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| Actual highest point behind Bob |
September 6-10 we were in Bavaria in southern Germany. It has been a dream of both of us to attend the famous Oberammergau Passion Play, and since we are currently living in Germany, what better time to do it? So on Monday morning we drove about 5 hours through many construction zone slow-downs and arrived at our hotel in Garmisch/Partenkirchen, a town about 20 minutes from Oberammergau. On the way we saw a semi full of Mary Kay cars - pink of
course. When we arrived at our hotel we found out that the last train and tram up to the highest point in Germany, Zugspitze,
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| Highest Biergarten in Germany! |
was leaving in less than 1/2 hour. Since it was a beautifully clear day we figured we'd better go right then.
Well, we were blessed with the most fantastic, breath-taking 360 degree panoramic view of 400 mountain peaks in 4 different countries from about 10,000 feet! It had snowed already, so everything that high was covered with clean, white snow. It was cold (32 degrees F) and windy (22 MPH), but we
could stand it for the couple of hours that we were up there - and we countered it with some hot coffee, hot chocolate and hot apple strudel! At the observation area there were several places to eat, including Germany's highest Biergarten!! They also provided a nice pile of snow for climbing on and picture taking.
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| Playhouse |
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| Bob waiting in line (middle with light hat) |
Tuesday morning we went to Oberammergau to stand in line (or as they say here, in queue) to purchase tickets for the Passion Play put on every ten years by the residents of the town. When we got in line at 10:30 there was a sign that said they had 65 tickets available. Several times someone came up by the line and said they had some tickets for sale - however with our lack of German language, we never got there quickly enough. Bob checked out a couple of other locations in town but found nothing available. A man came through the line about 11:30 and said they now had 80 tickets available so our hopes were up a little. The box office opened at 12:00 and the line moved veeerrry slowly. We got up to the window a little after 1:00 p.m. and got tickets - we were going to splurge and get some decent seats, but all that was available were the cheapest tickets along the outer edges. At this point, we were just glad to get tickets - there were about 8 left when we got ours!!!
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| Our seats |
As it turned out, the seats were pretty good. We were in the first row of outer section seats so we had a lot of leg room - which those seated in middle rows did not have. We could still see almost all of the huge stage and were close enough to see the faces and expressions of the actors. It turned out to be everything that we were expecting, and more. We both came out of there appreciating the pain and torture our Lord suffered for us more than ever before. The play is broken into 2 parts starting this year - almost 3 hours in the afternoon, then a 2 1/2 hour dinner break, then another 2 1/2 hours of the play. It did get a little long in the evening session, but that was the crucifixion part and was very intense. Since the weather was very chilly in the evening, they provided fleece blankets for all of the audience - and everyone used them!!! All the people in the play are from the town of Oberammergau - and the acting and music were both amazing. We are very thankful that God led us to Germany at this time so that we could see something that we had both wanted to see for years.
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| Audience seating |
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| Stage with covering |
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| Setting (gray area opened for changes) |
Wednesday late morning we took the city bus to the edge of town where the Olympic Ski Stadium is located. It was originally built for the 1936 Olympics. There are 3 ski jumps and alpine skiing areas which have been updated and are still used today. We took the EckbauerBahn cable car from the stadium up the mountain about 1600 feet. From there we walked back down - stopping at a small village on the way for lunch and walking through a gorge, Partnachklamm, along a very fast, powerful and loud river. Walking through the forest was so quiet and peaceful, a complete contrast to walking through the gorge. The last part of the walk was through a very light rain which was refreshing, and thankfully, not too cool, although we did wear coats all along the way. Walking down some pretty steep areas made our legs quite tired and sore so we decided to eat what snacks we had brought along for dinner - especially since it started raining quite hard after we got back to the hotel -- Nutella and breadsticks, banana and Nutella, trail mix, peanut butter flavored puffs, soda.
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| Partnachklamm (gorge) |
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| Walking thru the gorge |
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| Panoramic view of Innsbruck, Austria |
Thursday morning we were off to Innsbruck, Austria, to meet up with Max, an opera student we met in 2008. On the way we stopped in the little town of Mittenwald, famous for violin-making. We were hoping to be able to get into a workshop where they were making them, but that is not allowed we found out. We wandered around the city looking for their museum, following signs this way and then that way, but we never were able to find it. I think it was hidden in some other building rather than being a stand-alone building.
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| Catholic church |
We did go into their big cathedral, and being in Bavaria it was a Catholic one, as opposed to the Evangelisch ones farther north. It was a typical very-elaborately-furnished-in-gold Catholic cathedral. Personally, I prefer the less elaborate Evangelisch ones, but maybe I am biased!! We arrived in Innsbruck a little early for our meeting with Max, so we wandered through the "tourist area" and had some wonderful Eis (gelato style ice cream). Max then took us on a walking tour of the city, including seeing a beautiful panoramic view of the city from a high restaurant. Needing some sitting time, we stopped for some delicious torts and coffee, etc. On our way home (and with Bob, we never take the same route back as we took to some place!!!) we drove through some gorgeous mountain scenery, seeing some beautiful falls.
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| Coffee and torts |
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| Street & Mtns. in Innsbruck |
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| Mountain waterfall |
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| Sun shining on Alps |
As we got back to Garmisch/Partenkirchen we decided to try and find the restaurant that we had eaten in when we hosted a tour group to Germany in 2002. We found it and went in - looked exactly the same as in 2002 - with the same music and dancing entertainment. (I know the teen boy dancers were different, and I think the accordion player was, too) Just after we sat down at a big, long table a family of 5 came in and sat down next to us at the table. I heard the dad talking English to the little girl so I commented to her in English, also. She was very outgoing and started talking to me. Turns out they are a military family living near Trier, a couple of hours from Frankfurt. They were also down in the area to see the Passion Play. After visiting with them awhile we found out that the man's father was an LCMS chaplain and is now serving a small congregation in New Mexico. We invited them to visit our church in Frankfurt when they are in the area - they said they are very active in their congregation. It really is a small world!!!!
We drove home on Friday getting home mid-afternoon. After unpacking we sat down to watch the Vikings-Saints came from the night before. Neither of us had been on the internet much so we didn't know the outcome of the game before watching it. It was fun to watch them, even though they lost. We feel there is hope for them this season, anyway.
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