Neuschwanstein Castle
After waiting out COVID for over two years, we were finally able to resume travelling overseas. A trip that was originally in the planning stages in 2019 for a trip to Germany in 2020, finally happened in 2022.
It started out as a way to check something off my bucket list–seeing the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany. The play first started in 1634 and is performed every 10 years. The play is 6 hours long with a three hour dinner intermission. Though I am not particularly religious, I am attracted to everything religious. I am not sure what that says about me.
Here is a snippet from the play’s website concerning the history of the event:
“Nearly 400 years ago the history of the Passion Play began. The plague raged in many parts of Europe and did not spare Oberammergau either. In 1633 the Oberammergau villagers promised to perform the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ every tenth year, in so far as no one was to die of the plague anymore. The villagers were answered by God and therefore in 1634 the first Passion Play took place. The promise has been kept until today. 2020 the Passion Play had to be postponed for two years due to the corona-pandemic“.
You must admit, it’s a bit ironic that the 2020 play had to be postponed because of the modern version of the plague. Equally as ironic is the fact that all of us had to deal with being sick at various points throughout our two-week trip.
No, we did not spend two weeks in Oberammergau–we actually didn’t spend much time in Germany at all. We spent two rain-drenched weeks visiting Prague, Krakow, driving north to south through Slovakia (a highlight) to get to Budapest. We weren’t done yet, however, as we spent a day in Salzburg and then back to Munich where we started our journey. I think it was close to 2000 miles of driving which is par for the course for us. Thanks to DR for handling most of the driving (even though he was sick). Because of that, I finally had my first European driving experience; navigating through the streets of Salzburg was fun…not!
Other than dealing with the weather and being sick, it was another successful trip. The highlights being the Passion Play at the beginning and Oktoberfest in Munich at the very end. In between, there was quite a bit of rain, lots of walking, beer (even some good craft stuff in Prague), more meat than anyone should ever eat in two weeks and shopping for the perfect item to bring back–this year a relic cross from the 1700’s.
As always, I’ve included many photos below. Make sure you navigate through all four pages of photos. Cheers!
