2016 Bavaria
Our Trip to Bavaria September 2016
(If you don't want to read the tale, watch the video!)
13 Tuesday: Traveling
We were all packed ahead of time, so it was up to Dayton, with lunch from the Wendy's drive thru. We parked the car at our regular off-site parking location and learned they have new owners It’s disrupting for them to stop to fetch airline passengers, so they only do long-term parking now. We were parking for 15 days, so they were happy to have us.
The lines at the check in, as well as security, were very short, and we were soon on a small jet to Detroit. 52 seats. It's nice to start an international flight at a small airport.
We switched terminals in Detroit. After walking to the very end of terminal A, we found out that they had changed the gate to the beginning of terminal A. Hey, we needed the exercise. The flight from Detroit to Munich was 8 and a half hours. We got a little sleep. Mark watched two movies and read some Tom Clancy.
Our trip is to Bavaria: southern Germany and northern Austria. This is where we’re going and the places we’ll be visiting:
14 Wednesday: Arrival
Getting through passport control was easy enough. At terminal 2 baggage claim, we met some others from our tour. Gathering up our stuff, we walked over to terminal 1. Fortunately, one of our new friends remembered that instruction. Once there we saw some folks with the international square dance symbol sketched on a piece of paper attached to their luggage, so we knew we were in the right place. After a couple hours, most everyone had gathered and we started moving to the busses. Unfortunately, one remaining couples' plane was delayed, so our bus elected to stay behind to wait for them. After they arrived and we started out, the phone rang and it was discovered that another single lady had not been able to find us (she didn’t have the instructions). She was still at the airport. Rather than having her take a taxi all the way to Grassau, our bus elected to return to the airport and pick her up. It seemed like the right thing to do, since otherwise her trip would have started out poorly. Getting her onboard, we were finally on our way!
We arrived at the Hotel Sperrer way after the first bus. In fact, they had already enjoyed their welcome drink and were in their rooms. So our welcome was smaller than planned. The tour group was too big to be accommodated in the hotel, so a dozen couples were housed in Bosch Gasthaus, a Bed and Breakfast ten minutes away. They drove us over in a van. The facilities were lovely. Our room was on the second floor. We have a little balcony and nice sleeping quarters. Each room is a little different and each are named for mountains.
Back to the hotel for dinner. We had a choice of pork or turkey after a fine salad bar. It took the more than two hours to feed everyone. We were fading fast. We moved the tables out from the dining room area and did two square dance tips before calling it a night.
We chose to walk back to our apartment. The evening was nice and the walk easy. But it was the first time we had walked to the B&B and it was now dark. The group in front of us had walked too far, and we had to call them back. We also missed the first correct street and had gone one block too far. But we made it back and were happy to shower and finally get to bed.
15 Thursday: Amerang Farmers Historical Museum [Photos]
We slept in. The first day was an easy one. Breakfast was a nice European style. We gathered from all of the apartments into the basement of the main building. This room was formerly a music room. It had beautiful paintings of the countryside on the walls, some cowbells, animal head skeletons, yokes and many instruments.
We got on the tour bus and went south to Amerang Farmers' Museum, a historical re-creation of farming through the centuries. They had examples of farm homes/barns and the tools used. In the early years, the barn was a part of the house. The family lived in the front and the animals lived in the back. We were also shown a lovely bee-house, and a rope making shed. While most people ordered some food and drink, Lynn wandered off and found a dairy display and a sawmill that our guide did not show us. The saw mill was powered by a water wheel.
It was a short tour day so we could finish recovering from jet lag. After the tour, we went to the bank to convert some money. Then we wandered around town. There was a second-hand store with some German clothing, unfortunately not our size. We went to an ice cream parlor, and a grocery store.
After dinner, we walked across the street to a converted barn owned by the city of Grassau. They allowed our group to use it for our dances. On the top floor we held a dance. Many of the dancers were quite good, although some of them are just mainstream level dancers.
16 Friday: Obersalzberg Salt Mines and Berchtesgaden Eagle’s Nest [Photos]
We got up early for breakfast so we could get on the bus at 8:30. At the Obersalzberg Salt Mines we dressed in traditional miners outfits before entering the mine. Guests straddle a train which take them deep into the mountain.
We were given some instruction on the mining process. To get deeper into the mines, we slide down large slides which the miners actually use. Mark was in front and worried about something going wrong. Lynn visited here when she was 18 and the slides were what she remembered most. They are so much fun! We took a raft across an underground lake, enjoying a light show during the crossing. Next we went up a funicular and back out to the street on the train.
Then to Berchtesgaden to the Eagles Nest. That’s the place the Nazi’s used as a headquarters. Because the road was so narrow, everyone has to ride buses up to the top. They time it so the five buses have free reign going in their direction. It was quite a ride. The slope was steep (sometimes 20+% grade) , and the view spectacular. Parking near the top, you had a choice of going through a tunnel to the elevator to the top, or hiking up a 30 minute trail. We took the trail. We could see the valley, but the fog was moving in, so we couldn't see very far.
At the top, the building has been converted to a restaurant. The red marble fireplace had been gifted to Hitler by Mussolini. Then, more hiking further up the hill. Lynn decided she wanted to square dance and encouraged others to form a square. David, one of our new friends, called the tip and we danced on top of the mountain at the Eagles Nest.
After dinner, we were supposed to have a dance, but the barn was being used for a begging (that’s what Autocorrect inserted!) i.e. benefit concert. Some of the dancers decided to attend that, and some decided to go to bed. So that just left three squares. We cleared tables and chairs out of the dining room center and danced there. These were the hard core dancers! We had a blast.
17 Saturday: German Automobile Museum [Photos]
Our group was scheduled to go to a ski-lift which would allow us a great view of Grassau. But it started raining yesterday evening. It rained all night. In the morning, they let us know it was too rainy to ride up. We spent the morning trying to figure out how to get to the next town Rottau. We were given tourist passes that enable us to ride the local buses for free. The problem turned out that on the weekend they didn't run often enough. We would have gotten back at 11:15 AM, but our revised outing for the day was leaving at 11 AM. Instead, we walked around town in the rain, visiting the local stores. We stopped by a ‘Bed, Bath and Beyond’ type store (much smaller scale) and a dress shop (quite expensive!) The visitor center was very nice and helpful.
Instead of the ski-lift, we went to back to Amerang to the German Automobile museum. It highlights the automobiles manufactured in Germany. They had some built back in 1860! They also featured a VW Golf taken completely apart. There are 200+ exhibits from over 40 German manufacturers. The basement houses a large model train station. The engineer came down and drove the trains around tracks. The model train filled a huge room. The walls were painted as part of the scenery. It is the largest model railway site of scale ‘Track II’ in the world.
We came back to our apartment and did a little reading before a dinner of venison. We noticed they do not serve vegetables with the entree. Your vegetables come from the salad bar, which has been the same every night: coleslaw, two types of radishes, lettuce, potato salad, eggs and a marinated tomato onion salad. Next we have soup, which has been different every night. We have had potato, cauliflower, pumpkin, minestrone and even pancake soup on our tour!
After dinner, it was off to the barn for dancing. Some local (and not so local) dancers from Germany joined us. They were generally younger and more energetic than we older US dancers. They were also quite good! There were four callers. At one point, they were all calling together. It was very exciting.
18 Sunday: Oktoberfest [Photos]
We had an early breakfast so we could get on the bus to Munich for Oktoberfest! The Oktoberfest is an important part of Bavarian culture, having been held since 1810. King Ludwig I married Princess Therese on 12 Oct 1810. The citizens of Munich were invited to attend the festivities. (Wikipedia)
After arriving, we went straight to the Ferris Wheel. That’s the easiest way to get an overview of the whole fairgrounds. You can see the entire area, which is expansive, as well as the 14 Beer Hall tents. One for each of the beer manufacturers in Munich, each tent is the size of three football fields. Inside are rows of tables, a grandstand for a Bavarian band, Dirndl-dressed waitresses serving beer and lots of beer-hosting visitors. They also have the typical rides and food vendors. Since we were there on the second day, we got to enjoy the parade of costumes. Each village is represented by wearers of their traditional outfits. Many come with instruments.
Lynn asked one of the locals: Do they come from Bavaria? His response: "Not just from Bavaria! All over the world. Even from Austria."
I guess a Bavarian's definition of ‘The World’ has a special meaning.
We also stopped by a restaurant and had the best grilled ½ chicken we’ve enjoyed in a long time. We also had some Bavarian potato salad. It’s different than Southern American potato salad as it’s made with vinegar instead of mayonnaise. It’s very tasty.
By 1pm, we had explored the festival to our fill, so we left the park and walked around town. Our first discovery was a Eurostore, just like the Dollar store in the USA, where everything is 1 Euro. Most shops were closed for Sunday. We then found a second hand store that was open. Mark found a really nice Bavarian shirt, but it was way too wide. The owner was also a tailor and he took it in right there and then. Mark also got a Bavarian green hat to complete his Lederhosen outfit. We then went back into the Oktoberfest grounds (on the opposite side from where we originally entered) and walked thru. The group all gathered with their stories.
Then it was off to a Munich square dance club, the Tamara Twirlers for a "BBQ". They had a very nice facility that had previously been a hospital barrack, with underground operating rooms! There was also a bagpipe club that met there. The hosting club had an incredible dinner with Bavarian potato salad and pigs knuckles. They also had tiramisu pudding! Very yummy. Lynn and I took our plates into the kitchen and noticed just one lady doing the dishes by hand, so we offered to help. She declined, but we were not to be dissuaded. We took a drying tray, went back out to the dining area and started picking up the dirty dishes. We made more than a half dozen trips. They were very thankful for our assistance and many from our group also recognized our participation in this thankless job, and thanked us.
The dance was real fun. They were now doing two square tips followed by a round dance tip. And they were also identifying the level of the square dance tips because some of the dancers were just mainstream. We danced the night away.
19 Monday: Neuschwanstein Castle [Photos], Oberammergau [Photos] and Zugspitz Promenaders
Up really early for a 7:30 AM bus ride to Neuschwanstein castle. It is sometimes called the fairy-tale castle. It was built by King Ludwig ll. Ludwig was very interested in medieval times. This new castle was built from 1869 - 1873 on the foundation of two medieval castles: Vorder und Hinter Hohenschwangau. The castle was never fully completed. There were plans for a keep, chapel, Moorish hall and knight's bath that were not started. We noted that the doors are 2 inches thick and beautifully decorated.
The King's bedroom featured a beautiful four poster oyster bed. The top was elaborately carved. Ludwig's favorite color was blue. The bedspread and linens were blue. He had a baptismal font as his washstand. Most artwork was medieval or Christian. There were paintings on the walls made to look like tapestries.
Ludwig was interested in the concept that the king is the intermediary between the people and God. There were swans everywhere: in the chandeliers, on the door knobs, as figurines, on the walls. One wall at the back of a stage was painted as a forest. It reminded us of Bambi. It was to represent the enchanted forest surrounding the holy grail. There was a grotto to Venus, the goddess of love.
Lynn asked our guide why he referred to it as a fairy castle. He said that Ludwig lived in a fantasy world in which he pictured himself as a Byzantine king. Ludwig lived a very reclusive life. He was deemed unfit to be king after he spent all the family’s money on his construction projects.
It is interesting that our group was divided in two, and the two guides gave very different information. Our guide wanted to build mystery into the tour, while the second guide was more fact oriented. The castle has some electricity and plumbing. In particular, it had batteries for the servants bell and a telephone. It was neat to see paintings with armor. Ludwig’s fascination with medieval things meant many of the paintings were of that era.
The castle in Disneyland is modeled after this castle, which is one of the most photographed buildings in the world.
One of the couple's got stuck at the top, so we left 40 minutes late. That meant we did not have the normal time for shopping at Oberammergau. It's known for their ten-year Passion Play, wooden carvings and air brush paintings on the exterior of the buildings. They had many stores with carved items, as well as cuckoo clocks. Lynn got her annual supply of Christmas ornament gifts. We also found a really nice store for Dirndl dresses. We learned that Lynn is a German size 48 and that 30 minutes isn't enough time to shop! We found some lovely dresses, but didn't have time to get it right. We had dinner (goulash with spaetzle) hosted by the Zugspitz Promenaders and then danced with them. Mostly we used our callers but also a lovely young German female caller who was very good if a little difficult to understand who she was directing her calls to. When she did a western tune with our callers it sounded very Bavarian. They called Mainstream, since they wanted everyone to dance.
All too soon we had to get back on the bus because our drivers were hitting the limits of their driving time. Two hours later and we were back in Grassau at 11:30pm. It was a long but interesting day.
From the bus we saw an undercover police car pulling a vehicle over. In Germany, the police car, which is a souped-up car with tons of electronics, gets in front of the offender and then turns on the lights. One set in the back is a light that says pull over, but it's the police (in front) that decides where the safest place is, not the speeder. We were on the autobahn, but there are still speed limits in certain places. Plus with Oktoberfest, and being so close to the border, there might have been a number of reasons why they pulled that car over.
20 Tuesday: Lake Chiemsee Palace [Photos]
Today we had a short bus ride to the dock on Lake Chiemsee. We took a ferry to the island of Herrenchiemsee and walked about 3/4 mile to King Ludwig's Chiemsee Castle. It is not really a castle because it does not have a moat unless you consider the lake to be the moat. It is really a palace modeled after the Palace of Versailles. Ludwig was enamored of Louis XIV, the French Sun King. Louis was born in 1845 and was crowned king when he was only 18 years old. This was his third large construction project which also was not completed.
Our guide told us King Ludwig said he wanted to remain a mystery to himself and others. He was found dead at the age of 40 on 13 June 1886.
We toured inside. The first antechamber had a very ornate cabinet made of gold leaf and tortoise shell. We don't know its intended use, possibly it was to store instruments. In most rooms the ceilings were adorned with mythological characters. The second antechamber featured mirrors at either end and three chandeliers. The two smaller ones held 70 candles and the larger one held 90-100 candles and each featured Bohemian lead crystal.
Next was the golden states bedroom. It was decorated in red and gold leaf to honor the French Sun King. The curtain was needle painted. It took thirteen ladies seven years to complete these curtains. We also noticed ostrich feathers at the top of the bed, which are symbols of the King's dignity.
Next came the council chamber. It was decorated throughout with the fleur de lis, symbol of the Bourbon King's. We moved then into the Hall of mirrors. This would have been a fabulous place to squad dance, a beautiful hall which would have held 40 or more squares. It took 30 to 40 servants a half an hour to light all 2,202 candles in this room.
King Ludwig's room was decorated in his favorite color, blue. At the foot of his bed was a large blue globe. Three candles could be placed inside and it was used as a nightlight. There was a door to the left of the bed for his toilet and a door on the right behind which was a spiral staircase leading to his dressing room. We saw a study, then the dining room which was decorated with a huge porcelain chandelier. Once it was completed, the molds were broken so a duplicate could never be made. The dining table was most unique in that it could be lowered to the floor below so the servants could set it, out of sight, for the king. Our guide said it would take half an hour to hoist the table back into place upstairs. Another interesting fact our guide told us is that it takes one Gram of gold to completely gold-leafed one square meter. She said it took only one kilogram of gold to decorate all of the rooms we had been through. There was hardly any surface not covered in gold.
In the evening, we went to the next town, where a snapps Brewer showed how it was made. We weren't interested, but did join the group for a delicious dinner at the Hotel WesserHof. They grow almost everything they serve there at the farm. We had the fish, which came out of the Chiemsee lake. It was great.
We walked home and were joined by Joanie and Mike. We planned to go to the Eis (German for Ice Cream) shop for some ice cream. But as we got to town, we feared that the shop might be closed. We had planned that if that happened, we would come back to the Penny grocery store. But checking, we learned that Penny closes at 8pm and it was 7:57!
So we changed our plan and got some ice cream there and took it back to our gasthaus. We had a lovely dessert.
21 Wednesday: Munich tour [Photos]
Today we went back to Munich to tour the city. The first part was a bus tour around the city. There are about 1.5 million people. It is the third largest city in Germany. We saw the exterior of a marionette theater which was more than 100 years old. The center of town became a totally pedestrian district in 1972. Munich is more than 25% foreigners which is higher than the rest of the country. Overall the best way to get around is on foot or by bicycle.
We took two pictures of buildings. The first was built by Hitler. The second was built in a square where he paraded his armies. It is now a museum.
The monarchy of the kingdom of Bavaria lasted from 1906 until 1918, the beginning of WWI.
Max the first
Ludwig the first
Max the second
Ludwig the second
Ludwig the third
It is said in Germany there are 5 seasons, Winter, Spring, Summer, Oktoberfest and Autumn. The origin of Oktoberfest was the wedding reception of King Ludwig I to Princess Therese.
All of the beer for Oktoberfest is produced by the big five German companies. The normal beer is 5% alcohol but for Oktoberfest it is 7% alcohol. Then, it was a walking tour. But we wanted to shop for Dirndls! We joined one group and left them part way to go back to a second hand store we found during our Oktoberfest day. It was closed that Sunday, and we definitely wanted to see it today. We were joined by Helen. Her partner was having a bad knee day, so she was solo today. We were happy to have her.
As we walked down Lundwarmstrasse, Helen noticed a store on the other side of the street that looked interesting. It was great! Lynn found a lovely dark green dirndl with a burgundy red apron. She also purchased a blouse and edelweiss necklace. It came to less than 200 Euro. We probably wouldn't have stopped at that store if not for Helen. We did eventually visit the (previously) closed second hand store, but it didn’t have what we were looking for.
We then went down into the subway to ride back. We found a couple of very nice young ladies who were at the French school. They spoke enough English to help us figure out that we needed the 4-stop max-single use-single person ticket 1.35 Euro. We were very thankful because it was a bit of a walk. Plus, we needed to be back at the bus buy 4:30, and we walked up at 4:25!
We went straight to dinner. We finally had sauerkraut. After dinner, 4 squares went to the barn for a dance. It made us wonder where the rest of the folks were. Apparently tired, they went to their hotels rooms. But we came to dance!
22 Thursday: Innsbruck, Rattenberg am Inn and Dandelions Square Dance club [Photos]
Today's adventure is Innsbruck! We crossed the border easily. But trucks and cars going in the other direction were backed up for many miles. They were checking them because of the immigrant problem. Austria and Germany have some differences: gas is cheaper in Austria. Even police cars cross over to Austria to fill up. Driving on the autobahn is free in Germany, but you have to pay a toll in Austria. We had a really good guide, Reiner, who gave us a lot of history.
He told us about Sigmund the rich and Ferdinand the poor. Apparently Ferdinand was a miser (which means he actually had lots of money) and his son Sigmund was a spender (and so had no money!) Sigmund had 60 children out of wedlock. Sigmund built a palace here for Empress Marie Therese.
The guide told how the Turks invaded the area and seized the town. The plan was to starve the people out. But then winter came on and the Turks were not prepared for how cold it was. They retreated, leaving much of their supplies behind. The Austrians wandered out after the Turks left and found the coffee. The guide’s comment: what Starbucks does now with coffee is what Vienna has been doing for years.
We entered the church of St. James. The church was situated on the route to his grave. It was built 1717-1724. The painting on the sealing appears to be domed but it is actually flat. He spoke of one painting in particular. It was a Madonna and child, the first one painted without a halo or light round her face. The painter was Lutheran, painting for a Catholic Church. One of his friends was Martin Luther, who was against the glorification of Mary. The original church here was destroyed then rebuilt. Only two items were saved from the original church: the Madonna and a monument showing St. George, patron saint of Tyrolia.
Later we saw the golden roof of Innsbruck which was completed in 1800 by Maximilian for his second wife. It is said that he married her only for her money. In fact he didn't even attend the marriage ceremony but sent someone to stand in for him. The roof (which appears gold) is made of copper tiles which were then gold leafed. Now everyone that wants to get married has to come here because this building houses the marriage registry office.
We had a very good spinach quiche for lunch. We also had a cinnamon roll. Cinnamon rolls in Europe are different than American: they are flakier and crispier than the soft-dough of American rolls.
We visited a very small town Rattenberg am Inn, It is extremely small, population 400. The main street is tourist stores, many of which are Swarovski crystal. But they also had stores with spices, worldwide items, candles and clothes.
Most everyone purchased something even if only an ice cream. We purchased ornaments for Kevin's children, a witch for our stairway at Halloween, a fancier feather for Mark's Austrian hat, a heart and a cowbell ornament for our tree. We also had ice creams cones.
We were then off to a dinner and dance with a German club called the Dandelion Squares. Not held in their normal club location, it was at the Weingast, a really nice reception hall located way out in the boonies. Our bus driver drove our really big bus down this really narrow one lane road. At one point he stopped to talk with a local farmer, in Bavarian, about directions. Apparently he said just go down the road, make a right, and you can't miss it. He was right. The Dandelions club as great. They had a wonderful spread, and the dance was fun. They had five callers. The German callers were a little hard to understand, although the gal was excellent. Jerry Story had been ill and did not attend.
23 Friday: Reit im Winkl [Photos] and Bavarian slap dance [Photos]
Today we went to Reit im Winkl, a little town up in the mountains. Apparently neither Germany not Austria wanted the town because it's way up in the mountains and before snowplows, it was impossible to get to. So they had a card game where the winner gets to decide whether to keep the town or give it to the loser. Austria won and said Germany had to keep the town. But nowadays, Germany is happy because the town is a great tourist destination. They have a lot of items you don't find in America.
Lynn bought some more ornaments, a wooden Christmas tree with the bark still on it (it's a very traditional Bavarian item), a lovely necklace of concentric hearts with matching earrings, and a really nice large heart wherein you can put a candle. It kind of looks armor-ish, so I like it. We also got an ice cream to eat with our apple. We finished our visit at noon. We thought about taking the local bus back to Grassau. Unfortunately, the visitor center informed us that the next local came at 12:45. Well, our bus comes at 1 PM so we waited for our bus. Others also were finished early, so we had quite a few folks at the information center.
Back to Grassau for a nap!
After dinner, the Grassau cultural group came to the hotel and performed traditional Bavarian slap dancing to a live Bavarian 5 piece band. They even brought children dancers. Typical of Bavarian dancing, the leader would stomp his foot twice to indicate a change in the action. When they did the small dancing, it involved stomping and clapping and slapping, usually the thigh or bottom or the shoe. The woman dancers would spin around, flaring their black dresses out in large circles while checking the dancing men. It was fun to watch.
The first dance was a simple couples dance. Our tour guide, Tom Crisp, was one of the dancers. He has his lederhosen on, and after that dance, invited the three other lederhosen wearing guys (which included me!) to come out on the floor. Heather had purchased a Dirndl dress and was wearing it, so she came out too and the five of us did a little dance. It was fun having my Lederhosen outfit and wearing it and participating in the show. After that, the professionals took over and did the real show.
24 Saturday: Grassau annual market [Photos] and Klaus 40-year Jubileum dance [Photos]
This morning we went outside early and watched the setting up of the annual market day in Grassau. It didn't officially open until 9am but we went out early because we are going to a dance festival. Tom, Tony, and Jerry are all with us as guest callers. The bus stopped at Dachau as several of our group want to visit there. Lynn visited 47 years ago and felt no need to go again, so we went straight to the dance. The bus will bring the others later. At the marketplace there were many booths selling sausages, spices, clothing, jewelry, furs, tractors and home improvements. We purchased two table scarves and a blouse. They also had an area with a couple car-yard sales. We purchased a lederhosen suspenders of a different style from the standard 'H' type normally seen.
We were on the bus at 11am but we could not depart just yet. The bus was backed into the garage to add air to the front tire. Then we could take off. But slowly. The town was blocked off because of the market day event, so we (and everyone else in the world) has to detour around the town on the back roads. The road was narrow and heavily driven, so our driver had to be very professional to get us through.
We road up to Munich and Dachau and dropped the tourist folks off. Then on to the dance. We expected that the driver figured that Tom knew where we were going. But Tom didn't even bring the address and had to ask if anyone on the bus brought the dance festival flyer so he could get the address from that. The address didn't register in the GPS, so we had to go a mile and then ask for assistance. Then another mile. Ask. One set of instructions had us going thru a 2,95 meter underpass. That didn't work in this really tall bus!
We got to the dance at 2pm. The dance was really fun. Most of the callers were American, so understanding was fairly easy. Tony's voice was in fabulous shape. He was tricky, as usual. Jerry was back in health. We met dancers from the previous dance here in Germany.
Unfortunately, we had to leave the dance at 6pm to get back at a reasonable time. We would have preferred to dance more!
25 Sunday: Salzburg and Mozart Dinner Theater [Photos]
This was our big day in Austria which ended with a Mozart dinner theater. Our tour guide was less than professional. But he did take us to some nice places. The first was a garden wherein many shots from the Sound of Music were taken. Like the Stairs used during the Do-a Deer song. We saw the Mozart growing up home, and across the street was the birth home of Doppler (the scientist that discovered the Doppler effect.)
Next came a pedestrian bridge with thousands of padlocks attached to the rails. They represented the eternal love of the persons (whose names were often etched into the padlock). Across the bridge was a crafters day event with booths along the river bank. Inside the city we saw the Mozart birth home. The farmers market was empty since today was Sunday. We traveled into the heart of the inner city and visited an ancient church. They were holding Oktoberfest festivities in the centrum, and Lynn purchased a black Bavarian hat with pin. We also took the funicular train to the top of Salzburg. We toured the castle and got a great view of the surrounding area.
The main problem with the day was we started the tour at 11am and dinner wasn’t until 6pm. So there was a ton of waiting time. We finished our castle tour by 3pm, and Mark was getting tired. It turned out he had caught a cold, as had at least a half dozen of the tour, including Jerry Story.
But since we had some much time, and Lynn wanted to get some more steps in, we walked back out of the inner city to the pedestrian bridge and visited the crafters booths. There were booths with cloths, and food, and candles, and spices, and hanging mobiles. A gorgeous Green/Black reversible cape caught Lynn's eye. We walked to the end of the booths, and Lynn suggested we walk back on the outside of the booths, since it would be less crowded. But Mark suggested we walk on the inside. Lynn again mentioned how much she really liked that cape! So we went back and she tried it on. It was beautiful. Of course, it was beautifully priced, too. But the booth owner said she could accept credit cards. So Lynn promptly picked out a handbag to go with her new cape! So she got her new outfit accessorized. She was really happy about that.
Back to the center of town we went, to finish waiting. Finally, it was time to go into the restaurant for our dinner concert.
26 Monday: Free day and Pack
This is our last full day in Germany. Lynn would have liked to have gone up the ski lift but Mark is not feeling too well. Also our day is a bit broken up with a dance from 11-1. There is not quite enough morning or enough afternoon to go anywhere. Lynn took a walk just outside the town line to a Lederhosen store. They had the most beautiful lederhosen we have seen and a price to match. One pair she looked at was 538 euros. They were beautiful!
We were happy with the outfits we had.
We had our last dance with the group. It was a lot of fun.
We had to be packed with bags outside our doors by 4pm, so it was definitely coming to the end of our adventure. After dinner, the evening event was everyone in the group sharing their experience. Some were good, some long winded, some funny “My favorite quote is from Gina: They have a lot of Fahrts here in Germany” (Fahrt means Drive).
At the end of it all, we have been surprised at the connections we’ve discovered we share with the others on the tour. Some grew up in the Bay Area. Some went to the same conventions, or danced to the same callers, or knew the same people. One round dance cuer came to our club in Cincinnati, which is why Lynn thought she recognized her.
We went to bed for an early 5am breakfast and a 6pm bus.
27 Tuesday: Return Home
Our last breakfast, one more time walking to the ‘Tree’ bus-pickup spot. Mostly subdued passengers boarding the bus. When we arrived at the airport, everyone just got off and dispersed. A few of us re-gathered inside the terminal to figure out where do we need to go to check in.
Getting through passport control, the line wasn’t that long, but there was just two agents checking, so it took some time. Going thru security was easy. Then, the wait for boarding.
It seemed that the trip back was longer than the trip over.
By the time we got back to Dayton, we were quite hungry, so a stop for Mexican was in order.
Otherwise, we got home no problem. Another great vacation.