24 Nay 2010

Today was a travel day, from Salzburg to the Oberammergau area by way of Munich.

Otto took us on back roads through the edge of the Bavarian Alps part of the way from Salzburg. The mountains were beautiful, as was the countryside with its farms and villages. Even the weather cooperated with blue skies and bright sunshine. It was a wonderful drive, even after we joined the autobahn to Munich.

Munich is an interesting city, having been rebuilt after the war mostly in the old style. The bus cannot go into the center of the city, so we parked on the edge of the old city and walked in to Marienplatz, at the two Town Halls. Interestingly, the old Town Hall looks more modern than the New Town Hall. The new one in many ways looks more like a gothic church at first glance. Without the religious symbols, it clearly is a secular building. Its main feature overlooking the platz is the glockenspiel, We arrive a few minutes before its noon show of bells and mechanical dancing figures, which lasts about seven minutes. It was interesting to see (and hear), especially since we had missed it when we were here two years ago.

For lunch, we skipped the Hofbrauhaus, since we had eaten there before, and headed around the square toward the Frauenkirhe, and ate at NurnbergerBratwurst Glockl am Dom . The food was wonderful, plenteous and very Bavarian. We sat outside in view of the cathedral.

After lunch we had a walking tour of the city led by another very good local guide. Starting in the Marienplatz, then to the Frauenkirche, and on through the neighborhood to the English Garden a little north of the city center. There we found people surfing in a canal where the water fall creates a continuous wave. In a very orderly fashion, surfers jumped on their boards (short ones) and surfed the river. Many had longer rides than we’ve seen at the beach!

We returned to the Marienplatz to meet the group and head back to the bus. From Munich we drove south toward the mountains and Oberammergau. On the way we stopped at the Wieskirch, an example of rococo stile art and architecture. It was a local holiday and a Mass (in English) was going on. It is an interesting pilgrimage church. In the morning there had been pilgrimages from four nearby villages with the residents in local dress. After their mass they were celibrating by eating and enjoying music from a band. From there we drove to Kloster Ettal, a Benedictine monastery, with a chapel nearly as ornate as the Wieskirche.

Our drive ended in Oberau, where our hotel is for the next two nights. We have a beautiful alps view from our room, howeer we have to look over the neighboring Shell station. Tomorrow we will see the Oberammergau Passion Play.