Trip to Bavaria 2007 - Rothenburg, Nuremberg and Rhine River

On day 6 we left the big city of Munich and headed North out of the Danube Valley to medieval Rothenburg, with its ramparts and towers, cobbled lanes and 16th Century houses.

Rothenburg is still Germany's best-preserved walled town. In the Middle Ages, when Frankfurt and Munich were just wide spots in the road, Rothenburg was Germany's second-largest city, with a whopping population of 6,000. Today it's said to be Europe's most beautiful medieval town, enjoying tremendous tourist popularity.

Our next stop was Nuremberg for our walk through the pedestrian area of the Old Town.


We visited St. Sebald Church, which was painstakingly reconstructed as a monument to peace from the rubble of its near total wartime destruction… it was shocking to see the pictures inside the church of the city in total rubble. Nuremberg had always been a center of politics - in the Middle Ages it was preferred residence of German Emperors and later Nuremberg became burdened by the legacy of the Nazis. Although bombed to rubble in WWII, the medieval city center with its main buildings had been reconstructed, using the original stone. The main sights of Nuremberg, the churches like Sebaldus and St. Lorenz, romantic half-timbered houses in the castle quarter, cobblestoned squares and the majestic Nuremberg Castle the "Kaiserburg" create a nice medieval atmosphere in the Old Town.
Before leaving Nuremberg for the West we visited the Nazi party rally grounds, a huge site with monumental buildings where the Nazi party rallies were held and Hitler's troops had their parades.


One of the members in our group helped to lighten the mood… Ken flies a kite in every city he visits and then writes the place and date on the tail. We all cheered as his kite took flight.


We soon were on the road again and traveled via scenic roads to the city of St. Goar. We had time for an independent lunch and a short walking tour before boarding the Vater Rhine for a relaxing cruise along what is the most scenic section of the Rhine River. Gracing the shores of the Rhine are more medieval castles than in any other river valley in the world. The fairytale castles, combined with the breathtaking landscape of rolling carpets of terraced vineyards and old-world towns, create a dreamlike setting.

We arrived back in Frankfurt in time for a special farewell dinner at the hotel. We’d had our last full day in Germany and predictably no one in our group was ready to leave… I had a thoroughly enjoyed the Globus Germany trip.

Trip to Bavaria 2007 - Munich

Before leaving Oberammergau we had a specially arranged private tour of the Passion Play Theatre. We were shown the backstage area with its thousands of costumes and a local guide gave us many interesting tidbits of information such as…: The "Hair Decree" – On Ash Wednesday in the year of the play, all the men in Oberammergau taking part in the play are requested to let the hair and beards grow. Policemen and men in the military are given special permission to not shave. She also told us how shopkeepers would be busy in their stores and then close so that they could run to the Play, change into their costumes and then go onstage to play their part and then quickly rush back to work to reopen their stores.

Following our tour of the theatre we boarded the bus for the drive to Munich. Our first stop was Marienplatz with the Old and New Town Hall, and the Gothic Frauenkirche. Marienplatz is the heart of the city of Munich. In the Middle-Ages, the square used to be a market place as well as the place where tournaments and festivities took place. Important public events such as tournaments or executions were still held here. The square is dominated by the New Town Hall. The monumental, 79 meter high town hall was built between 1867 and 1909 in Flemish Gothic style to alleviate the overcrowded Altes Rathaus nearby.
The original Old Town Hall was completely destroyed by fire in 1460. Between 1470 and 1480, the old town hall was rebuilt in Gothic style. The building was completely destroyed again during the Second World War, but rebuilt afterwards following the original 15th century plans. East of the Marienplatz is the landmark which features on most of Munich's postcards: the Frauenkirche or Church of Our Lady. The foundation stone was laid in 1468. Its distinctive domes, which were built in 1525 would serve as a model for many of Bavaria's towers. The church is huge but simple. Much of the original gothic interior has been destroyed or removed.
After lunch we met with a local guide for our tour of Germany’s "secret capital". Stops along the way included the Olympic Stadium and Nymphenburg Palace. Located just west of Munich, the Nymphenburg Palace was commissioned in 1664 by Elector Ferdinand Maria, to celebrate the birth of his son, Maximilian Emanuel. However, the palace didn’t maintain its original state for long. A total of five Wittelsbach rulers had their hand in changing or adding to the palace. Max Emanuel, the young man for whom the castle was built, was the first to make additions, in the year 1700. He added galleries and pavilions, extending the sides of the Nymphenburg Palace. Soon stables were added to the south and even more buildings to the north. Further additions continued, especially throughout the 18th century. The facade was extended to an impressive width of 600m (1968 ft). A circle of ornate Baroque mansions, known as the Schlossrondell, was erected under Emperor Charles VII Albert. The enormous Grand Hall or Steinerner Saal, was added during the reign of Elector Max III Joseph.

After checking into our hotel (Arabella Sheraton Westpark) we went to the Hofbrauhaus for traditional German entertainment, dinner and a HUGE stein of beer.

Trip to Bavaria 2007 - Oberammergau, Neuschwanstein Castle and Garmish

The first morning in

Oberammergau we enjoyed a buffet breakfast at the hotel and then drove to Neuschwanstein Castle. The tour included a horse drawn wagon ride up the mountainside to the castle. A local guide walked us through mad King Ludwig’s fairy-tale castle on its craggy outcrop high above a sparkling lake and told us the stories of Bavaria’s beloved King. Today Neuschwanstein is one of the most popular of all the palaces and castles in Europe. Every year 1.3 million people visit "the castle of the fairy-tale king".

In the summer around 6,000 visitors a day stream through rooms that were intended for a single inhabitant. After our tour we drove back down to the town and had time for shopping and lunch at a local hotel.

Our next stop was Garmisch. The quickest route there took us through Austria; Sheryl had Roberto stop the coach in a small village so that we could say that we stood on Austrian soil... another country to add to my list of "been there".

After arriving in Garmisch we had a brief orientation and then we were able to spend a few hours at our leisure. Garmisch could well be the sister city of Banff. The town with its many upscale shops is situated in the midst of the German Alps. There seemed to be more tourists here than at any other stop on our trip.

That evening back in Oberammergau, we spent some time wandering around the village to enjoy the painted facades on the buildings. We had an authentic dinner at the hotel while being serenaded by lively German accordion tunes.

Trip to Bavaria 2007 - Frankfurt to Oberammergau

This next morning we had our wake-up call at 6am, had a buffet breakfast and departed Frankfurt at 8am for a scenic drive to the Black Forest on our way to Oberammergau. The German countryside along the way was dotted with many beautiful tiny villages.

Sheryl told us about German life, the history and pointed out important sights along the way. She and our driver, Roberto, kept us laughing with their friendly banter.



We were thankful for the many "comfort stops" along the way. The coach usually stopped every two hours so that we could stretch our legs, buy snacks and empty 42 anxious bladders!


The Black Forest region ('Schwarzwald') is essentially known for three distinctive features: its scenery and woods, the traditional Cuckoo Clock and the typical Black Forest Cake ('Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte') whose success is based on tasty cherry schnapps. The name black forest was quite accurate in earlier times, when the forest was impenetrable. When the wood trade began to falter, clock-making stepped in and has been a successful industry for the Black Forest ever since the 17th century.



One of our stops this morning was at the "House of Black Forest Clocks". Many people bought Cuckoo Clocks; we all had a typical Bavarian Lunch and then wandered through the village before returning to the bus.








Our next comfort stop was on Lake Constance at Marien Wallfahrtskirche in Birnau. This beautiful jewel of a church sits above the lake with vineyards running down to the lake. Completed in 1749, this church is decorated in the South German Rococo style. Once we entered the church we saw that it rivals even some of the most beautiful churches in Rome with its intricate frescos covering the walls and ceilings.



We continued our drive through the lovely forest and arrived in Oberammergau in the early evening for our stay at the Böld Hotel.

Oberammergau is quaint village with houses with colourful painted facades on many of its houses and shops. "Lüftlmalerei" is a handicraft method of wall-painting originally applied to decorate the baroque facades in Italy and Southern Germany. It was only in the 18th century that this method became popular in the foothill region of the Alps, where wealthy traders, peasants and craftsmen displayed their wealth by means of opulently painted facades. The subjects of the paintings are mostly of a religious character, particularly involving figures of saints as well as manifold scenes all around the Passion Play theme in Oberammergau.
Today there are about 120 wood sculptors in Oberammergau, actively carving and selling a large variety of wooden artifacts, from figures of saints to household goods. Furthermore, a Carvers School in town offers courses providing specialist training for wood carvers. We browsed through many shops that were filled to overflowing with beautiful carvings. What Oberammergau may be most well known for is the Passion Play. In the middle of the Thirty Years War, after months of suffering and death from the plague, the Oberammergauers swore an oath that they would perform the "Play of the Suffering, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ" every ten years. At Pentecost 1634, they fulfilled their pledge for the first time on a stage they put up in the cemetery above the fresh graves of the plague victims. Now, more than 2,000 Oberammergauers bring to the stage those events Christianity regards as its central source of life and hope in approximately six hours of playing time. The 41st Passion Play will take place between May and October of 2010. Globus has several tours which will include performances of the play.

Trip to Bavaria - October 2007

My trip to Bavaria Germany started with a direct flight from Calgary to Frankfurt on October 26, 2007. We arrived in Frankfurt half an hour early, collected our luggage and went to the meeting point to wait for a Globus representative, Sheryl. We were taken to our first hotel, the Sheraton Congress Frankfurt. This hotel is in Frankfurt’s business district and has a Straßenbahn stop directly in front. Sheryl suggested that if we weren’t too tired, we might want to catch the number 12 train and go to Römer Platz. A group of us quickly checked into our rooms and then met at the station.

We missed the first train because we couldn’t figure out how to get the ticket machine to work. After hitting every combination of buttons on the machine, we finally got our 2 Euro Einzelfahrt tickets. We all boarded the next train and took a twenty-minute trip to the Römer Platz.

Frankfurt was almost completely leveled during WW2. The majority of the city was rebuilt to modern standards and very few old buildings remained. Römer Platz, the historical old town centre, including its splendid half-timbered houses, was rebuilt according to the original plans in 1986. We wandered around, took pictures and stopped at a Café for a coffee and our first slice (of many) of real Black Forest Cake.

After our trip on the Straßenbahn we returned to the hotel for a special welcome dinner. Sheryl went over several tour ‘rules’ and told us what we might expect over the next few days. She called herself our mother hen, we were her chicks and that we wouldn’t have to worry about anything until we would fly the coop in seven days. She truly did take care of all our needs… from getting non-down filled pillows for those who were allergic to down, finding inexpensive phone cards for those who wanted to call home… to taking one of the girls to a doctor when she twisted her ankle.