We had a better sleep last night and had a breakfast that consisted primarily of large hard rolls and slices of bread, a selection of meats and cheeses, and various spreads. Pastries and other such treats were not going to be found. We did a quick walk through town stopping into a few glass shops as glass blowing is rather popular in Rattenberg. No purchases were made, nonetheless.
We exited town as tour groups appeared to be arriving…in Rattenberg of all places. We thought it was small and out of the way enough to go under the radar, but the tour groups must stop there to get their glassware commissions apparently. Anyway, without any solid plans, we began driving east. Our initial thoughts had been to go to Berchtesgaden, but given the crowds, traffic, and pop-up holiday, we had become somewhat hesitant.
Despite those hesitancies, I impulsively exited the autobahn and joined the smaller highways in the direction of Berchtesgaden and we decided to play it by ear. I went to a parking lot for a gorge hike and discovered it was completely full — perhaps 200+ vehicles. We continued driving aimlessly. All I had were my memories of a visit in 1999, and I suspect the area is more built up now. The actual town of Berchtesgaden was very busy, and honestly didn’t look very quaint. A Burger King welcomed us to the town’s main traffic circle. I told Nicole I remember taking a picture of a church with the mountains in the background. She did some quick sleuthing and directed us to the St Sebastian’s church in Hintersee.
Now technically, this was a different location, but that’s all fine. For all I know, the other was blown up like a Las Vegas casino and converted into a Burger King. We were able to step out of the car for a bit and check out the small village of Hintersee in the first decent weather we’ve experienced thusfar. After Hintersee, I thought I’d check out the gorge hike again. I figured enough time had passed that maybe people had left. I was correct. There weren’t many spots, but all we needed was one. With little information about this hike other than a few google photos that looked good, we began walking up a steep hill without any knowledge of how far or involved this hike was going to be.
Luckily, after reaching the top of the hill, there were signs indicating that the Wimbachklamm gorge hike would take just twenty minutes round trip. There were some wooden boardwalks that paralleled the stream similar to Croatia’s famous Plitvička, though on a much smaller scale. The shade of the trees and the gorge offered some nice cool air in contrast to the surprisingly intense sun elsewhere.
After the gorge hike, our next destination was still unknown. The problem was this — there were virtually no hotels or pensions available in Berchtesgaden. The ones that did exist were in excess of 400 euro. I launched an absolutely nonsensical suggestion in Nicole’s direction. Why not drive another two hours to Mauthausen? Why enjoy a beautiful spring day in Bavaria when one could be spending their time at the site of Austria’s biggest concentration camp? We, Bricole, enjoy a bit of dark tourism and our flight isn’t scheduled to depart until 8pm tomorrow, so we figured we have the time to process it all at the proper pace.
Though we technically drove more today, it felt like less since we didn’t really encounter the kind of traffic that brought us to a complete stop earlier in this trip. We got a place in the small town of Schwertberg. We had an unpretentious meal outside a nearby bar with some local beers and burgers.
Tomorrow we will visit Mauthausen — a notorious Nazi labor camp that literally worked their prisoners to death. There is also an old chateau nearby that was converted by the Nazis into a research center for medical experiments — with a particular interest in euthanasia. But we will see how ambitious we are with our downer of a day.
passports & pepto bismol 