if you can see it...

On our way back, we stopped along the shores of Chiemsee, the largest lake in Bavaria.

Our day just about ended, so we decided to get a picture of the Konigssee Crew...

A HUGE GROSSE thanks to Manuel and Marcus for being our tour guides. Konigssee is definitely a place we want to come back to and spend a couple of days. There is a lot to do around there, including hiking, mountain biking and cross country biking...definitely a do-again!