A Bavarian Farmhouse

Now this is the summit.  

It's official. I can actually claim to have stood on top of a mountain. Well of course there are no real mountains in Scotland so this is bit of an achievement, me at the top of the Jenner in Berchtesgaden. This is not actually the summit it's a few metres before the summit. For an officials summit type picture see the other snaps. 

This little porcelain antique looks so 1930's.  

Market place. A wider view. 

This mural is dedicated to the memory of the soldiers who fought in World War One. It is interesting to see a public display like this as many of the WWI war memorials are hidden or stuck away in some forgotten corner.

One of the small drinking fountains in the market place.  

The main market place of Berchtesgaden  

In Berchtesgaden Bavaria in my opinion is one of the most beautiful places on earth. This weekend in celebration of my 50th birthday Susi thought it would be a good idea to take me to Berchtesgaden where I could spend a marvellous weekend having a look at what Hitler got for his 50th birthday. The Eagle's Nest or rather Obersalzberg is a villa that overlooks the ginger-bread house town of Berchestgaden. A rock fall prevented us or anyone else from visiting the mountain retreat. Luckily, however there are more things in Berchtesgaden than a famous mountain retreats. Here you can see The Red October parked in the drive of the picturesque pension where we stayed for a very reasonable 50 euros per night.

The Meteorite Crater at Steinheim. This is a view of the town of Steinheim which is situated in the middle of the crater and around the base of the Kloster Berg - which is the remains of the shatter column which resulted when the meteorite struck the earth and produce an upward surge of material - similar to what happens when you drop a pebble into some water. Behind the Kloster Berg it is easy to see what remains of the crater wall in the distance. The crater is about 3.5 kilometres wide. 

The Red October This is our new Toyota Hi Lux Double Cab Sol. 

Schiller Platz This sort of architecture is part of what my old Fife college chum Russell Farquaharson would have included in his QOL equation. The best measure of any strategy was how much it improved your overall Quality Of Life, and this sort of thing is everywhere which means QOL score of here is off the scale good old Russell ... who still lives in Scotland. Schiller is of course the German Bard. 

May in Stuttgart. Spent a marvellous weekend driving the Red October through to see our friend Sonja, who lives in Stuttgart. It is one of the very wealthy parts of Germany and most of the houses on the hill cost an absolute fortune. This is the state buildings Neues Schloss which is at one end of the charming park in the city. Stuttgart is a fine place for shopping and Saturn is a great place to find geeky things like wifi lan cards and stuff.