You hear incredible stories about Prague and that it is a must visit destination but you really can't fully understand it until you see it yourself. So I'll do my best to convey what we experienced in Prague.
When you first enter Prague it looks like a picture out of the communist construction guide filled with white boxed buildings as far as the eye can see. The train station is a massive steel structure covered in grimy glass panelling. At this point you are thinking where am I? This isn't what I thought Prague was meant to look like.
This washes away as you approach the old part of Prague with its narrow cobbled streets lined with beautiful old buildings from multiple eras. The new part of town was built in the 1800s while the old town was started in the 1500s and the first Church within the castle complex was built in 800 AD. There is evidence that people were in fact inhabiting Prague at the time Woolly Mammoths walked the earth. So it is a city with a lot of history behind it. The streets are bustling with people and vendors. Cafes and restaurants flow out onto large squares. We found a quaint little Czech restaurant which we visited for the two nights we were in town. The local cuisine was delicious with roast duck and pork neck steaks with garlic sausage both accompanied by gnocchi.
I never fully comprehended the importance of Prague and the impact it had on the development of greater Europe. King Charles IV, the ruler during the 1500s, was the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, King of Italy and Bohemia. During his rule Prague was the third biggest city in Europe. He built the first University in Central Europe, the largest stone bridge while overseeing the largest medieval castle complex in the world. Prague Castle and Charles Bridge were amazing. The Charles bridge was until recently the only bridge that crossed the Vlata river which separates the two halves of Prague. It took us most of a day to walk around the Prague Castle complex while taking a scenic route through the hills behind the castle giving us some great elevated views of the city. The castle and cathedral are furnished as it was during Charles rule.
This two day fly by visit didn't do Prague justice but we got a great look into the older part of Prague and an appreciation for the history of Prague. Definitely want to try and get back there at some point.
BT
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Vienna Part 2
Happy New Year!
We last left you heading off to celebrate New Year with 75,000 others. The New Year's celebrations, known as Silvester, made a night to remember. There was a New Year's trail that wound its way through the city streets of Vienna. At certain points there was food and entertainment that catered to a wide range of tastes. There were pink pigs everywhere. We stood outside the Rathaus (Town Hall) next to some guys wearing pink pigs on their heads. Hearing the guys speaking English or should I say American, I asked as to the significance. Apparently having a pink pig on New Year's Eve means good luck will be yours for 2012. Inspired, BT and AT rushed off and bought themselves a pig hat to wear for the night. They certainly were distinctive and we instantly recognised our new American friends at various places throughout the night.
We listened throughout the night to pop music from the 60's, 70's 80's and 90's, rock and some R&B. All of these were live on stage and also projected onto big screens to enable all to see the action. At Stephansplatz GT and I waltzed ( along with many others!) to the orchestra playing hits from musicals such as Hello Dolly, Kiss me Kate and West Side Story etc. I think we have some practise required before we enter Dancing with the Stars! We listened to many groups busk and some of the old fellas who played their instruments were something amazing. The weather was fine, warm and the night was calm. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect night to bring in 2012. The grand finale at midnight was 8 minutes of the most splendid fireworks that showered above our heads in glorious displays of colour and lighting configurations. We headed home as soon as the locals took over with their own fireworks display due to "missiles" flying vertically and horizontally and landing very close to us without warning.
We returned to the Rathaus on New Year's day to see the Vienna Symphony Orchestra playing wonderful classical music on the big screen. However the rain set in and we wandered off home. Later that night we went to the Volksoper (the people's opera) to see Die Fleidermaus, a Johann Strauss operetta. It was in German with English subtitles. Apart from the funniest scene where people laughed endlessly and they didn't translate the jokes it was easy to follow. The music and performing was great and the story line had revenge, romance and humour. Due to our increasing expertise of the underground we found our way to the Volksoper at the edge of the city and home again on 2 different trains and different levels of subway each way. It was a great night out to end our Viennese part of the trip before heading to Prague. JT
We last left you heading off to celebrate New Year with 75,000 others. The New Year's celebrations, known as Silvester, made a night to remember. There was a New Year's trail that wound its way through the city streets of Vienna. At certain points there was food and entertainment that catered to a wide range of tastes. There were pink pigs everywhere. We stood outside the Rathaus (Town Hall) next to some guys wearing pink pigs on their heads. Hearing the guys speaking English or should I say American, I asked as to the significance. Apparently having a pink pig on New Year's Eve means good luck will be yours for 2012. Inspired, BT and AT rushed off and bought themselves a pig hat to wear for the night. They certainly were distinctive and we instantly recognised our new American friends at various places throughout the night.
We listened throughout the night to pop music from the 60's, 70's 80's and 90's, rock and some R&B. All of these were live on stage and also projected onto big screens to enable all to see the action. At Stephansplatz GT and I waltzed ( along with many others!) to the orchestra playing hits from musicals such as Hello Dolly, Kiss me Kate and West Side Story etc. I think we have some practise required before we enter Dancing with the Stars! We listened to many groups busk and some of the old fellas who played their instruments were something amazing. The weather was fine, warm and the night was calm. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect night to bring in 2012. The grand finale at midnight was 8 minutes of the most splendid fireworks that showered above our heads in glorious displays of colour and lighting configurations. We headed home as soon as the locals took over with their own fireworks display due to "missiles" flying vertically and horizontally and landing very close to us without warning.
We returned to the Rathaus on New Year's day to see the Vienna Symphony Orchestra playing wonderful classical music on the big screen. However the rain set in and we wandered off home. Later that night we went to the Volksoper (the people's opera) to see Die Fleidermaus, a Johann Strauss operetta. It was in German with English subtitles. Apart from the funniest scene where people laughed endlessly and they didn't translate the jokes it was easy to follow. The music and performing was great and the story line had revenge, romance and humour. Due to our increasing expertise of the underground we found our way to the Volksoper at the edge of the city and home again on 2 different trains and different levels of subway each way. It was a great night out to end our Viennese part of the trip before heading to Prague. JT
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Vienna Part 1
Firstly I have belatedly responded to all of you who have left messages. I did them under various blog entries you wrote on. Hope you can find them. So lovely to get little messages. Thank you!!
I am writing this on our coldest day yet. The day has been fine and the sun was out this afternoon, however the wind was so icy cold that it made our faces ache and our noses run. It has been interesting getting out in the European winter. Our really warm coats, boots, hats, scarves and gloves keep us very warm and we haven't felt the need to be indoors lots, however that wind today targeted our only uncovered place and it was biting. Far colder than our snowy days. I would say it was coming straight off the mountains if Vienna didn't have such a flat topography!! Anyway....Vienna is an amazing city.It is situated within enormous parks and open green spaces ( although not too green at this time of year). 51% of Vienna consists of gardens and parks!
We experienced the vastness of their park like areas and some of their amazing gardens at Schonbrunn Palace. This summer hunting lodge, read extravagant palace, of the Habsburgs dynasty shows how the other half live. Room after room, 1441 in fact, of guilded magnificence and opulence. If built to the original plans it would have had 2300 rooms and rivalled Versailles. We also visited Hofburg Palace, the Winter residence of the the Habsburgs, . The vast rooms of tableware, cutlery , linen and ornate table centrepieces as well as the tragic story of Empress Elisabeth, better known as Sisi, was fascinating and made me realise yet again how wealth and happiness are not often partners.
Speaking of where people reside, we are experiencing inner city living in Vienna at the other size end of the accommodation scale to those palaces. Our Viennese home is an über cool loft apartment that is small ( read VERY small- probably the size of our kitchen / family area or the Habsburgs card playing room). Within the one room we have 5 beds, a chair and a dining table with 5 chairs, a small kitchen, and then a bathroom, separate toilet and a large walk-in storage cupboard. While not in the same league as our friends the Habsburgs it is very adequate! We are also enjoying the close proximity to all that Vienna has to offer. We are 20 metres from the underground entrance which enables us to get on one of six underground routes and pop up anywhere we want in Vienna, meerkat style!
Another thing that Vienna is famous for are its cafes or 'coffee houses' as they are better known. There are apparently 2141 of them! Today we visited Demels which first made their famous chocolate cakes and coffee in 1786. We only looked and the kids bought some chocolate for their mates. The bags they use are a work of art in themselves. We also bought a very small chocolate cake that comes in a wooden box and amazing wrappingto celebrate New Year! We did however queue up to have coffee and cake at the renown Cafe Central. This coffee house with its vaulted ceilings and baroque architecture is where other famous people like Beethoven, Trotsky and Freud drank coffee and no doubt debated and argued and set the world to rights, although obviously not with each other! Part of the joy in this trip is to be where others who have left their mark on our world have been before us.
Now that we are staying in apartments rather than hotels we have missed the Internet - our portal to the rest of the world so cafes also give us free internet. Of course Cafe Central was a more expensive place than our usual coffee, hot chocolate and internet haunt -McDonalds.
Vienna, like all other European cities also has its fair share of churches. We are beginning to be 'churched' out. However we did enjoy our exploration of St Stephansdom, a key focal point in the city. We enjoyed the magnificence and rich symbolism of the architectural features. We also ventured up the 343 steps of the 129 metre south tower. The steps only getting us 67 meters up. We took the lift up the north tower! Both of these towers gave magnificent panoramic views of Vienna, although we all agreed Salzburg had a more appealing vista perhaps due to being nestled into hills and being a much more compact city. The final part of the church visit was to the catacombs deep beneath the church. There we saw bones lying in the dirt, some still with the last remains of flesh on! We also saw in other rooms bones stacked neatly. Due to the thousands of bodies, as a result of a plague in the 18th century, there was a big shortage of space so the prisoners had to take the bodies out of the coffins, remove any remaining flesh from the bones, wash the bones and then stack them to make space for newcomers! Also in the catacombs are the coffins of archbishops and cardinals. Parts of the Habsburgs are there also. I say parts because three churches wanted to say that the Habsburgs last resting place was in their church. So in the St Stephansdom catacombs their organs are there, preserved in alcohol within containers, while another church in the city has their hearts and another the remaining body parts. Maybe that's what they mean by Rest in Piece (s)!!!Anyway despite the gruesomeness it was fascinating at the same time.
Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and Vienna is renown for its big street parties and concerts where 75,000 or more people hit the streets to bring in the new year. This year there will be 75,005! We will report on this adventure in our next blog. JT
I am writing this on our coldest day yet. The day has been fine and the sun was out this afternoon, however the wind was so icy cold that it made our faces ache and our noses run. It has been interesting getting out in the European winter. Our really warm coats, boots, hats, scarves and gloves keep us very warm and we haven't felt the need to be indoors lots, however that wind today targeted our only uncovered place and it was biting. Far colder than our snowy days. I would say it was coming straight off the mountains if Vienna didn't have such a flat topography!! Anyway....Vienna is an amazing city.It is situated within enormous parks and open green spaces ( although not too green at this time of year). 51% of Vienna consists of gardens and parks!
We experienced the vastness of their park like areas and some of their amazing gardens at Schonbrunn Palace. This summer hunting lodge, read extravagant palace, of the Habsburgs dynasty shows how the other half live. Room after room, 1441 in fact, of guilded magnificence and opulence. If built to the original plans it would have had 2300 rooms and rivalled Versailles. We also visited Hofburg Palace, the Winter residence of the the Habsburgs, . The vast rooms of tableware, cutlery , linen and ornate table centrepieces as well as the tragic story of Empress Elisabeth, better known as Sisi, was fascinating and made me realise yet again how wealth and happiness are not often partners.
Speaking of where people reside, we are experiencing inner city living in Vienna at the other size end of the accommodation scale to those palaces. Our Viennese home is an über cool loft apartment that is small ( read VERY small- probably the size of our kitchen / family area or the Habsburgs card playing room). Within the one room we have 5 beds, a chair and a dining table with 5 chairs, a small kitchen, and then a bathroom, separate toilet and a large walk-in storage cupboard. While not in the same league as our friends the Habsburgs it is very adequate! We are also enjoying the close proximity to all that Vienna has to offer. We are 20 metres from the underground entrance which enables us to get on one of six underground routes and pop up anywhere we want in Vienna, meerkat style!
Another thing that Vienna is famous for are its cafes or 'coffee houses' as they are better known. There are apparently 2141 of them! Today we visited Demels which first made their famous chocolate cakes and coffee in 1786. We only looked and the kids bought some chocolate for their mates. The bags they use are a work of art in themselves. We also bought a very small chocolate cake that comes in a wooden box and amazing wrappingto celebrate New Year! We did however queue up to have coffee and cake at the renown Cafe Central. This coffee house with its vaulted ceilings and baroque architecture is where other famous people like Beethoven, Trotsky and Freud drank coffee and no doubt debated and argued and set the world to rights, although obviously not with each other! Part of the joy in this trip is to be where others who have left their mark on our world have been before us.
Now that we are staying in apartments rather than hotels we have missed the Internet - our portal to the rest of the world so cafes also give us free internet. Of course Cafe Central was a more expensive place than our usual coffee, hot chocolate and internet haunt -McDonalds.
Vienna, like all other European cities also has its fair share of churches. We are beginning to be 'churched' out. However we did enjoy our exploration of St Stephansdom, a key focal point in the city. We enjoyed the magnificence and rich symbolism of the architectural features. We also ventured up the 343 steps of the 129 metre south tower. The steps only getting us 67 meters up. We took the lift up the north tower! Both of these towers gave magnificent panoramic views of Vienna, although we all agreed Salzburg had a more appealing vista perhaps due to being nestled into hills and being a much more compact city. The final part of the church visit was to the catacombs deep beneath the church. There we saw bones lying in the dirt, some still with the last remains of flesh on! We also saw in other rooms bones stacked neatly. Due to the thousands of bodies, as a result of a plague in the 18th century, there was a big shortage of space so the prisoners had to take the bodies out of the coffins, remove any remaining flesh from the bones, wash the bones and then stack them to make space for newcomers! Also in the catacombs are the coffins of archbishops and cardinals. Parts of the Habsburgs are there also. I say parts because three churches wanted to say that the Habsburgs last resting place was in their church. So in the St Stephansdom catacombs their organs are there, preserved in alcohol within containers, while another church in the city has their hearts and another the remaining body parts. Maybe that's what they mean by Rest in Piece (s)!!!Anyway despite the gruesomeness it was fascinating at the same time.
Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and Vienna is renown for its big street parties and concerts where 75,000 or more people hit the streets to bring in the new year. This year there will be 75,005! We will report on this adventure in our next blog. JT
Thursday, December 29, 2011
The Salzburg Chapter
This was written on the 27th but have had trouble finding an internet connection.
We are on a train today which means it is a great time to let you all know what we have been up to in Salzburg.
Salzburg has been a lot warmer than the other cities we have been to so far. With temperatures ranging from 1 to 3 degrees, no snow fell while we were here but there was still a lot of snow around from previous snow falls.
Salzburg was run by Archbishops for centuries where they used the money from the Salzburg salt mines and local labour to build some incredible buildings. From the fortress you get a view of the city which takes your breath away. A maze of old buildings all the same height lining either side of the river which runs through town. The buildings built by the Archbishops stand out due to their size and grand gardens. The city is then flanked on either side by the fortress and monastery with the alps in the background. A postcard picture.
We went on two tours from Salzburg
The Salzburg Salt Mines:
This tour straddled Germany andAustria. We started off into Germany to see Hiltler's second command base which is just below the Eagles Nest (closed in winter). This command base has now been destroyed but you can see why Hilter build it here. It had views to die for over the alps and down into Austria.
We then came back into Austria and went to the Salt Mines which financed the Catholic church in Salzburg for centuries. It's hard to comprehend that a group whose key message is 'love thy neighbour' spent their time oppressing the poor and spending their money on extravagant buildings to protect themselves or enhance their personal lifestyles.
In the mine we dressed in white Oompa loompa suits, slid down slides which took you deeper into the mine, took a boat across the underwater salt lakes and even crossed between Austria and Germany while under the ground.
Sound of Music Tour:
Salzburg is the home of The Sound of Music, though Austrians are still coming to terms with this as the Sound of Music is not the real Von Trapp story and they have their own film which they prefer (and is historically correct).
Sound of Music Fact 1: If the Von Trapp family had actually gone over the mountains shown in the movie they would have ended up at the Eagles Nest in Germany, rather than Switzerland which is 400km away. Not the desired result!
We saw the Von Trapp's "film villa", the lake where they fell in the water when rowing, the gardens they danced through, the band rotunda where Leisel sang '16 going on 17' to Rolfe and the hills where Julie Andrews starts the movie off with the 'The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music'.
The tour finished by travelling through the Mountains to the Church in Mondsee where the wedding was filmed. The lakes and mountain scenery were amazing. Think of the lakes district around Queenstown with the mountains coming right down to the lake edge but several times bigger and lots more of them in one place.
Sound of Music Fact II: Salzburg has a population of 150,000 and the Sound of Music attracts 450,000 tourists every year.
The rest of our time in Salzburg we spent walking the streets soaking up the atmosphere and heritage. They had some great Christmas Markets with so many Christmas decorations and food. The Festung Hohensalzburg (the fortress) was great.We got to see how the Archbishops lived and the life of the people in their communities. The fortress tower gave you a 360 degree view of Salzburg. Stunning!
Salzburg is famous for being the birth place of Mozart. So we had a look at Mozart's home and his museum. Now we are off to where Mozart spend the later years of his life, Vienna.
BT
We are on a train today which means it is a great time to let you all know what we have been up to in Salzburg.
Salzburg has been a lot warmer than the other cities we have been to so far. With temperatures ranging from 1 to 3 degrees, no snow fell while we were here but there was still a lot of snow around from previous snow falls.
Salzburg was run by Archbishops for centuries where they used the money from the Salzburg salt mines and local labour to build some incredible buildings. From the fortress you get a view of the city which takes your breath away. A maze of old buildings all the same height lining either side of the river which runs through town. The buildings built by the Archbishops stand out due to their size and grand gardens. The city is then flanked on either side by the fortress and monastery with the alps in the background. A postcard picture.
We went on two tours from Salzburg
The Salzburg Salt Mines:
This tour straddled Germany andAustria. We started off into Germany to see Hiltler's second command base which is just below the Eagles Nest (closed in winter). This command base has now been destroyed but you can see why Hilter build it here. It had views to die for over the alps and down into Austria.
We then came back into Austria and went to the Salt Mines which financed the Catholic church in Salzburg for centuries. It's hard to comprehend that a group whose key message is 'love thy neighbour' spent their time oppressing the poor and spending their money on extravagant buildings to protect themselves or enhance their personal lifestyles.
In the mine we dressed in white Oompa loompa suits, slid down slides which took you deeper into the mine, took a boat across the underwater salt lakes and even crossed between Austria and Germany while under the ground.
Sound of Music Tour:
Salzburg is the home of The Sound of Music, though Austrians are still coming to terms with this as the Sound of Music is not the real Von Trapp story and they have their own film which they prefer (and is historically correct).
Sound of Music Fact 1: If the Von Trapp family had actually gone over the mountains shown in the movie they would have ended up at the Eagles Nest in Germany, rather than Switzerland which is 400km away. Not the desired result!
We saw the Von Trapp's "film villa", the lake where they fell in the water when rowing, the gardens they danced through, the band rotunda where Leisel sang '16 going on 17' to Rolfe and the hills where Julie Andrews starts the movie off with the 'The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music'.
The tour finished by travelling through the Mountains to the Church in Mondsee where the wedding was filmed. The lakes and mountain scenery were amazing. Think of the lakes district around Queenstown with the mountains coming right down to the lake edge but several times bigger and lots more of them in one place.
Sound of Music Fact II: Salzburg has a population of 150,000 and the Sound of Music attracts 450,000 tourists every year.
The rest of our time in Salzburg we spent walking the streets soaking up the atmosphere and heritage. They had some great Christmas Markets with so many Christmas decorations and food. The Festung Hohensalzburg (the fortress) was great.We got to see how the Archbishops lived and the life of the people in their communities. The fortress tower gave you a 360 degree view of Salzburg. Stunning!
Salzburg is famous for being the birth place of Mozart. So we had a look at Mozart's home and his museum. Now we are off to where Mozart spend the later years of his life, Vienna.
BT
Monday, December 26, 2011
More photos
Well here are some more photos...we are not finding it that easy to load up the photos individually on the blog and to add comments...maybe another blogging expert could help us :)
Some of the new photos show where we are staying in Salzburg, in a traditional house at the back of a family hotel on the outskirts of Salzburg (A 15 minute bus ride into town and we are across the road from the bus stop so works well for us. The place has traditional Austrian wooden furniture and fittings and looks out onto farmlands that lie at the foothills of mountains (Also seen in photos). The photos of the bare trees are situated in the lane beside "our Salzburg home." There are some photos from our Sound of Music (the church, snow and lake scenes, the rotunda and lane where Maria sang " I Have Confidence...") and Salt Mine tours( that's us in the white outfits and also the wooden slides we went down under the ground 120 metres below the surface of the land!) Others are Salzburg both by day and night and scenes from our Christmas breakfast. You will have noticed that these blogs are being written by JT and BT and the photos are being taken by our own paparazzi -AT! We are working on GT and KT to get them to contribute in the blog!!! By the way if you know AT she is a prolific photographer -1605 at last count so we have just selected a few!
Here is the link below or use older photo blog to connect straight through to photos
http://photobucket.com/albums/ff460/jennyt123
Some of the new photos show where we are staying in Salzburg, in a traditional house at the back of a family hotel on the outskirts of Salzburg (A 15 minute bus ride into town and we are across the road from the bus stop so works well for us. The place has traditional Austrian wooden furniture and fittings and looks out onto farmlands that lie at the foothills of mountains (Also seen in photos). The photos of the bare trees are situated in the lane beside "our Salzburg home." There are some photos from our Sound of Music (the church, snow and lake scenes, the rotunda and lane where Maria sang " I Have Confidence...") and Salt Mine tours( that's us in the white outfits and also the wooden slides we went down under the ground 120 metres below the surface of the land!) Others are Salzburg both by day and night and scenes from our Christmas breakfast. You will have noticed that these blogs are being written by JT and BT and the photos are being taken by our own paparazzi -AT! We are working on GT and KT to get them to contribute in the blog!!! By the way if you know AT she is a prolific photographer -1605 at last count so we have just selected a few!
Here is the link below or use older photo blog to connect straight through to photos
http://photobucket.com/albums/ff460/jennyt123
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Merry Christmas to our family and friends!
We are wondering after a week of snow whether there will be any on Christmas Day. We will be doing the Sound of Music tour on Christmas morning and we are looking for a place to go out for Christmas dinner. In Austria, Christmas Eve is their big night. The shops close at midday and people hurry home for their Christmas dinner. Despite all the excitement, the snow and the Christmas markets we have had this week,Christmas is about family. Lots of love to all our family and to our friends, we hope you all have a special day with your family.
We are wondering after a week of snow whether there will be any on Christmas Day. We will be doing the Sound of Music tour on Christmas morning and we are looking for a place to go out for Christmas dinner. In Austria, Christmas Eve is their big night. The shops close at midday and people hurry home for their Christmas dinner. Despite all the excitement, the snow and the Christmas markets we have had this week,Christmas is about family. Lots of love to all our family and to our friends, we hope you all have a special day with your family.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Garmisch-Partenkirche - The Bavaria Adventure
We are sitting on a train at the Garmisch-Partenkirche station on our way to Saltzburg in Austria. I've throughly enjoy the two days that we have in Garmisch.
Garmisch and Partenkirche are two towns which were joined together by Hitler to host the 1936 winter olympics. The towns are divided by a 1m wide river and sounds like it could be the setting to a Romeo and Juliet type village feud. It is situated on the border of Switzerland and Germany and to get there we traveled through Switzerland, Austria and Germany having to cross each border several times.
We spent the first night wandering through Garmisch town exploring the shops and the Christmas Markets which have everything from Christmas decorations to mulled wine and curry wurst.
Yesterday we were picked up by Thomas our German taxi driver/guide who showed us around this part of Bavaria for the day. Thomas was very knowledgable and most patient with us. The highlights of his tour were:
Schloss Neuschwanstein -
The castle of King Ludwig II or better known to those Disney fans out there as the castle which you see on the blue background at the the beginning of Disney movies. We approached the castle on horse and carriage winding up the hill as the snow was falling. The design of the castle is incredible, the inside is full of beautiful wall and ceiling paintings inspired by the operas of Wagner. Due to the King's death only 1/3 of the castle was ever finished and was opened to paying visitors within weeks of Ludwigs death.
Oberammergau -
Is the home of the Passion play which is a telling of the story of Jesus' life and death. This is performed every ten years by the people of Oberammergau due to a commitment to God made over 300 years ago. They vowed that they would perform the Passion play every ten years if God would end the plague. This he did and every the years since 1634 they have performed this play. The next one is in 2020. I'm not sure if the key message here is to be careful of what we promise God or the faithfulness with which they have carried out their vow. They also have a large woodcarving industry which dates back 500 years. The workmanship is unbelievable with shop after shop filled with woodcarvings with the most intricate detailing.
Ettal (Benedict Monastery) -
This is the home of a ornate old church, a boys boarding school, a university for boys and a brewery which produces Ettal beers and spirits.
On arrival I discovered the one of my heroes Dietrich Bonhoeffer had spend time here near the end of WWII and had involved members of Ettal in his plot to assassin Hitler (Vykarie). This lead to his death days before the war ended. In lighting a prayer candle here you can only thank God for the strength of Bonhoeffer's character and belief to knowingly sacrifice his life for a cause greater than himself and a lifetime of work that has played a part in creating the world we live in today. And that we would have half his strength in the way we live our lives.
What just blew me away was the natural environment. There is snow as far as the eye can see broken up by leafless trees and giant mountains with shear drop offs along their faces. Rooves with 2-3 feet of snow on them and houses painted with Bavarian artwork and designs on the outside. This palace is awesome... I've decided that if i ever have a winter home this is where it would be in a rugged natural environment steeped in history and culture.
BT
Garmisch and Partenkirche are two towns which were joined together by Hitler to host the 1936 winter olympics. The towns are divided by a 1m wide river and sounds like it could be the setting to a Romeo and Juliet type village feud. It is situated on the border of Switzerland and Germany and to get there we traveled through Switzerland, Austria and Germany having to cross each border several times.
We spent the first night wandering through Garmisch town exploring the shops and the Christmas Markets which have everything from Christmas decorations to mulled wine and curry wurst.
Yesterday we were picked up by Thomas our German taxi driver/guide who showed us around this part of Bavaria for the day. Thomas was very knowledgable and most patient with us. The highlights of his tour were:
Schloss Neuschwanstein -
The castle of King Ludwig II or better known to those Disney fans out there as the castle which you see on the blue background at the the beginning of Disney movies. We approached the castle on horse and carriage winding up the hill as the snow was falling. The design of the castle is incredible, the inside is full of beautiful wall and ceiling paintings inspired by the operas of Wagner. Due to the King's death only 1/3 of the castle was ever finished and was opened to paying visitors within weeks of Ludwigs death.
Oberammergau -
Is the home of the Passion play which is a telling of the story of Jesus' life and death. This is performed every ten years by the people of Oberammergau due to a commitment to God made over 300 years ago. They vowed that they would perform the Passion play every ten years if God would end the plague. This he did and every the years since 1634 they have performed this play. The next one is in 2020. I'm not sure if the key message here is to be careful of what we promise God or the faithfulness with which they have carried out their vow. They also have a large woodcarving industry which dates back 500 years. The workmanship is unbelievable with shop after shop filled with woodcarvings with the most intricate detailing.
Ettal (Benedict Monastery) -
This is the home of a ornate old church, a boys boarding school, a university for boys and a brewery which produces Ettal beers and spirits.
On arrival I discovered the one of my heroes Dietrich Bonhoeffer had spend time here near the end of WWII and had involved members of Ettal in his plot to assassin Hitler (Vykarie). This lead to his death days before the war ended. In lighting a prayer candle here you can only thank God for the strength of Bonhoeffer's character and belief to knowingly sacrifice his life for a cause greater than himself and a lifetime of work that has played a part in creating the world we live in today. And that we would have half his strength in the way we live our lives.
What just blew me away was the natural environment. There is snow as far as the eye can see broken up by leafless trees and giant mountains with shear drop offs along their faces. Rooves with 2-3 feet of snow on them and houses painted with Bavarian artwork and designs on the outside. This palace is awesome... I've decided that if i ever have a winter home this is where it would be in a rugged natural environment steeped in history and culture.
BT
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