Oberammergau

So on Monday we decided that we have stayed in Oberammergau twice and have never really checked out the town.  So we decided before we left to head home we would check it out.  So we started out with the Passion play theatre.  This is a very famous theatre. 

 

In 1633, the residents of Oberammergau vowed that if God spared them from the effects of the bubonic plague ravaging the region, they would produce a play thereafter for all time depicting the life and death of Jesus. The death rate among adults rose from one person per 1000 per year in October 1632 to twenty in the month of March 1633. The adult death rate slowly subsided to one in the month of July 1633. The villagers believed they were spared after they kept their part of the vow when the play was first performed in 1634. Word spread throughout the region about the play, and it became too expensive to perform every year, so the town decided that every 10 years would be sufficient

 

This is the front of the building - it is  amazing the props that they use and how much goes into a production.  It is an honor for a person to play the main parts and only people from Oberammergau can perform in the play.  The first play was done over the graves of those who died from the black death victims.

 

By this sculpture it has this written:

"I am a vessel that holds life.

I am a vessel that was broken and put back together.

I will endure.

The unharmed vessel on top of the clay fragments is a symbol for the intact essence in ourselves which can't be destroyed by the breakings and injuries in life."   Barbara Lampe 

 

Then throughout the town they have some cool houses that are painted in different styles.  This one was Hansel and Gretel.

 

This one was Little Red Robin hood and is an orphanage.

 

King Lewis attended the Passion Play and a special performance was dedicated to him.  He was so moved he presented the performers with this monumental Crucifixion Group for perpetual memory.  It took the sculptor two years and on October 15th 1875 it was consecrated.  The king came back every year on the 15th for a silent prayer until an increasing number of curios people drove him away.  The  Crucifixion group is made of marble and at the time of its production was the largest stone monument of the world.

 

On our travels we saw this statue in front of a church.

 

I am not sure if you can see it, but on the top of the hill there is a cross.  It looked really amazing with the fog in the morning.

 

Next we headed to the reptile house - the boys really wanted to go there to get some pictures for Grandpa.  This was such a cool guy, he is a veiled chameleon.  It was so cool watching his eyes move in complete different directions.  One would look left while the other looked right.  He was totally watching the boys and I as we checked him out.  I think this was our favorite of the trip!

 

This was the first big snake - this one is for Grandpa!  The boys knew that he would LOVE it!!!!

 

This was a HUGE one!!!  It is longer than my arm and that doesn't include the tail.

 

These turtles looked like they were having a community discussion.  They all turned to look at us as we walked over.

 

This snake like Michael and they moved their heads in unison for quite awhile. 

 

 

This one came directly at me and was sticking his tongue out.  So not polite.  :-)

 

Michael decided that since this snake was sticking his tongue out at him he would do it right back!

 

I love the color of this frog - bright blue!!  It had a brother that was bright green, but he was hiding.  David said Seahawk colors!

 

Michael decided that he was going to fight the snake for Grandpa.

 

I am not sure what this statue is for, but it is up in a crevice along the road.  I found it very interesting.

 

After that we headed to a Dwight D Eisenhower museum.  They pulled us in by asking what connecting he had to Oberammergau.  Well I thought it was going to be a quick 20 minutes in and out.  OH MY GOSH!!  Over an hour later, glazed looks by everybody we still weren't out of there.  The gentleman giving the tour was so into it and took us from when he was born all the way through his death.  And there was a video that was 30 minutes long that we by passed.  There was no way we were staying any longer.  Michael was hilarious and bored about ten minutes in and he didn't hide it.  I was trying to be polite and get us out of there, but he wasn't stopping the tour for anything.

 

I finally figured out what the connection was though.  Dwight D Eisenhower spent much time at the end of WWII at a high scale hotel that this gentleman's dad ran.  This is a painting of his dad done by Dwight D Eisenhower.  I am thinking we all could have gone without knowing that, but hey, now we know.  After that we headed for our long trip home and back to the grind of school and work!

Oberammergau Rodelbahn

So on Sunday morning we slept in a bit and the kids really wanted to go swimming.  So Sarah and I sent the dads in to swim with the kids while we worked out for a little bit.  Then we were going to head to the longest Rodelbahn in Europe, but it was raining so hard that decided against the  hour drive in case it was closed.  So we found out they just opened one in Oberammergau that was only 300 meters shorter, only 2560 meters long and we knew it was open and it was right up the road from where we were staying.  So we said why not!  It has a top speed of 40 kmh.  On the route there is a tunnel, spinning top, nine jumps, seven waves and 73 curves of all awesomeness!!!!

 

It was starting to rain and I asked Michael if he wanted his coat and he said no, he was fine.  So up the looooong ride on the ski lift.  To make matters worse it really started to pour down rain on our way up and there was no cover at all.

 

All of us at the top and ready to go!

 

 

You can see how wet David is with his sweatshirt.  We were all soaked, but luckily they had covers on them for the way down so you could kind of see.  Also these were the first ones that had seat belts, which made me nervous also.  The boys were very excited to get going!!!!!

 

Michael and I ready for our adventure!!!!  He said that we weren't going to brake at all.  The scariest part was when we didn't brake and you heard the brakes anyway because you were going so fast that the car was starting to come off of the rail.  AJ yelled all the way down that he was too young to die!!  :-)

 

A view looking back into the town and we were only half way up at this point.  We decided to take a little break at the top for some hot chocolate and goodies since we were all pretty cold and wet.  Michael did decide he wanted his rain coat for the second ride.

 

Daddy and Michael ready for their turn!  My daredevils going down with no brakes.  AJ and I went down together this time and we didn't break either, but he said he went faster with Daddy, I told him that is because Daddy is a little bigger than me and can get it going much faster.  We decided two was enough for us because it was so cold.  I am sure the kids would have loved to go many more times.  After that we headed back to the apartment and the adults played cards and the kids played a few board games.  It was nice to be inside while the rain was pouring outside and enjoying the company of family and friends!

Neuschwanstein Castle

So we finally decided to take the plunge and actually go to Neuschwanstein Castle and take the tour on the inside.  We headed out on a bus trip early in the morning.

As we were leaving the fog was deep in the valley.  I thought it looked really cool!!  We didn't know if we were gong to get rain or sunshine.  We were all hoping for sunshine!

Our first stop was a woodworking store.  They have some of the best woodworking around.  There were so many beautiful works of arts.  I really liked the nativity scenes, but I wasn't ready to invest in one yet, because with the prices they were it is an investment.

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Next we headed to Pilgrimage Church of Wies.  The big church in the background was built in 1745.

This was the first chapel. Maria Lori was given a figure of Christ for private devotion.  It was originally used in the procession on Good Friday, but they thought it was too plain to use after that, so they gave it to her.  On June 14th, so went to pray in front of the statue and she say tears coming out of the statue's eyes.  So this little chapel was built in 1740 and the figure was placed on the altar.  The pilgrimage to Christ in the Meadow grew rapidly so they needed more space.

So on August 31, 1749 the figure was carried in procession from the Chapel to its new altar in the Choir.

Such beautiful artwork in the church!!!  Unfortunately a church service was going on so we couldn't walk around.  But still breath taking!!!

We then took a stop in the restaurant next to it and Michael had a pretzel as big as his face and AJ had a fresh made doughnut!  They were both delicious!!!

Then off to Neuschwanstein Castle and the next adventure!!!

So we had some time to kill before our tour, so we decided to go hiking for a little bit.  The boys decided to take the road less traveled up the side of the mountain, in the mud and rain.

Here Sarah and the kids were trying to throw rocks all the way down and try and hit the river.  I am not sure if any of them every did hit it.  :-)

And we were off again, this time on a real trail!

Beautiful views up there and I love the way the fog was still hanging in the clouds.

The boys found a worm on the trail and were checking it out.  Ari held it, but didn't like it very much.

The castle from a view point along our hike!

I love this sign, they were all over the place basically telling you how dangerous it was to get off the trail.

The kids at the castle!

The waterfall from the bridge and the sun decided to come out and shine for us!

A panoramic view of the castle and surrounding area.

Next we headed into the castle itself.  This is a bust of Ludwig who had the castle built and died under suspicious circumstances.  Had the palace been completed, the palace would have had more than 200 interior rooms, including premises for guests and servants, as well as for service and logistics.  Ultimately, no more than about 15 rooms and halls were finished. 

A view from inside the castle - I am good looking at that everyday!

The inside of the castle was amazing!!!  This was one of the many paintings on the wall that we saw throughout the castle.

This was his bedroom and it took 14 carpenters four and a half years to carve everything in his room including the top of his bed that you see in the picture above.  It is hard to see, but so intricate.

This was a family painting and there are swans all over the painting.

I loved the top of this staircase - made to look like a palm tree in the night!!

This was called the enchanted forest and was a huge painting in the Hall of Singers.

These were the servants quarters - they were really nice and each had their own bed, sitting area, etc.

The white swan is one of the most famous pieces in the castle.  It is worth millions.

This was a painting in the throne room, which is kind of funny because the throne was never completed.  But you can see in the top left of the painting you can see the other castle that Ludwig wanted to build and never was able to.

You can see in the corner that there is a telephone there.  It was one of the first of its kind and it connected this castle to his parent's castle on the other hill.  The palace was fitted with several of the latest technical innovations of the late 19th century.  Among the telephone lines, it also had a battery powered bell system for the servants.

The largest room in the palace by far is this one, the Hall of the Singers.  It is designed as an amalgamation of two rooms of the Wartburg.  The Hall of the Singers and the Ballroom.  It was one of the king's favorite projects for his palace. 

The kitchen equipment included a Rumford oven that turned the skewer with its heat and so automatically adjusted the turning speed.  The hot air was used for a central heating system.

Further novelties for the era were running warm water and toilets with automatic flushing.  As you can see the faucet is a swan.

This was the head cook's office.  He had a separate one because he also had administrative responsibilities: drawing up lists of deliveries and writing receipts and menus.

This was another part of the kitchen, it was huge and only used for two years.

This was Ludwig II's parent's castle where the other phone was.  After a late lunch we headed back to the bus and Garmisch.

There is always a big party over labor day weekend so we decided to stay and partake.  One thing was a bouncy castle and boy did the kids have so much fun on it!!!

Next AJ and Michael decided to do some sumo wrestling.  It was so funny!!!  AJ did have the height on Michael and was able to knock him down a few times.

The sun was coming out and it was turning into a wonderful evening!!!

Where else can you find beer crate stacking?  The boys were so excited about it!!!  The both did really well!!  AJ stacked 17 before he fell.

Michael was able to stack 11!!  It was harder for Michael because the crates were so big and he had to stack them while staying balanced.

Then David's turn, he did really well also, up to 13!  It was a lot harder than it looked!

Then after that a water balloon toss.  The boys didn't make it too far, but they had fun doing it!!!  It was really a fun filled, long day!!!   I think we all were looking forward to sleeping in the next day!