SEPTEMBER 26 & 27, 2022

We left the German Alpine area behind and trained through verdant woods of various pines and cedars and green farm land. Some of the corn is yet to be harvested. We arrived in Munich, checked into our hotel, cleaned up and headed into the Altstadt (Old Town) of the city. Dee and Sheila had not been to Munich prior and when we walked up from the U Bahn (underground subway) right in the middle of the Altstadt, they were awe struck. The Rathaus (Town Hall) is impressive, both in size and gothic architectural style. Its famous Glockenspiel with moving figurines is a main tourist draw. The entire Marienplatz area is filled with baroque towered churches and buildings. It is bustling, especially with the Oktoberfest going full swing at the nearby Theresienwiese fair grounds. We went into two beautiful churches—St. Peter’s (baroque) and St. Michael’s (renaissance)—both Roman Catholic. We lollygagged in the market place filled with vendors of almost every kind. Hungry, we ate at the well loved der Augustiner for a very German meal—I had boiled white sausages and white cabbage salad and potato salad. Randy and Melisa had a German fried meatloaf. Of course, the Augustiner beer was great. Later, we stopped at a pastry shop and ordered too many to take back to the hotel—pretzels filled with cheese or cream cheese and jelly rolls and…

Early the next morning, we hit the mother of all Oktoberfests. Drawing millions of visitors this huge venue is filled with massive tents sponsored by the major German brewers. We found ample space in the Hofbrau tent which holds 10,000 guests with large decorations made from dried hops. Once the band started, it began to fill up, even though it was a cold day with rain on and off. We had a joyous time. The food was good! They discourage folks from standing on tables and drinking, but that did not stop some from doing so to boisterous cheers from the crowd and then loud “boos” when security stepped in and escorted the drinkers out. We all learned the popular bier hall song, “Ein Prosit”—loosely translated—“Drink up, you’re in good, warm fellowship—1, 2, 3 drink.” You then lift your litre stein in the air, pound it down on the table and then drink. Fun, fun! 

“1 in a 1,000,000” chance you run into someone from home, but Kathy and I did. We were walking the massive grounds and walked into the Lowenbrau tent because, although this was our fifth time to the Oktoberfest in Munich, we had never visited that tent. Lo and behold, the Krakosky’s and Schlaffer’s from Tomball saw us, and we had a marvelous visit. We ended our day with a delightful meal time at our Marriott hotel for the ten of us from our travel group. The Steele’s have returned home and Dee and Sheila leave tomorrow, so from here on out, there will be eight of us on this continuing adventure.    

September 23, 2022

The purpose of our European adventure was to attend the once every 10 years Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany. It was enthralling, powerful, beautiful—bottom line, over the top. 

Performed entirely in German, we were able to follow along with an English translation. My impressions: 

The centuries old script was artfully written to incorporate the Old Testament of the Bible into the New Testament account of Jesus’ ministry and life from the Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem until Jesus’s resurrection from the dead. For instance, the OT story of Abraham going to sacrifice his son Isaac—who was spared because God provided a ram (an illustration of Christ Jesus) in his place was incorporated into God the Father sacrificing His Son Jesus on the cross. 

The script did rearrange some of the timeline of Jesus’s ministry prior to Passion Week into the Passion Week events. For instance, while Jesus had taught His disciples to pray (our Lord’s Prayer) prior to Passion Week, they prayed the Lord’s Prayer at the Passover Meal (the Institution of the Lord’s Supper/Holy Communion).

The acting by local villagers—the cast, choir, crew are are all local villagers—was dramatic, powerful and professional in every degree! Riveting, really. The crucifixion scenes were difficult to watch, so real was the acting. Jesus heaving his last breaths was…”Oh, sorrow dread-God’s Son is dead.” 

The staging was magnificent. The huge stage was always in motion from every angle. The sound projected magnificently. The rear center stage was used to illustrate the Old Testament portions of the play. When the curtain opened it was still life with opulent colors and costuming from that time period. The scenes  changed regularly throughout the performance. To see children and adults in those beautiful settings in difficult body positions not moving as if mannequins was awesome. Meanwhile, the New Testament portions continued to be acted out in the front portions of the stage. One’s mind was totally engaged.  

The music was sensational! I was spiritually enriched, moved and captivated by the 64 voice choir and huge orchestra (all local). The script used the music to enrich the story. What totally took me by surprise was the beauty of the music and the premier quality of the singers and players. Honestly, I cannot adequately describe the beauty of the sound and the quality of the words! Because the singers sometimes spread across the slightly curved stage before us the music was stereophonic. It was haunting, eloquent, soul enriching and uplifting— masterful! These sounds will reverberate in my soul my lifetime.

The total “Oberammergau Experience” was wonderful. Four years ago I had awakened at 2am to call to the German National Tourist Bureau to be early in line to buy tickets to the 2020 performance. I was calling for a group of friends who also wanted to attend. I was able to secure best in the house seats and wonderful accommodations on what the German government called a package. Covid came, and the once every ten year play was cancelled and eventually rescheduled for 2022. We were appreciative of the absolute security of the arrangements. Everything was in order! The hotel had our information in hand. Our bus was prompt and we arrived on time to lunch in Oberammergau before the production began. When we arrived at our appointed restaurant, our table was ready for us and the meal amazing. Our center stage seats a few rows back were perfect. No head swiveling for the massive stage in front of us.

While six hours long, we were captivated, although the seats were a little hard on the rear several hours in. The stage is covered but open air. We were dressed adequately to stave off the 46*F cool in the evening hours. The play is the result of the villagers’ pledge over 400 years ago that if they were spared from the plague they would honor God with something special. They were spared, and the play is the result. Oberammergau is a lovely painted village and carving wood into figurines is a local craft. What an inspiring adventure we (Standly’s, Steele’s, Nichols/Hunt, and Graumann’s) had!  

September 22, 2022

While eating, Kathy lost a crown. That set off an interesting saga. Our medical travel insurance had no emergency dentists to recommend and the hotel recommended we try the University Hospital which had a dental department. So early in the morning we set off to the Zanklinik (tooth clinic). The service was amazing and rather quick given we were tourists and had no appointment. Kathy filled out paper work and we were led to a waiting room; within 15 minutes we were in a dental room with many procedures in progress in separate kiosks. The interns with some English skills accessed her needs and said they would confer with a colleague who turned out to be a dental professor and medical doctor who supervised the interns. He spoke fluent English and said that she would need a temporary to cover the tooth. I told him we had tickets to the once every 10 years’ Passion Play in Oberammergau the next day and would need the replacement today. I also informed him we would not be back home until November. Turns out, they were enthralled we were going to the play, and one of the interns shared he had been a singer in the Passion Play Children’s Choir in his youth. The doctor said Kathy would need a more substantial replacement than the regular temporary and went to the lab and ordered an improved type of temporary that should last the duration of the trip—sort of an enhanced temporary. There was no time to cast a permanent replacement, but we were thankful for the enhanced one. We came back at three in the afternoon for it to be installed, and Kathy is now back to normal. Cost—$122. 

We had time to make it to the Court Chapel for an organ recital with guest organist Mario Aschauer, who is from Houston. This pipe organ is the oldest still in use in the world. In the setting of the chapel of Emperor Maximillian I, with larger than life cast bronze statues of the forefathers of the Habsburg dynasty surrounding the Emperor’s monumental tomb. We sat in the richly carved wooden choir stalls; the music was enthralling. The organist had selected compositions that highlighted the instrument’s versatility—i.e. pieces that highlighted the flute stops, etc. The Steele’s, Paluch’s (Karen plays the pipe organ) and we had a delightful visit with Mr. Aschauer who invited us to the upcoming performances of a pipe organ music group to which he belongs back home in Texas. 

While Kathy and I spent time at the dental clinic, everyone else took hop on/hop off tours of the beautiful city of Innsbruck. We all met at another awesome Austrian restaurant in the evening to recap our day.  We have throughly enjoyed our Innsbruck visit.  

September 19, 2022

It is a huge risk bringing friends across the pond to a place you have never been and of which you have only read. I had a huge sigh of relief when we arrived in Lindau, an island city on Lake Konstanz (Constance) on the border of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. I immediately saw that it was one very special place. 

Lindau lies on the German side of the Lake. It exudes old world lake charm and elegance. Lake Konstanz is Europe’s third largest lake; it sits in the shadow of the Alps. In fact, we could see snow covered mountains in the distance. The harbor is guarded by a large carved stone lion (50 tons) on a high pedestal. A lighthouse sits on the opposite harbor entry. Sail boats bob in the water and beautiful hotels and cafes line the promenade that winds its way into the old town. The old town with its German architecture is a wondrous maze of soft colors and flowers and fountains. Its charm draws you into its web and beckons you to explore. Everyone was more than impressed. 

Having arrived via train from Zurich, we had ridden through green countryside with corn and cabbage fields in the valleys with mountains and hills all around. It seemed at times as if the train was a lower elevation than some of the lakes we glid past. Because of the timing of the schedule we had missed lunch and all ten of us were famished by mid afternoon. We found an outdoor seating restaurant that had a table for ten. With views down a grand pedestrian only street, we were satisfied. The bier (beer) was much more than satisfactory! In Germany, it is not pasteurized and it has no chemicals and is, therefore, pure. We were delighted with the hot pumpkin soup with pumpkin oil and toasted pumpkin seeds and a dollop of sour cream. The meal received rave reviews—my schweinshaxe (Bavarian roasted pork knuckle), the skin crispy and the meat moist, was delicious. Randy had veal wienerschnitzel, Allen roast duck, and the others I forgot. Those who received the potato salad made with cucumber said it was the best ever! The red cabbage was tasty and the bread dumplings amazing. We left more than satisfied and went our separate ways to further explore the island city. Kathy and I happened upon two big beautiful churches side by side—one Lutheran and the other Roman Catholic. Both had amazing pipe organs. The wooden pews in the Lutheran Church were very interesting. Obviously quite old, many had wooden doors and others had individual seats with wide arm rests. The Roman Catholic church had beautiful ceiling paintings. 

I can assure you that if you or you and friends come to Lindau on Lake Konstanz, you will be in for a grand surprise. It is an amazing place. 

September 15, 2022

Today was a visit to Chateau Fontainebleau south of Paris. We already have the transportation system in Paris down pat; it is, in fact, very efficient. We simply took the Green Line/or #12, very close to our hotel, to the Purple Line/or #14, to the R rail line at Gare du Lyon (one of the Paris train stations) to Fontainebleau. It was a little over an hour journey. Once there, we took a quick bus #1 to the gates of the Chateau. Truly, easy peasy…not a hitch. Very clear markings at the station…even footsteps on the floor to guide you through each station to your color-coded train. Combine that with easy ticket purchase and friendly—yes, friendly—fellow passengers. Younger folks would get up and offer their seats to those older. We love using the metro.

Fontainebleau is amazing! The home of early French royalty, it was expanded from the 12th century onward until Louis XIV decided he needed to bring the rebellious nobles to live at court to keep them under control, so he built the huge Versailles Palace to serve as bait. At Versailles, he entertained them lavishly and gave them over the top living quarters. He successfully accomplished the goal of gaining complete control of France by using the same tactic as the Roman Caesar’s—“food and games.” While it worked for awhile, that tactic eventually contributed to the fall of the French monarchy, the same as occurred to the Roman Empire.

Fontainebleau, while not as large as Versailles, is certainly huge by any standard. To my mind, it is more beautiful on the interior. The wood carvings on doors and walls and ceilings are incredible. The wood carvings serve as frames for beautiful paintings. The crystal chandeliers are quite large, and many walls have intricate tapestry. Taken together, the whole is uniform, warm and inviting. After the French Revolution when Napoleon I become Emperor, he made Fontainebleau his home and refurbished what the Revolution had destroyed.

After our time at the Chateau, we enjoyed a fine meal outside in the early afternoon in perfect weather at a nice restaurant in the charming city of Fontainebleau. Our dessert was memorable—tiramisu—served with a side of hot espresso and another of amaretto, both to pour over the dessert—it was a wow! What better way to wile away the afternoon…well, maybe extend the afternoon into the evening at a Paris bar with aperitifs/beer and snacks while bantering with local Parisians!