Continuing in the reconstruction of significant events postponed from 2020, we fulfilled a decades old bucket-list dream in early September by attending the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany. Planned for fulfillment in Sept. of 2020, we were deeply disappointed when it was canceled and it’s rescheduled 2022 dates seemed very far away.
But it was so worth the wait.
We flew to Stuttgart on Sunday, Sept. 4, and began an epic journey involving many beautiful places and beautiful people. A relationship that began in 1988, when two German women served with us at camp, has continued through the decades with us visiting them in Germany and each of them visiting us in America on multiple occasions. We were last with Gertrud in 2011 when we made Paul’s “rite of passage” journey, and when she met us at the airport the morning of Sept 5, it was as though no time had passed. For the next three days, Gertrud hostessed us generously and kindly.
Gertrud Buck worked at camp with us in 1988 and our friendship has grown through the years.
We hit the road running, intent on maximizing our time in this beautiful country. Tuesday, the 6th, we drove to Pliezhausen, a small town near Tubingen, to spend the day with the other German women who served at camp with us in 1988. Elfriede and her husband Uwe provided a typical German breakfast/brunch spread for us, over which we talked about everything from marriage to world concerns before heading to Bad Urach to hike to a waterfall and the ruins of a medieval castle. We topped the day off with dinner at a lovely restaurant in celebration of Uwe and Elfriede’s 20th anniversary, which was that day. It was such a gift to be with these longtime friends who, fortunately, are fluent in English, which greatly enhanced our ability to have deep conversations. :)
Elfriede, pictured here with her husband Uwe, served at camp in 1988 and we’ve been fast friends ever since.
We hiked to the ruins of this medieval castle in Bad Urach on this picture-perfect day.
Waterfalls are one of our favorite things…
The twentieth anniversary celebration for Uwe and Elfriede was the lovely ending to a wonderful day.
The next day we drove to Wurzburg, a town about 2 hours from Stuttgart. We wended our way through centuries-old castles on a self-guided tour that clocked close to 11 miles. It couldn’t have been lovelier as we walked through old city streets, along waterways, and through forests on a day predicting the coming fall.
“The Residence” in Wurzburg was the seat of the Bishop.
Along our walking tour in Wurzburg…so picturesque.
Our final full day in Stuttgart was spent meeting up with a precious military family we had met at Forest Home’s family camp this past July. The Niewenhouses captured our hearts with their five adorable daughters and when we found out they were shortly moving to Stuttgart, we were determined to connect with them. Gertrud again “made that happen” guiding us through the public transportation system to downtown Stuttgart where we met them at a restaurant in the city square. We had the loveliest time over lunch, and Paul made friends for life when he produced a bag of his world famous chocolate chip cookies. Smiles all around. That night was capped with dinner at our third German friend’s home.
The Niewenhous family and Gertrud in the Stuttgart city square.
What’s not to love about Uncle Paul’s cookies??
Finally we meet Kim face to face after a year and a half of “zoom” interaction.
A relative newcomer to our lives, we’ve known Kim for about a year and a half but it feels like we’ve always known her. She had Gertrud, Paul, and I over for dinner Thursday evening and it was the first time we were with her face to face. Our whole relationship had developed via Zoom, the silver lining of this “poor substitute for real life connecting” but, as my mama always said, “it’s better than a kick in the head.” Our time together over dinner was delightful and just the beginning of our several delightful days with her.
She was able to secure tickets to the Passion Play for the three of us to attend, so Friday morning, we picked up our rental car and off to Oberammergau we went! We broke up the three-hour drive with a stop in Ulm, the home of the Weiss Lebkuchen factory store and we were like kids in a candy store. Lebkuchen is a gingerbread-y product, often coated in chocolate, which combines two of my favorite things. We did some damage there, the results of which will keep our memories of this great trip alive for most of the winter.
We were equally ecstatic over the finds at the Lebkuchen factory!
The Passion Play is an amazing event. Almost 400 years ago, as the Black Plague swept Europe, decimating village after village, the Catholic residents of this small Bavarian village vowed to perform a play of “the suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ” every 10 years, if only God would spare them any further losses from the plague. God faithfully met them, and the Passion Play has been performed every 10 years from 1634 to 1674 and each decade year since 1680 (with a few exceptions) by the inhabitants of the village of Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany. The village of Oberammergau has 4500 residents now, and 2300 of them are involved in this production which runs from mid-May to Oct. 2.
Saturday was the long-awaited day and we were so thrilled to be in the sold-out crowd of 5000 to view this epic performance. The first half runs 1–4 pm, and the second half 7–10 pm, with a 3-hour dinner break in between. And did I mention it was all done in German? We did have an English copy of the text, which was helpful, and being very familiar with “the story” was even more helpful.
Many of the buildings in Oberammergau are painted with murals depicting the life of Christ.
Inside the Passion Play theater, which holds 5,000.
The scene of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet before the Last Supper.
The crucifixion.
We were spellbound by the entire production. Truthfully, the six hours kept us captivated throughout. What a privilege to be there! Until the very end, it upheld the Biblical historical account of Palm Sunday through the resurrection. Unfortunately, the director of this decade's presentation chose to represent Jesus’ resurrection with a bowl of fire “so people to interpret how Jesus came back….as the wind, or a fire, or whatever.” That was obviously a disappointing departure from the historical account of His bodily resurrection. The host of our hotel, who was in the cast and spent some time with his guests the morning after around breakfast, assured us that many have written about their displeasure at this interpretation. Our emails will join those voices.
The final scene, where they substituted the bodily resurrection of Christ with a bowl of fire, seen on the left side of the stage.
Though that’s a big deal, we still left with joyful hearts that we were privileged to be there and experience this centuries-old fulfillment of a vow made in 1634. We hope to return in 2030 with our kids.
We loved having Kim with us as we traveled to Salzburg on Sunday, Sept. 11. Such a charming city, we sang our way through, giving Kim a primer in “Sound of Music” trivia. We walked many miles on the Monchberg, by Hohensalzburg, through Mirabel Gardens, out to Leopoldskron Castle, and along the beautiful Salzach River. We loved everything about it.
On to Salzburg on a rainy Sunday…standing on a bridge over the Salzach River, with Hohensalzburg behind us.
Mirabel Gardens . . . ”Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do!"
Still my favorite musical….
Leopoldskron Castle was used as the residence of the Von Trapp family.
After we continued our pursuit of “Sound of Music” filming sites Monday morning, which included Hellbrun Castle to see the glass gazebo in which Liesl and Rolfe sang “You are sixteen going on seventeen…” and Mondsee Cathedral in which Capt VonTrapp and Maria were married, we put Kim on a train back to Stuttgart and continued on to Hallstatt.
“You are sixteen going on seventeen…"
Inside Mondsee Cathedral, where the wedding of Capt VonTrapp and Maria happened.
Hallstatt is an ancient town built on the side of a mountain, on the edge of a beautiful lake, and is home to some of the oldest salt mines in the world. It is an enchanted village with breathtakingly beautiful homes and views and with a quaintness that makes you feel like you’re in an imaginary world. We did what we love doing the most…discovering off-the-beaten-path gems by foot. Perfect weather made our exploring most enjoyable.
Hallstatt: a beautifully quaint and picturesque town on a mountainside, perched on a lake.
From Hallstatt we drove to Schladming, a small town at the base of the Dachstein, the “mountain massif of the northern Alps.” Derdachstein is home to the “bridge to nowhere,” the Ice Palace, a suspension bridge, and a glacier to traverse, accessible by gondola (or by foot for very experienced and intrepid hikers).
We rode the gondola. :)
And had the grandest time exploring all of the attractions on top of the Dachstein on another perfect weather day. The views were spectacular, showing the majesty of God’s handiwork in that land of geographical wonders. Surrounded by the Alps, with views of the grassy valley floors dotted with chalets and groomed farmlands, there aren’t enough words to describe the beauty of it all. No words needed. Just breathless praise to Creator God.
The Dachstein is actually behind us.
On the suspension bridge on top of the Dachstein.
This is as good a place as any for a sweet kiss.
Inside the Glass Palace, all carved out of a glacier.
We hiked as far as we could on this glacier.
The next day we drove two hours to Krimml Falls, but on the way had a most special stop at a very memorable place. Mittersill, Austria, is home to Schloss Mittersill, a castle which for years was owned by the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES), the international arm of IVCF. Paul’s parents served as directors of Schloss Mittersill in 1974 for about 6 months (their one-year commitment was cut short due to his dad’s health issues) and Paul spent Christmas with them there. We were in the early stages of our relationship at that point, so I was happily surprised when he brought me a set of handprinted wooden “egg cups” from his travels. Those eggs cups hang on our kitchen wall even still.
Our family returned to Schloss Mittersill for Christmas 1998 when Kari was attending the Capernwray Bible School, Bodenseehof, and we made sweet memories as a family in that special castle. Sadly, IFES sold the castle in 2008 to a hotel group which has completely renovated it into a 4 star hotel/conference center.
Mittersill was right on the route between Schladming and Krimml Falls, so we took a slight detour to visit the castle and stir up good, almost 50-year-old memories (for Paul.). It felt like such kindness of the Lord that this walk down memory lane could happen.
This wishing well has been photographed with Paul’s parents sitting on in in 1974, our family in 1998, and now us in 2022.
The view of the town of Mittersill from the castle.
On to Krimml Falls, the tallest falls in Austria (380 meters) and the fifth tallest in the world. We had a great 3-hour-round-trip hike to the top of the falls, and again marveled at the handiwork of God in creating such beauty. The spray, the rainbows, the pounding, rushing water…all so spectacular. What a gift!
We had a great hike to the top of Krimml Falls.
Beautiful, powerful, thunderous falls.
Our final full day was spent driving (in rain) back to Stuttgart from Oberammergau (where we spent the night after Krimml Falls), making one briefer stop at the Lebkuchen factory. :) Gertrud kindly prepared dinner and invited Kim and Elfriede to join us so we had a farewell party with our dear German friends on Thursday night, the 15th. Our hearts were so full of gratitude and love for these dear friends who make the world a bit smaller and a lot better.
Dinner hosted by Gertrud with Kim and Elfriede. A very sweet last dinner together.
What a remarkably wonderful 11 days we had in one of our favorite parts of the world and admittedly we’re dreaming of ways to return much sooner than 11 years from now.
Our sadness in leaving was quickly replaced with the delight of four great days in Denver, around the occasion of our great niece’s wedding. We “moved in” with Gordon and Barbara Becker for four days and were feted with 5-star hospitality by these dear friends of almost 30 years. Their “bed and amazing breakfasts” prepared us for full days of meeting up with a number of very dear friends, so our days were rich and full of so much that is good in this world. Relationships. Where life happens.
The Beckers hosted us for our four days in Denver.
We spent a very encouraging evening with our dear friends, the Ashworths.
We met up with the Sherman and Gosselin clan at church.
We spent a few hours with dear friends Patrick and Crysti.
Lunch with Howard and Kathy Clark was both delicious and inspiring.
Dinner with the rest of the Sherman clan at Dave and Kathleen’s home. Whitnee and Jeff with baby Dom have just relocated near this set of parents.
One last visit on the way to the airport with Nate and Elsa and their two Littles.
The wedding of Grace and Tommy was held in a beautiful outdoor location in Evergreen, CO, and we were so honored to celebrate their nuptials which honored God’s design for the covenant of marriage. It was beautiful, creative, and full of joy. We especially loved being with Gracie’s extended family since such reunions are hard to come by.
Such joy to celebrate Tommy and Gracie’s wedding in Evergreen.
Rayna . . . from our flower girl to mother of the bride.
Most of Rayna's family . . . her mom is Paul’s oldest sister Sandy. Loved being with this gang.
After making the most of those days, we returned to Bedford, 16 days after we embarked on the Excellent Adventure, with hearts fuller than our suitcases and more memories to last a lifetime. So many beautiful places and people.
We are blessed. All praise is His.
