Passion Play

This week, Maeg and I finally took our long awaited trip to Oberammergau to see the Passion Play. The Passion Play happens only every 10 years, and we were lucky enough to be here for it! As you can see from the picture above, there were lots and lots of tourists coming to the event.

Just a little history for you... the Passion Play began in 1633, during the time when the plague hit most of Europe.  The people of Oberammergau vowed to portray the passion of Christ every 10 years, and from that moment on, no one in the town was killed by the plague.

Since then, the Passion Play has been performed every 10 years, with over half of the town's residents participating in the play. 

They constructed a building specifically for the Passion Play. 

The play lasted 5 and a half hours, with a 2 hour intermission in the middle. Luckily, the guidebook had the entire script in English for us which helped tremendously. 

 View from inside. The seating area is covered but the stage is open-air. 

It was truly a once in a lifetime experience, and one I'll never forget!

Now gearing up for one last trip to Greece! Hoping that the volcano does not interrupt our plans! 

More Visitors...

Dad and Claudia left on Thursday... and Theresa and Greg arrived! Theresa is one of my best friends from St. Louis, so it was nice to have visitors from home! Unfortunately the rain continued, but we didn't let that stop us.  We hiked the Kramer in the rain.... and by the time we got to the top it was snowing!  We had very cold fingers and toes but it was so much fun! We stopped at the halfway house to warm up on the way down.  After warm showers, we headed into town for coffee at Aran... my favorite place! We had dinner with my girlfriends at La Baita, a local Italian restaurant (Theresa was not such a fan of German food).  Then we went to Jameson for open mic night and had a fun night out! 

Saturday, we opted for an easier hike... the Partnach gorge. Then lunch and a tour of base and Edelweiss. Theresa and Greg already flew back to the States yesterday after their quick European tour.

I think my tour guiding skills have definitely improved over the last 2 weeks! I am ready to relax for a little bit before it's time for my last adventure to Greece!

See ya'll in a month!

Dad and Claudia's Visit

Dad and Claudia are visiting! Unfortunately the first several days in Garmisch were, well, typical Garmisch weather... cloudy and rainy. But we still had fun venturing around town. We walked around Garmisch and Partenkirchen and toured Edelweiss.  We walked through the Partnach Gorge and had lunch with the girls at our favorite restaurant.

Then it was off to Vienna for a few days! After trying for a long long time, we finally got the GPS programmed and made our way through Austria.  Dad learned that it's quite a challenge to park in Europe, but we made it. We went to the ballet, Coppelia, at the famous StaatOpera House.  It was great! Then we headed to the Sacher Cafe for a taste of the famous Sacher torte-- an apricot and chocolate cake that originated in Salzburg.

View from our hotel window

StaatOpera

We also walked around the town center, visited Saint Stephen's Cathedral, finally found the Mozart Statue, and toured the Hofburg Palace. 

Mozart

One day we took the ferry over to Bratislava, Slovakia. It is a lot smaller than Vienna, but still lots of tourists! It is a cute town, and we got to see their famous statues placed around the city... and several street performers mimicking them.

One of the many statues

Then we headed back to Garmisch with a quick lunch stop in Salzburg. We saw the Mirabell Gardens... much prettier with all the flowers compared to last time I was there.

Fruhlingsfest (Spring Festival) came to Garmisch, so Dad and Claudia did get to experience a mini Octoberfest.  Finally we had a nice day in Garmisch so we took the train to the top of the Zugspitze and visited the Eibsee lake.

Top of the Zuggy....still very cold!!

One more day trip to Verona, Italy. Morgan joined us too! We saw their famous Roman Amphitheater, the 3rd oldest in the world.  Also walked under the bridge with a whale's rib suspended from it. According to the legend, if you have never told a lie, the rib will fall on you when you walk under it....so far it had never fallen!

View from the top of the Ampitheater

The famouse whale's rib

One of the many tiny car filling the streets of Italy

On their last day in Garmisch, we hiked to the Halfway house in the rain, and then spent some time in town. We had to go back to Zumwildshutz for more potato soup.... Dad's favorite part of the whole trip! Then it was back to the US for them... and I'll be there shortly too!