Sept 27 eve Oberammergau

We have arrived and all been delivered to our various destinations. In the photo below you can see some of our party entering one of the pensionnes. (I’m not sure what makes this different from a guest house.)
After we settled in, we had ample time to browse in the small shops, for our supper time was set for 8pm, due to the fact that those viewing the play today would eat first.
Oberammergau is high in the mountains, and a relatively small city with a population of 5300. It is clear that the entire community cooperates and works to do this production.
Most of us, wandered the streets and shopped in the many shops, and once again we were well fed.

Sept 27 4pm Scourged Savior

We stopped at the small village of Wies, which is home to a huge baroque church due to one artifact ant that is a statue of Jesus Christ in chains (as he was being flogged). It was created in the 1600s by the locals as part of an Easter parade, but then put in the attic of a local inn, as it was rather crudely made and ugly. However the mistress of the inn took to going into the attic and praying in front of the statue. One day she noticed real tears coming out of the statues eyes.
People began to flock to the small village, so they built a small church. As it’s fame grew, architects were hired to build a larger church more appropriate for such a statue.
You see in photo the statue ensconced behind the center of the altar and an inset of Pastor Denny sharing his inspiration when he viewed the statue, as he told me, of MFM (Mortgage for Ministery) and GFG (Generosity for Generations). For those of who are outside of Glen Cary, these are both programs that Pastor Denny inspires regularly, and we look forward ton learning his inspirations.

Sept 27 noon Neuschwanstein

We left at 9am and received our vouchers and explanations for Oberammergau. The Maryland group will be in one location; 16 of our group will be in a hotel, 8 in a pensionne, 4 in one home and 4 in another. The voucher contains tickets for each of our meals telling us at which restaurant we are to eat, and a coupon which we give to the people where we are staying to received our ticket for the Passion Play. Some may have to walk, and transport is arranged as needed. Once we arrive, we will all be separated, so it is important for everyone to understand procedures, etc.

An interesting thing about some of the churches we are seeing in the Bavarian countryside is that their bell towers are topped with onion shaped domes. This was a favorite architecture feature of one of King Ludwigs, I’m not sure which. But I do know that it was King Ludwig II who built the castle Neuschwanstein.
The story around it is fascinating and deserves some scrutiny, which I have not been able to give it thus far. We arrived there about noon. Some wanted the inside castle tour and others only a stroll around the area, which has shops, restaurants, hiking trails, horse and buggy rides up to a mid level and hiking trails all around. There is also near by a second castle where King Ludwig grew up with his parents. I think we all enjoyed our time here at whatever level of participation we were able to manage.

Sept 26 eve Spitzingee

Nawas, our tour company, changed our reservations to Spitzingsee, and because that put us so far away from restaurants, provided an evening meal for us. So we had another fantastic supper: a salad and fresh bread, prime rib, scalloped potatoes, and green beans wrapped in bacon with a dessert of apple strudel. It was enjoyed by all.

The photo below shows our group at the dinner.

Sept 26 am To Munich

All of this journey is in one sense a pilgrimage as we make our way to Oberammergau. That was made even more intense this morning as we shared Holy Communion on the bus. The bread was locally purchased by our bus driver, Michael. The wine was Turkish from a small shop in Salzburg, and was served in a communion chalice that was a souvenir cup painted with Edelweiss flowers. Pastor Harry Wolpert presided; his message focused on the importance of singing, which is a part of every morning’s devotions for us on the bus.
We are traveling in the Bavarian Alps. It is still overcast, but not raining. We started a little later than expected and the schedule for today is somewhat in question. For it is not only Oktoberfest, but it is the 200th anniversary of the Oktoberfest, so the roads and city will be extremely crowded.

Dachau was our first stop. It covers a large area and was the first and the largest of the concentration camps. We spent a very sobering one and a half hours here, watching a movie and walking through the rooms, now filled with documentation and explanations of how everything went so wrong that such horror could actually happen for such a length of time affecting so many people both during and after the war.

Sept 26 aft Touring Munich

It was a short drive from Dachau to the center of Munich. We spent 2 hours here for lunch. Many went to the very crowded and noisy Hofbrauhaus. Because of the Oktoberfest, it was difficult to get into a restaurant, order, eat and pay, particularly at the Hofbrauhaus. After the meal, we once again boarded the bus and now met Bernadette who was our guide around Munich. We learned about the history, the kings, and the politics of the area.

One of the more interesting stories was about Lola, who was a dancer, and decided to dance in front of the king. Evidently, it worked. King Ludwig saw her and fell in love with her. He was going to build her a villa, but the people didn’t like the idea, and began a revolution. The king was forced to abdicate, but before he did, Lola asked for a large sum of money. She used it to come to the United States where the gold rush was going on at the time, and surprise, she followed the gold rush and set up a bordello! I guess she was the poster girl for being a gold digger. Even the famous Mark Twain met her and wrote about her.

A highlight was the Glockenspiel (bell ringing) at 5pm. It was in a center square and had two levels of dancers that actually tell a story during the course of the bell ringing.

In the picture is the opera house that King Ludwig built for his wife. Our group is standing there while our Munich guide is explaining. The pink bus in the background is ours. It is always easy to spot for us.

Sept 25 3rd Eagle’s Nest

I’m not sure any of us knew exactly what to expect in traveling to this hideaway built for Hitler’s 50th birthday in an amazing 13 months. The road scaling the steep edge of a mountain had to be blasted out, and all building materials both for the road and the impressive building were moved on the road as it was being made. During this time period, 3800 builders were employed to accomplish this feat within the given time limit. When you arrive as far as the road can take you, you must then pass through a 406 foot tunnel to a huge elevator done in gold and beveled glass that takes you another 406 feet straight up and into this hideaway.
Today the building is a restaurant and visited by tourists. Ironically, after all the expense and heroic effort made to create this remote building, Hitler, who disliked heights, only visited it a number of times and never actually stayed there. There should have been a fantastic view here, but for us, we were in a heavy cloud and could not see more than 20 feet away.

Afterwards we checked into our hotel for the evening and then supper tonight was on our own. People went in different directions. A number of us went to a nearby Italian restaurant, hoping for authentic cuisine since Italy is very near to Austria.