A bit of snow anyone?

Oberammergau is in the Bavarian Alps, less than a one hour drive from the Austrian border and Tirolian mountains.  Naturally it comes with great skiing and a good dose of snow.  When we arrived just prior to Christmas there was snow but not a heap.  That has all changed now.  

On our first snow day we escaped to a small lake town, Murnau, and explored the Schloss museum.  The train ride down the mountain was fabulous, once we had achieved the ticket purchase (not an easy feat).  Our second big snow day involved a hike through the snow to Ettal with some great beer and food to recharge our batteries.

A day in Innsbruck......

Ross and I travelled to Austria in December 2001.  On our last day we stumbled on a long deceased body encased in glass in a church of some description.  The poor dead bloke had nothing to say who he was, why he was the and why he should be in a side wall.  No matter what research we did, we could find nothing about him.  We were on a mission as part of this trip to find about who he was and why he was there.  Our biggest problem was where was the church!

Our drive to Innsbruck was nothing short of spectacular.  Winding down out of the Bavarian Alps, into Austria and then into Tirol.  I am glad it was Ross driving and not me!  We then hit the parking building from Hell.  Ross wound down down down following cars and being followed by other cars.  The end of the building was just that, an end, no turning, no warning, just an end!  Surprisingly, the sort out was an orderly and polite - oh yes, we were in Austria, not Arabia, Asia or Auckland.

Feeding the frenzy....

Those that know our daughter may understand the emotions running through the little lass as she spent rather a long time in two museums featuring Nativity scenes and scenes depicting the Passion of Christ.  For the following two days I have retold stories from the New Testament over and over and over and.....

Note: Oberammergau was hit by the black death in the 1600s.  The townspeople made a pact with God that if they performed a Passion play for the rest of time, further deaths would be spared.  No more people died in Oberammergau and since that time on, the town has performed a play covering the Passion of Christ every 10 years since about 1650.  Only one or two times have been missed or adjusted due to wars.  Methinks, Teagan and I will be back in 2020 to watch for ourselves.

Too much Gluhwein?

I am not sure what did it but aft a slow build up I finally succumbed to a migraine today.  For me they are a once every ten year event.  Nothing was easing my headache so I got myself to the local Apotheke and " got me some" relief.  Whew, because after a day inside, we managed a gorgeous sleigh come carriage ride for the last two hours of the afternoon broken by a glass of local schnapps.  The day closed with some Lego creativity, me following the instructions to build a dump truck and the little miss following her own imagination to build a town.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day follows Christmas Eve.  It is about Baby Jesus who isn't a baby because He gets dead on the cross before the next Christmas.  And if you are not aware, The Lord is Special along with Baby Jesus and The Lord happens to be a Lawyer.

Well this is what we have learnt this Christmas thanks to some special times over a multitude of meals.  Christmas Eve dinner came first and was a gorgeous four course meal.  It was during this meal that we learned of Jesus not really being a baby, as evidenced down in the hotel's reception (in both the predinner service and amazing carved nativity scene) because He dies on the Cross, as evidenced on the wall beside our dinner table.  On Christmas day we learned that The Lord is a lawyer; this I believe arose from a prior discussion on Judges and going to University to study law and maybe becoming a lawyer.  Following this, the little lady spent quite sometime outside on a pile of shoveled snow singing " Away in a Manger" very loudly to herself.

I daresay, I can say that I was on top of the world.  I also wonder how much longer this child's interpretation of life will continue?  No one has provided us with the book on what to expect from little girls...other than my keen watchful eye on my older nieces....so I shall just enjoy what comes new to us each day (some days delivering more white hairs and others more laugh wrinkles).

Empty hotels....

Excepting our hotel in Munich, the hotels have been nearly empty.  I am also guessing that if our Munich hotel did not border the park that hosts the Tollwood festival (same location as Octoberfest), it would have been near empty too. Our current hotelier says that the Germans are  traveling to Italy and Spain where it is cheaper and no other Europeans are coming because it is too expensive.  Erika has even had her most loyal guests of the past 20 years cancel as their business has gone into receivership.  So we; the Fosters and Merriman / MacDonalds are the only guests for Christmas in this hotel and the first in five days to stay.  Yep, some financially challenging times are here for Europe. Possibly good for Kiwis and those on the USD though!

Another museum?

I am on my own at breakfast - as near normal - and loving it.  I have been given a 1 l jug of brewed coffee this morning so it only makes sense that I put it to good use and load another blog.  

Yesterday was museums.  Ross and I were well rewarded in our time and efforts in prehistory when we watched the little lady educate the little man (3.75 yrs) on the details of human evolution...apes to Australopithecus to neanderthal and their mates the "homo" line.  Thankfully they were both engrossed in the pictures and bones.

Following the museums we tried to get into Johannes Kepler's house.  Unfortunately it was closed.  Oh dear on else's museum for me!