Euro Trip 2010 A trip journal by David Bowers September 26, 2010 to October 5, 2010 Text Only Version

Preface

It's that time again! Yes, time for me to make another excursion to Europe. I started planning this trip shortly after the Ireland trip in 2008. Shortly after that trip, Fr. Barry from St. Rose in Cincinnati indicated that in 2010 he would be leading a pilgrimage to Oberamagau for the 2010 Passion Play. Bob and I both were very interested in the play, so we kept watch over the Catholic Telegraph and as soon as the trip was advertised we wrote for our brochures.

When my brochure arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to learn the trip was in late September and a visit to The Oktoberfest in Munich was part of the entertainment offerings on the trip. Further looking over the brochure, I see that we will also tour Salzburg and Vienna in Austria, as well as Budapest in Hungary. Sounds great, sign us up!

And so time passed, and we made our regularly scheduled trip payments. One of the things we weren't looking forward to was the trip was scheduled to go through Detroit, not flying there mind you, but by bus to Detroit. So around December 2009 we jumped on the chance to spend $100 more to fly through Cincinnati. As it works out the bus ride to Detroit would have also been about $100, so there really was no price change.

So, back into the waiting spell, until August, 2010, when we had the pre trip social at St. Rose. The evening included a full buffet of German food and snacks, as well as a talk about what to expect on the trip, and for those first time European travelers an introduction to all the things you have to bear in mind when you travel to Europe.

Things got exciting in September, when it came time to pack, exchange some money, receive our trip packets with airline tickets, hotel reservations, ID cards and more. Things got even more exciting on September 25. That was the night before the trip, Bob and I met that night for the 7:00 pm Mass at St. Rose, and then we made our plans for the next morning.

Day 1 - Sunday, September 26

As you might guess, I was awake early with a start, and loaded up the car and was out on the streets ahead of schedule. We then headed to Bob's house to pick him up, and then we headed to the airport. Our flight out of Cincinnati would be on US Airways, which means we can forget about that nice modern Delta concourse; no we would be headed to Terminal 2, which is the older part of the airport.

Mom dropped us off curbside, and we headed inside and up the escalator to the ticketing lobby. We really thought we were going to be early, arriving at 9:15 for a 12:15 flight, but when we got to the US Air ticket counter, we were not the first, and in fact fell in line behind others in our group. Check in was relatively painless we showed our passports, and they checked our bags all the way to Munich and issued us boarding passes all the way to Munich as well. I do miss the little envelope/sleeves they used to give you to put your tickets into. As I expected, check in took less than 15 minutes even with the line. Knowing the terminal from the Internet, I knew there was little to do airside, so we went into the Damon's landside and had a nice breakfast. Bob had a ham and cheese omelette, and I had a traditional breakfast with eggs, sausage, home fries and French toast. It was a great start to the day.

After leaving the restaurant we headed to the TSA checkpoint. There was nobody using the checkpoint when we entered the lane. At first it was pretty standard stuff, show your ID and boarding card to get into the checkpoint. Then I knew to remove shoes, jacket, then pull laptop out of carry on bag, and set my liquids bag out. What I was not expecting is when they asked us to remove our belts, and totally empty out pockets. Yes, this includes paper, and I had to remove my lanyard style passport holder. The reason for all of this is they have those new full body imagers, I really don't like them. Essentially you get into the machine, and you have to spread your feet apart, and hold your hands up high. Then the machine takes what seems to take several minutes to get a good scan. When I went through the security officer was trying to make small talk to try to make the process not seem quite so long. Then when the machine says it has a good scan, you can step forward into a holding area where you stand by another officer. That officer will get a call on their radio letting them know the disposition of your scan, then I was cleared to go to the conveyor belt to collect all my stuff. My big hang up, as well as other passengers is how long you are separated from your valuables. After clearing TSA, you pass a bagel shop, and then you go down the hallway to the gates. Down by the gates, all 8 of them, there is just a newsstand and a set of restrooms located in center of the concourse. Not much to do or see there. About an hour before the flight, we were all paged up to the podium. This was because we had an international ultimate destination and they wanted to check our passports before they accepted us for the first segment. They made some marks on our boarding cards. Around 11:45 we were invited to board the CRJ90 that would take us to Charlotte, departing from gate 7. Not much to report here, just your typical regional ride. We received a few ounces of soft drink, but no snacks, those were available for purchase. At Charlotte, they didn't use a jet way, but they do push a ramp up to the aircraft to allow for ADA access.

Once we arrived in Charlotte, we proceeded as a group from gate E20 to D12. Once we were comfortable we knew where we were, Father passed our prayer cards for travelers, and we had a group prayer. A group of us then headed to a sit down restaurant in the terminal where we could both watch the Bengal's game and have lunch. Bob and I split a Cuban sandwich and fries. We rather liked it, and then we bought some kind of chocolate cake desert to share amongst the whole table.

We got back to the gate just in time to line up at the podium again. Yes, they wanted to check out passports again, and they told us the boarding passes US Air issued were not valid, so they exchanged those boarding passes with boarding passes issued on their own ticket stock. Same seat assignments, so I don't understand what that was all about. We also had to fill out a Department of Transportation form. Not much, just names and basic info as well as an emergency contact. You have to drop those in a drop box located on the counter. Last thought about Charlotte, what is with the restroom attendants, I am perfectly capable of getting my own towel out of the dispenser.

Next it was to board the Lufthansa flight to Munich. At the bottom of the jet way they were passing out newspapers if you wanted. We boarded and headed almost clear to the back of the Airbus 340. There was a packet of stuff waiting in my seat - a pillow, blanket, headset, and an in seat personal AVOD system for entertainment. It was a long flight at around 8 to 8 and a half hours. Shortly after take off hey come around with the drinks, and as I would find out, beer and wine are included in the drink service. So I settled down with a Warsteiner and a packet of crackers that are shaped like the playing card symbols. It didn't seem much longer they were passing out hot heated moist towels to freshen up before dinner.

Dinner was not bad for an airline, I had a Caesar salad, grilled chicken breast, green beans, some stuffing, mashed sweet potatoes, roll and butter, a block of cheese, and something that taste like rum cake. Mind you this was with real silverware and plastic dishes, even in economy. After dinner they served tea or coffee. Then it was time to settle into hours of boredom, and I learned that as usual I couldn't sleep on a plane when I want to. I did keep myself busy with a couple walks to the lavatory, which is noteworthy on this plane because they are downstairs under where you sit. That and taking a couple walks around the twin aisled plane, checking on Bob a couple times, as we were not seated together. He seemed to be more successful at falling asleep. We were a bit nervous when they came on the PA to ask if there were any doctors on board to attend to a passenger. It was nobody in our group, and we never did hear what happened.

Towards the end of the flight they came around again with the hot towels to freshen up for breakfast. Juice, fruit salad, a granola bar, a block of cheese was in the breakfast box. What I was most happy about is that I made it over to Europe without incident, on both the Italy and the Ireland trips, I got sick on the flight over the ocean, but no such incidents this time around.

So we arrived in Munich, and by this time it is the next day, so let me make it official:

Day 2 - Monday, September 27

As is common with European airports, you exit the plane into a controlled series of walkways that direct you either to a new security screening if you are flying somewhere else, to the passport control, or both. We were going to Munich so we rode several escalators, walked down a few halls, and ended up at the passport control office. The lines were pretty short thanks in part to numerous windows being open. As usual I hand over my passport, they look at it, stamp it, give it back, no questions asked.

It's then down another escalator or two to the baggage claim area. Also as usual, I think Bob's suitcase was the very last one to make its way to the carousel. Then we waked as a group down the green lane (nothing to declare) through customs right out into the arrivals lobby. Here is where you meet your tour leader. We walk into the lobby, we look for a tour leader, we don't find one. This is a problem. Father Barry is working the phones with the tour company, meanwhile he instructs us to take care of all the things you need to do in an airport before beginning the tour: banking, bottled water hunting, restrooms that sort of thing. Our waiting area happened to be stationed right next to a grocery store right there in the airport, which is right next to the currency exchange desk, how convenient. What's more is the bottled waters were only 0.75 Euro each, try finding a deal like that in a US airport.

In reality, the delay wasn't that long all things considered, particularly since we were able to finish our chores. The first thing a tour leader would have done was give us time to do those chores. It seems the bus was there, but our tour assistant as not. Our main tour leader wasn't scheduled to join us until dinner, but a tour assistant was supposed to meet us to help us get to the hotel. When it was determined the tour company could instruct the driver to drive us around where we needed without the benefit of a tour leader, we were on our way.

First it was out of the airport building, a process that took longer than it should thanks to those giant automatic revolving doors. We then had to walk a bit through the parking areas to our bus. As expected it took some time to load people and bags onto the bus. This is a Catholic pilgrimage, so one of the features is a stop for Mass every day. We were scheduled to get today's mass out of the way first, so we headed right from the airport to St. Henry's church On our way we did pass through the Olympic Village and the new Allianz arena. There seems to be road work and other work going on all over Munich and someone quipped that they must be getting stimulus money as well.

St. Henry's would become our church away from home for the next three mornings. Workers were working on the front of the church. I liked the sundial mounted on the wall of the church instead of a clock. Inside the altar sits in a recessed area covered with blue mosaic work, So we had Mass, and then it was back on the bus for the trip to the hotel. It seems that part of the group was staying at one hotel, and part of the group at another hotel. We were staying at the Hotel Regent, and that happened to be the first stop the driver made.

So we arrived at the hotel, claimed our bags, and walking into the hotel to check in. Well, its noon, and we can't get into our rooms until 2pm. However, the hotel did open one of their meeting rooms that we could lock our bags up inside and the hotel porters would take our bags to our rooms when they become available. We were then told that we had the rest of the day free, but to meet back in the hotel restaurant for dinner at 7pm. Father also strongly encouraged us not to give into the temptation to go grab a quick nap, yes he realizes many of us have now been up going on 24 hours, but he cautioned you may not get back up in time, and that you need to start adjusting your body clock. On the flip side, a hot shower once you can get into your room can do wonders.

Well, I knew I wanted to go to Oktoberfest to ride the rides, and I also knew Bob did not, so once I knew Bob was going to go with George, I was out ot the Hotel Regent and on my was to Oktoberfest, held at a fairgrounds type park called Theresienwiese, often shortened to just Wiesen. It's a large fairgrounds at 4,500,000 square feet, and during the 2 week run of the fair, they expect about 6 million visitors. I had done my homework with a map on this one, and so after leaving the hotel as fast as if I were shot out of a cannon, I quickly walked through the railway tunnel (This being a road that tunnels under the train yard, as our hotel was right across from the main train station), coming out of the tunnel on the other side, I simply needed to fall into step with the seemingly unending parade of people headed to Oktoberfest. It was just a right turn, go down one block, take a left turn, then maybe two blocks to a fair entrance, All in all about a 15 minute walk. Oktoberfest is a free fair, which means admission to the grounds is free, nothing else is.

First I took a walk from one end of the midway to the other, all the time my head spinning like it was on a swivel, my jaw almost on the ground. The Oktoberfest grounds are essentially a large rectangle, on one long end of the rectangle is the serious side of the Oktoberfest, this is where you can find the beer tents, as well as most of the food, the other long side of the rectangle houses the rides midway, with all the stuff that comes with it, meaning games and quick service food. Literally about every 10' there is a souvenir booth, which all seem to sell about the same thing, so if you miss an item at one, or if they are out of stock on the size you need, try the next one, Connecting the beer tent side to the rides side are several cut over walkways, and amusements are spilling over into these cut across paths.

As I get to the other end of the fairground, the big ride in the back center prominent location is the Olympia Looping Bahn. This is a 5 loop portable rollercoaster, its distinguishing feature is that the 5 loops form a likeness of the Olympic rings, with each ring painted in its proper color. Any non ring section of the track is painted pink. In terms of specs, it is 4,101' long, 126' high, pulls 5.2Gs, attains speeds of 60mph, and when the fair is finished, travels on a specially built 50 car train. It also has, according to its official website, an exemplary safety record, with commendations by the TUV.

Okay, enough with the dry statistics, let's go ride. At Oktoberfest, there are no Pay-One-Price plans, there aren't even universal tickets. Each ride has its own ticket booth and tickets. To handle the capacity of the ride, Olympia looping has an entrance to the queue that resembles the front gate of a small amusement park. I'm talking at least 4 ticket windows that can have open. The entrance routes you up to the 4 windows, where in my case the price was 6 Euros (about $8.35), yes that's one ride. When you have your ticket (computer generated in this case), you continue through a walkway around the side of the ticket booths and this dumps you into the ride queue area. 12:30 must be early of Oktoberfest as I walked right up into the station. As you enter the station area, they collect your ticket and you head towards a seat queue. As it turns out, things were so slow at the moment, they were only running one train. Slow would not be used to describe what happens when the train parks in the station. The bars pop open as soon as the train stops, the queue gates snap open, riders jump out onto the unload side, riders like me jump in from the load side. Here you pull forward on the lapbar, and lower the 'shoulder fingers' Ride ops practically run alongside the train checking the bars, a horn blows and you are out on the course. You start the ride with a long curved flag lined lift, as you approach the top you may take the time to enjoy the view of the Oktoberfest from on high. What happens next is a coaster ride that is so smooth you wouldn't believe it if I told you. The train tracks flawlessly, you don't get headbanged on the shoulder bars, and it goes through the loops at high speed with extreme forces. You fortunately don't do all 5 loops right in a row, on the ends of the ride there are the usual assortment of turnarounds, with the loops being in the center of the ride. Yes, I was giddy with excitement, and I can say "First Euro Coaster Credit!" How fast do they dispatch? I wasn't down the exit ramp before the train was back out on the course.

We often say on the amusement park or amusement ride safety forums that riders don't read all the safety warnings on rides, I can attest to that today as all the safety warning and rider instructions were in German. Just goes to show you how far common sense can take you. But next, lets try a German flat ride. The Break Dance right here is just loading, and I've heard I need to try one of these. It's a nicely, for me, themed break dance. Its an American themed break dance believe it or not, the scenery panels behind the riders depict iconic sights in the USA, the center spindle is a rocket that reads "USA #1", and the ride is lined with Unted States flags. Not quite what one would expect to see at a German fair. Funny thing about the flags, you know those flags they pass out at parades with the dull gold plastic spear tips, surely you've seen them. The flagpoles on this ride are topped with what look to be large versions of those plastic spear tips.

Anyway, I walk up to the ride, hand over some Euro, I think 3 this time, and I am handed what looks like a casino chip. This is another common method they use for ride ticketing. Each ride that uses chips must have to coordinate because they were all different sizes and colors, as well as having the rides name printed on one side. I start to walk towards the ride, there is no fence around the perimeter of the ride, and the attendant motions me towards a car. These cars still have the steering wheel in the middle, thought I don't think you can use it to spin the ar on your own, not that you need to. It also bas a seat horn that goes between your legs, The overhead lap bar comes down and locks into place. Then I sat for a few minutes for them to get enough riders to justify running the ride. So, the ride starts and pretty quickly it gets up to about the speed I am used to, then it shifts into an even higher speed. I'm thinking to myself, the ride is saying "Welcome to Germany! Now I'm going to show you whose boss here!" then just as I think that, it goes from 5th Gear into Turbo Hyper Overdrive. At this point the cars, which can spin on their own by inertia are getting flipped around back and forth like a rag doll. Then the ride comes to almost a complete stop, foolishly I start to reach for the release knobs on the lapbar, then I hear some diabolical laughter from the sound system, its time to ramp right back up to top speed for a bit longer. When the ride slows down again, I hear a distinct clunk coming from the lap bar mechanism, so apparently there is another lock besides the one the release knob controls.

Okay that was an insane ride cycle, but I think I'll head towards another coaster. I walk past a ride that looks like a Swiss Bob and head towards Hollenblitz. My babel fish can't help me here, but I hear the name translates roughly to Lightning. The ride is themed as a mine ride. This starts with the little wooden shacks that you buy your ticket at, then I go through the empty queue maze up to the station. It looks like a mine train, I get seated and lower the big bulky lapbar. Soon a horn sounds and away we go. About 96% of the ride is indoors so after you leave the station, it's a right hand turn into the building. When you make the turn you also realize that even though you are riding on a coaster train with lots of cars, each car is free to spin, on its own. So yes, its an indoor spinning mine ride. Some folks have told me that in a former theme package it was a spaceship themed ride called Star World. I suppose trying to be Space Mountain in that case. First you pass a nice quaint mining scene and for a minute you might be fooled into thinking you are on a dark ride. You then go up the first lift, then you do the brief outdoor segment of the ride where you pop out of a door in the top of the façade, go down a twisting drop which insures the cars are spinning, through a waterfall, then back up a curved hill and back into the building for the duration of the ride. Inside the building, they have it loaded with laser lights, strobe lights and other lighting effects. The trackplan seems to be calculated to make sure you are almost always spinning. The later half of the ride you circle around what, for lack of a better term seem to be Christmas trees, all lit up and doing light shows, You know you are almost to the end when you go through the tunnel inside the building that is lined with a grid pattern of white light bulbs. Wow, what a ride, I don't think I've seen anything else that is quite like it.

After that, it's time for some more flat rides. I was debating whether or not to ride Techno Power, but after watching a cycle, I was up buying a chip for it. Again no fence, so as soon as the ride is over, people start exiting, and others start entering, they don't collect the chips until after the ride has started. Yes, first they give the rides a couple nice slow turns during which time the operators collect the chips. I have no idea what happens to the rider that does not have a chip, and I didn't want to find out either. What prompted me to ride the ride, well or the first 2/3 of the ride, it operates about like it does here in the States, what happens next is the arms that are already at their usual position, that is about 90 degrees, so sticking straight out, raise even higher, to about 135 degrees. Yes this means you are essentially spinning while upside down.

I followed that up with another acrobatic wonder, the High Energy. Looks may have you believe it's a Mondial ride but it's actually a Zierer Star Shape. Imagine taking the seats from a Mondial Top Scan (such as Space Roller) , so the ride gondola has 6 arms that stretch out from the center each with about 5 seats along the arm, all facing to one side. The arms are build on swivels so they can do flips as inertia dictates. What differs from the Top Scan is that instead of the main boom being mounted at an agnle , it is mounted so that it forms a pendulum, so the action of the main boom is not unlike a Giant Frisbee ride, except for the fact it can go a complete 360 degrees around. You get a lot of the same type ride movements as on a Top Scan, it just seems more pronounced since you might be coming straight down while the arm is flipped upside down, instead of down at an angle.

Time to head up the midway past games, dark rides, walk through fun houses with appear to be more elaborate than ours. I didn't feel like testing my agility today. You could hve your pick of bumper car rides (the flags on top of the stinger poles are a nice touch), two or three Wave Swingers, two Top Spins, a Frisbee, a KMG Afterburner. I worked my way up the midway, it's hard work, but somebody's got to do it, right?

Next coaster time: Alpina Bahn. (Alpine Road). The ticket booths look like a swiss chalet, so yes, they are big into ride theming here. I walked up to one window and instead of a ticket taker they had a Laughing Sal like animatronic in the window, that was random. Remember all those good things I was saying about how smooth Olympia Looping Bahn runs and all that? Alpina Bahn has not aged as well, it shuffles its way up the lift, exhibits a jerkier more lateral filled ride, but it does have some nice airtime moments. While Olympia Looping feels like a precision machine, Alpina seems to be out of control and free spirited.

Well, let's forgo trying to remember in what order I did what, let's get the last coaster out of the way. It's a Wild Maus, in fact it's two mirror image Wild Maus rides, Mack I believe. A large ticket plaza stands in front of the massive twin track ride. They have three cars preloaded ready to send out onto the course as soon as the block is clear. I come up the entrance ramp alone and they crew motions for me, and the people in line move out of the way. There is one empty seat left in one of the cars in the load area. I guess I know where they want me to be. The other three riders in my car appeared to be a family, and the young daughter was not particularly liking the strong forces in the turns all that much. They dispatch both tracks simultaneously so that the cars race each other through the course. That means on the top level of switchbacks when you come to the center of the ride you face off as you appear to be headed right towards the car from the other track. I thought the brakes right before you make the big curve turn at the front of the ride to do the lower level back and forth dips were on kind of hard, but that might be due to the fact I think they had every possible car they could on the ride.

Among the other more exotic rides, there was one called the Rocket. From a distance this looks like a modern replica of the old fashioned rocket ship ride. You may remember the ones, silver Buck Rogers style rockets gracefully orbit around a center pole? This is not that ride. The first thing one notices is the riders are being held in by shoulder bars, the next thing you notice is their legs are dangling free. I watched a cycle, and the rockets get maybe 10' off the ground, then they flip upside down for about a revolution then flip right back up, then the ride lifts the rockets to the top of the tower, and they start to orbit just like the old fashioned ride, except then they start to do barrel rolls while orbiting the tower. When I was riding it, when we got to the part where you are orbiting the tower and doing barrel rolls, I realized "Hey, I've been on this ride before! The feeling is not all that different than Flight Commander at Kings Island".

Also in the weird category, I came across a Rotor, but it didn't look like a Rotor, instead it looked like a walk through haunted house. They did have a video monitor mounted above the ticket booth showing the classic Rotor ride. I paid my 3 Euros to investigate. What they have essentially done is use a three story tall walk through haunted house as a themed queue area for the Rotor. You first climb up through one side of the house, when you get to the top floor, you walk out back, and up again where you walk along the observation ring above the Rotor, then you work your way back down the other side of the haunted house, at the end you exit out the back door of the trailer and into the barrel of the Rotor. Wooden floor, not much padding on the walls, and I think the floor goes down a bit further than what I am used to seeing. With all the other antics I had been seeing at the fair, I expected some people to try to turn upside down or sideways, but everybody pretty much rode in the traditional manner. At the end of the ride, you exit literally out into the field behind the trailer, get to climb over one of the supports, and then go through an exit door so it appears to those on the midway you are coming out of the haunted house.

By this time, I needed a ride break, so I took the time to walk around Oktoberfest. Having been up way too long, being all alone in Munich, not knowing how well I could trust others, and needing to coherently find my way back to the hotel, you may find this hard to believe but here at Oktoberfest Munich I am walking the grounds drinking a soft drink, which is washing down a bratwurst. I just happened to be walking down the main beer tent road at the right time. It was the parade of horses, here it seems like every brewery has a wagon filled with kegs of its beer, all decorated up for the festival being pulled by a team of horses, also decorated up for the event. Of course my camera is back at the hotel, as I didn't want to risk losing it on the rides. However, I was getting my Oktoberfest culture moment. I stepped up to the Hoffbrau Beer Tent where they had a stand outside selling Hoffbrau pretzels. My, there are giant pretzels, and then there are giant pretzels. 4 Euro later I was munching on a pretzel while watching the horses parade. The pretzel itself was similar to what I am used to but the texture seemed to be a bit different. I can't really place what was different, but it was something in either the texture or the salt.

Speaking of getting the culture, I found the big Bavaria statue that everybody gets a photo of, and while in search of a restroom found what has been nicknamed "Pass Out Hill" this is where those people who overestimated their capacity for alcoholic beverages come to lie down. Drinking age at the Oktoberfest is only 16, and I hear that many a youth get their first introduction to beer at Oktoberfest followed by their first nasty hang over.

On the other side of the grounds I found the Top Scan, a legs dangling Polyp called Parkour, I resisted the log flume as it was a bit cold that day, I did not resist a ride called Fire and Ice (or Fuer + Eis). Okay, it's a powered coaster, so I guess it doesn't go on the coaster credit list. Generically, its one of those Blauerenzian Runaway Train rides, they just dumped a truckload of theming on it so it travels in and around what appears to be a snow capped mountain. You get around 7-10 laps on it, and each lap seems to go faster than the one before.

Some more rides I found were the HUSS Magic, when I saw the video of this, I thought nice family ride, but in terms of speed, it can sure hold its own. Remember what I said about no ride fences? I had bought a chip for this ride, and the ride had started moving so I was standing in the waiting areas alongside the ride, and a car comes around with an open lap bar an the operator walking along the ride motions me to board. So yes, you heard right, here I am boarding the ride after it had already started. Mind you it was still moving pretty slow, as they hadn't started to come around and check lap bars and collect the chips yet.

Of course, I would be remiss to not at least try to ride Flip Fly. It's one of KMG's newest creations. It's essentially a claw ride that goes all the way around 360 degrees, but its more than that. It only seats 12 per ride so it's a real small spinning radius, the main arm has three stub arms that come out each arm seats 4 people two facing each way. The seats themselves can also flip upside down, adding another whole level of demented action to the ride. I was real concerned because Flip Fly uses the same style seats as their Experience ride, and I know what a time I had to get my one and only Experience ride. Not only that, but due to the cold weather, I've got a coat on, Oh well, here goes nothing. I figure worst case scenario I have a Flip Fly ride disc I can bring home as a souvenir. The ride is themed to acrobatic flying, and the ticket booth looks like an airport with such signage as "Flight Check In" (yes, in English, which contrasts to the ride area being labeled the Fight Deck (in German) . So I go up to the flight deck and take a seat. The bars come down and of course mine doesn't lock. But wait, the operator motions for me to sit all the way back. He then does his impression of a battering ram. CLICK. I eagerly hand over my chip, and away we go.

This way, by far, the most demented thing I had found on the midway. Not only doesit swing back and forth, it swings back and forth with enough force to ensure you stay upside down at the top, then they vary the speed so that right as you are flipping right side up, you flip upside down, sometimes quite violently. They weren't overly busy, so I think the operator was showing off, or that may just be their normal ride cycle. All I know is that when the ride ended, I actually had a case of jelly legs. That or some kind of cramp I had to walk off for a little bit.

On my way out of the Oktoberfest grounds, I couldn't resist a ride on the Star Flyer. It's a circle swing ride, that according to the bally on the front of the ride is 52 meters tall, that's 170'. I think to myself that WindSeeker is going to be almost double this.

After that, I carefully retrace by mental bread crumb trail back to the hotel. It's not quite as easy as I don't have the throngs of people to follow, but its just out the same exit, take that road till it dead ends, take a right to the rail road tunnel, take a left and its straight to your hotel. Going back I realized the sidewalks aren't as wide as they were on the way to the fair. That because the large crowd of fair goers had spilled over into the bike lane. Europe seems to be very bike friendly, so you have the road, then the bike lane, then the sidewalk. Bikers will let you know if you venture over into their territory.

But, after an incident free walk back to the hotel, I walked into the lobby. Following prior directions, I used my tour name tag and passport to get checked into the hotel. Room 128, thank you, and Bob had already checked in. I didn't make the European rookie mistake, I knew 128 would be one floor up, as they start their floor numbering with 0. It seems I have just about the furthest room from the elevator. Insert the card, open the door, well I know European hotel rooms are smaller than what we are used to, but in terms of space efficiency this takes the cake. The bedroom is barely longer than the two twin beds on either side of it, the room is just wide enough for the beds and a night stand. I do like the clock radio built into the wall as well as the reading light switch and power outlet for each person. In the center is a remote switch for the main room light. They had those in Ireland too, and they come in handy. In the front half opposite the bathroom was the dressing table with the TV sitting on the end of it.

I was relieved to see that yes the porter had brought all my things up. I made use of the bathroom and then took a nice hot shower. Ahh, that feels so good I can't begin to explain it. When you've been up for awhile, there is nothing like a hot shower and a shave to get you feeling good again.

While I was in the shower, Bob returned to the room. I got dressed, we compared notes on how our days had been. He had a nice lunch in a local restaurant and walked a few blocks around the hotel. We both decided we wanted to see the Glockenspiel show at Marienplatz at 5pm.

So, its off again, out the front door, through the tunnel, this time turning left, or away from the Oktoberest and heading for the U Bahn station. (Underground Road) . 2.40 Euro later each we had subway tickets, which we validated in the time clocks before heading down to the platform. I wasn't quite sure as I didn't see Marienplatz station on the list. As a wise man once said, "You don't need to know everything, you just need to know the people that know" At the bottom of the escalator, I found an officer who was more than helpful in telling us that we need to change trains on Odeonplatz, even going so far as to tell us which sides of the hall to stay on while walking through Odeonplatz station. So we made it to Marienplatz with great speed, and it really makes me wish Cincinnati would have built its subway system. I mean trains every 3 minutes, you can get around the town quite fast.

The stairs from Marienplatz station come right up into the square or platz. We got there right around 4:40, which means we were early enough to stake out the perfect vantage point to watch the show. Also time to take some photos. In the middle of the square you have the Madonna statue, along one whole side you have the new town hall, or rathaus, with its Ratskeller restaurant, along one side you can see the old town hall or old rathaus.

Peeking up from behind one of the buildings you can see the spires of the cathedral, and with sidewalk cafes and the hubbub of a town square, the people watching is a great way to pass the time.

The Glockenspiel is a big animated clock, first it strikes the hour, and then it pauses to let all the neighboring clock towers finish striking, then it plays some music on a carillon type system, then mechanical figures start to move on a balcony located just under the clock face. Not just simple movements, but in once scene two knights arrive on horses and actually joust. Its practically a whole animated theater with two levels of the stage providing he backdrops for the two scenes. I think the show runs about 10-15 minutes long. From either an entertainment viewpoint, or from being a mechanical geek either way it is a fascinating automaton to watch.

After the show, we had to get back to the hotel as dinner had been moved up to closer to 6. We retraced our steps through the subway. The good news is our hotel was one subway stop from the Oktoberfest, the bad news is our hotel was one stop away from the Oktoberfest. You know those videos you see of them literally pushing people into the cars in Tokyo? Well that's what started happening here. It was not a fun or enjoyable subway ride in the least, then we got turned around as the station we needed (the one at the train station) has a zillion exits. We went up an exit and things looked familiar but not so much. I think what happened is we started going the wrong way down the street, most likely because the stairs we used out of the subway pointed us the other way. A couple blocks later we decided rather than get hopelessly lost we returned to the square where the subway station was. We also just happened to see some police officers walking the street. I approached one, asked for directions, he pulled out his iPhone plugged the address from my hotel keycard into his GPS and we soon had walking directions. Remember its not what you know, its that you know who to ask,

We returned to the hotel with penty of time to spare to return to our room and get freshened up for dinner. Dinner was in the hotel restaurant, and consisted of a field green salad, followed by some boneless roast chicken breast with mixed vegetables and boiled potatoes. Desert was some kind of strawberry ice cream served atop a bowl of fresh fruit. The hotel had an association with Lowenbrau beer, so those of us who asked for beer found out that only Lowenbrau products were available. I guess I'll have a Lowenbrau then. During dinner, we were met by our tour leader Karolin, who first profusely apologized for the lack of a tour assistant earlier today, then made her introductions, and told us of the plans for the next day. The next day would include a mass, walking tour of Munich, a bus trip out to Nymphenberg Palace, then a trip to the Oktoberfest, ending with a trip to the Hoffbrauhaus for dinner and drinks. Can it get better? Oh yes it can, we found out the beer at Hoffbrauhaus was included. To squueze all this in, we need to be ready to leave by 9am. Wait, I've done these European tours, that is a generously late stat time. I've done some of these tours were start times of 7:30 or 8 are not uncommon.

After dinner, it didn't take us long to get back to our room, and to get some sleep. Action packed day tomorrow.

Day 3 - Tuesday, September 28

So, the day starts, and one small pleasantry is we are staying in the same hotel, so no need to get bags ready. We get ready, and then head down to the restaurant to see what is for breakfast. As it turns out, just about anything you could want. On one counter they had the selection of cold cuts and cheeses, then fresh fruit. On the other wall they had the eggs, sausage, potatoes, cereals, a wide assortment of breads and spreads, danishes and the whole deal. It would be a very good start to the morning, and I delighted in fixing myself a nice cup of hot chocolate.

After breakfast it was out to the bus to start the day's festivities. We first went for our daily Mass. Here I should note that there are two groups, loosely following the same tour. Our group is the Green group, and we were joined by a group from Omaha, Nebraska, which would become known as the Pink group. For the vast majority of the trip we had very similar touring plans, but we had separate busses and tour leaders which helped keep things under control. All told, the two groups combined totaled 90 people. As it turns out, in Munich, the Green group and Pink groups were in two different hotels. By comparing notes it sounds like those of us in the green group got the better end of the draw with a city center hotel.

Today's Mass would be the first time both groups were together. All told, I think we had 4 priests and 1 or 2 deacons in the group. During the trip the priests rotated the duty of saying Mass. So we started the day with Mass, and after a brief stop, parted into our separate busses to begin our city tour.

On our way into the city, we picked up a local tour guide from the city, and proceeded towards the city center. During the tour, when in the big cities, we would be engaging the services of local guides from that city. Some general things along the way, as you might expect Munich was heavily damaged during World War II, so much of what you see isn't original, but what they did post war was to embark on a meticulous rebuilding program that kept the old street plan intact, and they chose the most important buildings and momuments to rebuild, and filled in between them with newer buildings. Speaking of the street plan, Munich is surrounded by ring roads that allow you to navigate around the city rather than through it. A lot of the road construction we see is due to them tunneling the ring road so that you will soon be able to get around the city faster without all the traffic lights. One interesting thing I noted about the traffic lights, right before they turn green the yellow light comes on again along with the red. Parts of the ring road are already underground, and it was strange seeing turns while in a tunnel.

Another topic she mentioned is the proud beer brewing industry in Munich and we passed by several breweries where you can still see the big copper kettles in big show windows. It was pointed out that each brewery usually has a beer garden or other restaurant that, as you might imagine, features their products.

In terms of city statistics, she mentioned they are at 1.3 million population trending towards 1.4. It's a large city, so she mused that it is sometimes referred to as the big village, due to the way it is spread out and generally quiet. She added, however, that we have come during Munich's busiest touring season, what with the Oktoberfest and the Passion Play both being in session. She indicated they expect 6 million tourists and early results have them trending towards 7 million for this two week period. Munich is located in the German state of Bavaria, or Bayern in German. She quipped it's important to stress the N or people will think you are talking about the aspirin, which has no connections with Bavaria.

Bavaria is in the southeast corner of Germany, and as we would note Munich itself is almost pancake flat, this would change when we head out of the city towards the mountains or alps. Despite being in the far east of Germany, she noted they were never part of East Germany. During the tour a few comments were made, in a historical context about the Third Reich, Reich simply means "Empire" so the Third Reich was the third empire. Of course we all know it had a bit more baggage to it than that, but we don't need to dwell on that, she would point out some key buildings and places from that era, sure

We arrived at Opera Square and departed the bus for our walking tour. One one side of the square is the National Theatre or opera house. Legend has it that early on in it's life it was destroyed by fire, the legend continues that since this occurred in the middle of winter, the fire hydrants were frozen solid, so they used beer to put out the fire. Now, if you can really use alcohol to put out fire is highly suspect, but it did come to pass that a tax was put on every beer sold to rebuild the National Theatre.

On another side of the square is the Residenz, or the former royal palace. I don't think they are fooling anybody with the large posters they have covering the building, but we were assured that yes they are posters. The façade of the Residenz is currently undergoing rehab work, and is their custom, when they erect a constuction wall, they paper it was a giant poster of what you would have seen had the construction not been taking place. We would see this tactic several times this week. Today, of course, the royal palace is a big museum complex.

We went to the statue in the middle of the square, and we were told to take note of they very uneven, almost gravel like ground we are standing on. When they were originally paving Munich's streets, they had no stone quarries to make nice sooth streets, and originally the streets were all of this gravel like surfacing, a piece of which has been left alone in the center of this square for historical purposes.

We looked at the king's statue, I think she said it was of their first king. It seems the names of the kings alternated between Ludwig and Maximillion. After admiring the square, or Platz in German, she told us that should we get separated from the group, the key thing to remember is to get back to this square by 2:15 to catch our bus. We then walked down a store lined street towards Marienplatz. About halfway down the street I saw a large bicycle parking lot, I did mention this was a very cycle friendly city.

When we arrived at Marienplatz, first she allowed us time to look around, gaze, take photos, etc. Our attention was directed to the big Marian column in the center of the platz with a gold Madonna statue on top. This is the statue from which the square got its name. Next she played a guessing game, you see there are two city halls in Marienplatz, or rathaus in German. We were asked to guess which one is the new one and which one is the old one. As you might guess, it's a trick guestion, because the new one looks decidedly older. This was done on purpose as part of the architectural styling. In part of the new rathaus there is a restaurant called the Ratskeller, and she explained that skeller is cellar, and Rat is like the town hall, so Ratskeller is the basement of the town hall.

We had about 20 minutes until the Glockenspiel show, so we took a little walk to see St. Peters Church. The story here is when they were deciding post war which buildings to save and which to demolish and start over, St. Peters was not on the list to save. Also about that time the radio stations were playing a little patriotic song to keep the spirits of the citizens up, the verses were something like "as long as we have <insert landmark or tradition here> Munich will be Munich" The city was trying to quietly not announce that St. Peters was not on the list to be saved, but when the radio stations found out about it, they started playing one line from that song very often, except they wouldn't finish the line. This caused listeners to call in asking what the deal was, why weren't they finishing the line. To which they explained the planned destruction of St. Peters, and that without it Munich will no longer be Munich.

We were then taken inside to see a wonderfully restored church, and they have photos of the war damage in the lobby so you can see the damage. After a brief church visit, we returned outside to find a good spot for the Glockenspiel show. The numerous blue/white and yellow/black flags were pointed out to us. We were told the blue/white ones were he flag of Bavaria, and the yellow/black ones were the colors of Munich. In preperation for the clock tower show, we were told a little bit of the story line. The story revolves around a wedding, The 'stage' where the mechanical figures come out actually has three levels. As I mentioned yesterday, first the clock strikes the hour, and since it was noon, the clock actually then pauses for the church clocks in the area to play the Angelus, then the carillon opens with a tune, then on the center or main deck the wedding scene is recreated complete with a tournament with jousting knights. After that scene has played the lower level goes into action with a recreation of the 'coopers dance' a famous folks dance in the area. In fact by decree, the coopers dance must be performed once every 7 years, but the next scheduled performance isn't until 2012. At the end the little bird at the top deck pops out, this is your signal the show is over. As I indicated the duration is about 12 minutes.

After watching the Glockenspiel show, we walked down a pedestrian way lined with rather expensive looking shopping opportunities to head to the Frauenkirche.

Frauenkiche is the cathedral in Munich, and has some interesting sights to see. The most famous being the Devil's Footstep. Folk legend time again, the story goes that they were in need of money to build the church, and the devil agreed to help out, on one condition. The condition was the church have no windows, he reasoned that nobody would want to stay in a cold dark place, and that people would leave quickly. Upon completion of the church, the story goes on to say that when the Devil went into the church he stood at the very back of the main aisle, and from his viewpoint he couldn't see any windows. Yet, he then realized there was a lot of light in the building, so he realized he had been tricked, and quickly scampered away so fast he forgot to take the wind. It is said that this is why thee is always a wind blowing around the church, It was also pointed out to us that we should note how somber the church looks inside, as it to was heavily damaged, and hasn't been fully restored. Also of interest is the tomb monument to Louis IV which is right inside the entryway.

After our tour of the cathedral, we returned to Marienplatz and were then given some free time for lunch, exploring, shopping until, you guessed it, 2:15. Bob and I first sourced lunch, and wound up in a little café called Rischart. We started off with deli sandwiches from one counter. I can't begin to describe the meats, cheeses, toppings and sauces that were on the sandwhich, but it was about the size of a Subway 6" sub, and loaded with great toppings. It's a mystery sandwich, but it was wonderful. After the sandwich, we headed to the desert section, and my oh my, the Germans really love their deserts, I think the deserts take up about ¾ of the show space. We ended up getting what can best be described as a Bavarian Cream Sandwich. Imagine taking a glazed donut, slicing it in half as if you were going to make a sandwich out of it, then inserting about an inch of Bavarian Cream in between the two slices of donut. We took these outside to the siewalk tables and yes, had a Bavarian Cream Puff while in Bavaria. Due to its construction, it was a messy affair to eat, but oh so worth it, right down to licking the plate.

After lunch we did some people watching, then we retraced our steps back to the Opera Square, window shopping the stores as we went along. When we got back to Opera Square, we walked through the free courtyard part of the Residenz, albeitunder construction, as we waited for our bus to arrive. Then it was off on an excursion to Nymphenburg Palace.

On the way out to the palace, we passed such buildings as more breweries, Hitler's headquarters (now a school), and a museum square lined with museums that look more than a little like greek buildings. As we approached Nymphenburg Plaace, we note a canal down the center of the street. We were told it isn't very deep, and in the winter they play their own special Bavarian brand of Curling on it.

Nymphenburg Palace is a large sprawling palace, so wide that getting a picture of the whole thing would take a lot of effort. We were told this was a summer residence of the rulers of Bavaria, we were also told that when it first opened, only the center building existed. Over the years, with each new ruler, the palace got bigger and bigger. Part of it is still a legacy home to the former ruling families. They were shrewd enough to get it written into law that they get to continue to live here, without having any tax duty. Therefore one end of the palace is closed except for the building at the very end which is used as a concert hall. The palace surrounds a lake in the front, in the center of which is a fountain. The fountain happened to be running, and we were told we were fortunate as due to the age of the fountain they only run it for a couple hours each day, but they don't announce which hours those are. The other side of the lake is ringed with yellow houses, which we were told were guest houses.

We were then taken around back to look at the gardens, a big formal garden stretching a long ways back. From what I gather, the palace grounds is now a big city park with the palace up front. After a brief stop, we received admission tickets and went inside the palace. The entryway is through the gift shop, and you walk up a few stairs, past a ticket person that hole punches your souvenir quality ticket, then you go up to the next floor via spiral stairs. You come out into the great hall, what would have been a ballroom. We were informed that photos were okay, but no flash pictures please.

This is a very ornate room, which ceiling frescoes and artwork all along the walls. From the back window you have a commanding view of the gardens, from the front window a commanding view of the canal, with the cathedral visible in the background. We were told that at one time, there were no building between the two palaces, and they could travel by horse carriage from one to the other in about 2 hours. We then toured various rooms of the castle, to include a bedroom, audience room, the room where King Ludwig II was born, the so called "Gallery of Beauties" which is room full of portraits. It is worth nothing that you didn't have to be elite to be included in the Gallery of Beauties.

It was a nice visit for our first castle visit of the trip, and at the end of it you exit down the stairs right into the gift shop. Some time was allowed for shopping, then it was back on the bus, this time to head to our hotel.

On the way back on the bus, we were told about the Oktoberfest as it would be much to crazy and loud to explain it at the fair. The event started out as a simple horse race to commemorate the wedding of King Ludwig I to Therese. The event was so popular they did it again the next year. It then grew as an agricultural festival If it's Oktoberfest, why is it held in September? Well, for the very practical reason of getting better weather for it. Over the years it has grown into the large festival that it is today. Regarded as the world's largest fair. Some in our group had been to the Oktoberfest in the 1960's and report that the event is much larger today, and also in their eyes much gaudier today than it was then. We were told that beer is sold by the liter in Oktoberfest, but don't worry about sharing one with a friend, as the locals share them all the time. This year, Oktoberfest would be extended a couple days so that it would run until Monday, October 4th, which is Reunification day in Germany, or their big national holiday.

We returned to the hotel, and had some time to drop off stuff in our rooms and meet back in the lobby. We then walked from our hotel to the Oktoberfest, and my this walk looks familiar. She did take us around to a different gate, the one that has the big Oktoberfest sign. This time I had my camera and was ready to take pictures. Our guide did not follow us into the festival, she indicated this was our free time, and that she would see us back at the hotel at 7:30 for dinner.

Bob and I walked down the main beer tent row, taking pictures, and finally getting brave enough to walk into one of the Spaten tents. My, those are big doors, and inside, well row upon row upon row of tables, blue and white festive streamers in the air, a band playing music in the center of the room. There may have been row upon row of tables, but with all the advanced reservations, what wasn't reserved was already taken. We walked around the perimiter of seating area, being careful to dodge the wait staff who are serving very quickly and efficiently. We finally make our way to the outer area or biergarten which, while still crowded at least had some tables open. We sat down at a table, and a time later a server came around. We ordered some Spaten and pretzels, and had our cultural moment of checking off "having a beer at Oktoberfest" on the list of things to do.

After having a beer, we were back out making the rounds taking photos, looking at the souvenir booths, and soaking it all in. We went up to look at the Bavaria statue that stands guard from atop a hill overlooking the Oktoberfest. Bob got a photo of me standing in front of Olympia Looping Bahn, and I got some midway photos. After making our lap around the grounds, which were decidedly busier than yesterday, we made the walk back to the hotel.

We had a brief time to go to our rooms to freshen up before getting back on the bus for dinner. Dinner tonight was at the Hofbrauhaus, regarded as the one of the most famous restaurants in Munich, As is common, busses can never take you right where you want to go, so we had to walk a few blocks from the bus drop off to the restaurant. I did chuckle as we passed a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Munich.

We soon made our way to the Hofbrauhaus, which is at least three stories tall. The ground floor is the drinking area, no food here, this is the serious drinking area, the second floor is the restauant, and the third floor is the party room. We were headed up the the third floor or Festhalle. It wasn't a private party, it was a party with hundreds of our closest friends where they put on an English language "Night in a German Beer Hall" style entertainment. At one end they have a stage where they alternate a band with traditional dance performances, singers, a duo that peforms a routine cracking whips, and more. Everything is arranged here to make it as easy as possible, starting with the included liter of beer that comes to you almost as soon as you sit down. Dinner was some type of soup, I want to say cream of vegetable, followed by Wiener Schnitzel and hot german potato salad, all capped off with apple strudel. Several beer hall songs were played and sung, the crowd was in a party atmosphere, they would use the first few bars of "In Munich there is a Hofbrauhaus" as a bumper between sets, but they never played the full song. There was also plenty of beer mug waving, Ein Prosit singing, and they even worked in Roll Out the Barrel into the musical selections.

At the end of dinner, it was back down the stairs that just happen to empty into the gift shop. Time was allotted for shopping before getting back on the bus to the hotel. The jovial crowd returned to their rooms for another night. This time we have to have all our stuff packed as the porters want our bags by 7:30, and they want us on the bus at 8:30. Tomorrow's tour plan includes stating the day with Mass, then an excursion to Neuschwanstein Castle, before heading towards Oberamergau for the evening.

Day 4 - Wednesday, September 29

Today started much the same as yesterday eept we had to put our big bags out in the hall early. Then it was down to another great breakfast before getting on the road. This morning was a bit more confusing than most because at our next stop the group would again be splitting into two hotels and the division is not the same as it was in Munich. Luckily, the tour company planned for this and color coded the baggage tags.

Some time later, we left and made one final stop at our temporary church home of St. Henry's parish in Munich before departing the town for the day's excursion to Neuschwanstein. We drove out to the castle via what has been dubbed the Romantic Highway due to all the picturesque sightseeing that one can do along the route. When we got close to the castle we pulled over into a field just outside of the village where we could get off the bus and take some pictures of both Neuschwanstein castle and well as Hohenschwangen castle.

After our brief photo stop, we pulled into the car park and discussed some important logistical concerns. It was only about 12 or 12:30, but Karolin was being quite adamant about us needing to at the castle by3:30. "If you aren't at the castle gates promptly at 3:30 youw will not be able to tour the castle". She explained that we have stopped at a village at the bottom of the hill. This is as far as tour busses can go. From there our options are walking, but be advised it is a long steep uphill climb, we can take the public busses up most of the way, then walk from there, or you can hire a horse drawn carriage to be taken up about as far as the busses will take you.

Our tour package includes the fare for the public bus, and to allow time we were told to make sure we arrived at the village bus station no later than 2pm. For those walking or wanting to take the carriage ride, she gave separate advice. She did, however, warn that the horse and carriage rides would be at your own expense, and that they are both slower and can accommodate less people than the busses.

Since it is hard to find quick lunch options for a tour group, our tour agency had taken the liberty of making reservations for us at a local restaurant, the Wirtshaus Konigliche Jaggdstube. This meal would be at our own expense, but at least we had tables waiting for us. We looked over the menu and I decided on a platter than contained a bratwurst, sauerkraut and a pretzel. It would ultimately also come with a small salad. I washed that down by continuing my beers of the world tour with a King Ludwig Dunkel.

After lunch we had a little bit of time, and it seems the village you are in is centered around shopping and eating opportunities for the tourist. At about 1:50 our guide passed out the tickets and we joined the line for the busses. The line looked long, baked all the way through the queue maze to the ticket booth, but it would ultimately only be a two bus wait. Visions of the Munich subway as they cram as many people onto a bus as they can, and after starting the ride up we were instantly glad we chose to ride and not walk. I'm sure it seems longer than it really is due to the switchback roadway needed to scale the hillside, and yes it is a long way up. As you near the top the road narrows to only one lane, so we had to stop for about 5-10 minutes for the radio signal to indicate we could finish the ride to the upper station. As we were told both the busses and carriages unload their passengers in the same drop off area towards the top.

Here, you are offered two options. Optionally, we could take a short walk to the Marian bridge, which offers a superb view of the castle and a waterfall. It's a short uphill climb to the bridge. The bridge is very popular, and its not that wide. It also gives the impression of not being very stable, but then it's lasted all these years, so that must be part of the charm of the whole thing. We walked out on the bridge, and yes, those are some very impressive castle photos we were able to get. We didn't stay on the bridge too long so that others could also get their castle photos.

We then returned to the bus drop off area to take the other much longer walkway to the castle. Along the way you come to an area where you can look down on the village you just left. When we thought we had finally gotten up to the castle, we found out we were only by the exit, and it way further up the hill all the way to the top by the gatehouse. At the gatehouse, there is chance at restrooms and a small gift shop. Don't worry, you will have some more gift shop opportunities on the castle tour. You then wait in the castle courtyard where they have a virtual queue system setup. We could see by our tickets that we were in Group #490, and you can start getting into line three groups before yours. To manage this they have a board that shows which three group numbers the turnstiles are currently accepting, along with a clock that shows the time of day. It looks for all the world like a Disney Fastpass entrance. While waiting for your tour, you can get photos of the bridge from the viewpoint of the castle, and you can go up a flight of stone stairs to the upper courtyard to walk around.

When its time for you to enter the tour waiting area, as indicated by the digital signs mounted above the turnstiles, you scan the barcode on your ticket at the self service entry gate, then you come to three lanes, above which a digital sign will let you know which lane is for your group.

When it is your turn, you are invited through a small door into the castle, and you go immediately to a stairway to go up to the next floor. At the top of the stairs you wait in a hallway where you can look out the windows into the courtyard. Then you are admitted to a small anteroom where you meet your castle guide. The castle guide goes over the rules, chiefly no photos or videos of any kind. You get a brief history of the castle, the key points that it was built in the late 1800's by King Ludwig II, that after taking nearly 20 years to built, he only got to enjoy it for about 2 years before his death. What's ore is that he only used it about a fourth of the time, only about 172 days. Construction on the castle then stopped, so it was never finished. It did reopen, a few weeks later, as a tourist attraction. So for much of its life the castle has purely been a tourist attraction.

From the outside the castle is the image of a fairy tale castle, and in fact you could say it is a Fantasyland castle, as it is the castle that served as the model for the Disneyland castle. You then pass by some servants areas before climbing the kings stairs to the third floor. You will see the rest of the first floor later, and the second floor was never finished. Up on the third floor, the you do a room by room tour. The first highlight is the throne room. When we were looking around the throne room, we were confused as to if it were a throne room or a chapel. That is because the stage is lined with religious frescoes. We were told that it was the throne room, and the reason why we don't see a throne is that it was never built, part of the casualty when all work stopped upon the kings death. The 1 ton chandelier above our heads was pointed out, along with the fact the gemstones in it are now and were always just colored glass.

From the throne room, you head through the King's private rooms - the dining room, his bedroom which is covered in very intricate woodwork particularly in and above the bed. All around the castle there are wall frescoes, and if in doubt about their subject matter, just guess that they somehow relate to a Wagner opera. The whole castle was dedicated to Wagner's operas. From there you can peer into the chapel before heading quickly through the dressing room into the living room. Also known as the swan room from the sue of swans as a motif in the paintings and decorations in the room right down to the giant swan that was used as a humidifer and swan doorknobs on the doors.

It's a controlled tour, you can't wander the castle alone as they close the doors between rooms keeping each tour group separated. Before our guide opened he next door she indicated what we were about to see would totally baffle us. It did. Here in the middle of a very stately and ornate palace is a room that looks just like a cave, right down to the doors, when the doors are closed it looks just like you are in a cave. This was said to have been a lifesize tableaux from one of Wagner's opera. In an alcove of this room you can see the conservatory, then just as abruptly, when the doors on the other end are opened you are right back into stately elegance. This side has the kings offices and in his assistants office you can even see a very early version of a telephone. You then return to the stairs to go up to the fourth floor.

The fourth floor is dominated by the Singer's Hall, which is the castle's grand hall. The idea was for it to be a concert hall, complete with a stage at one end. This vision was never realized in the king's lifetime, but the legacy lives on as concerts are occasionally performed in this hall. You then exit by going up on sage when part of the backdrop scenery opens up to let you back into the hall. You are then led to the much plainer servants stairs to descend back to the ground, but you are told you can get a peak into the unfinished second floor. You get a very big peak in that is where they have placed the gift shop you must walk through to exit. In fact you must exit the stairwell, walk all the way around the gift shop, to get back into the stairs. When you get back to the first floor you go through the castle kitchens, then you can use the restroom before you go through another shop. Then its down a few more flights of stairs, and then through a tunnel to the exit.

From thee were were advised to take the walk back down to the village. They have cleverly lined the first part of the road back down with gift and food stands After the part where you can get the bus or carriages back down it's a long, long, road. I mean its got some wonderful scenery, but it is pretty long, and that's even with using the stairs to cut off some of the switchbacks. At the bottom of the road you end up back in the village. We stopped past an ice cream parlor where we found what might be the deal of the trip: quality ice cream at only 1 Euro a dip. After some time for shopping in the village it was back to the busses.

The original tour plan had us using the castle parking lot to orchestrate the great bus and suitcase switch, but we decided to do is somewhere else away from the crowds. We then drove to a couple towns a short distance from Obermagau. Tomorrow is the day of the Passion Play, and similar to large conventions, the organizers of the play also control all the area hotels and restaurants. Your hotel accommodations are assigned on par with your seating category for the show. For our trip, there were a limited number of upgraded tickets available, and Bob and I had both paid the extra money for the upgraded package.

First we stopped at the further out of town hotel which is where the people wo had not upgraded would be staying. It was a very quaint small town, and there aongst the already closed for the day shopping area we took care of the bus and suitcase switch. This was so that those of us in our group who had not upgraded could be dropped off, and we could pick up the people from the other group who had upgraded. There was a nice fountain and woodcarving shop in the square we stopped at and I do believe the shopowner even reopened upon seeing two busloads pull up.

After dropping that group off, we headed towards out hotel, Das Johanesbad. "Bad" we were told means Spa, and with our upgrade to the finest seats in the house, we were also upgraded to a resort spa hotel. On the way to the hotel, we were given a big ticket sheet, one sheet per room, so for most of us that's one sheet between two people. The sheets contain all your meal tickets for tonight and tomorrow, tickets for the museum in town, and a ticket voucher which is also your hotel ticket. When we unloaded from the bus we were told to go on into the hotel and check in using our hotel tickets, they would be expecting us.

It was a very smooth process, as everything was prepaid, we merely needed to exchange the hotel ticket for our room key (yes, an actual key not a keycard) and an envelope containing our theatre tickets. We were told that our theatre programs had already been placed in our room for our convenience. We were then given tags and told to go back out to the driveway and use the numbered luggage tags to mark our bags so the porters can bring them in.

In this case our room ended up being on the ground floor just a few doors down from the restaurant. It was a bigger room than the one in Munich, and its big feature was a big window box lined balcony. Owing to the way the terrain sits, even though we were on the ground floor at the front of the hotel we were a floor or two up at the back.

We got settled into the room, found the program books on the table just as promised. We found a plate, napkin and a knife that we never did determine the usage for. Shortly after checking in we went down to dinner. Again we had dinner tickets and could order off the menu in the hotel restaurant., well an abbreviated menu anyway. I think I ended up with some kind of soup, a veal roast with noodles which was very nice, and a Bavarian cream desert. After dinner we headed back to our room. Some important things to note are that the room doors don't lock by themselves, you have to do that, and the deadbolt is keyed o both sides of the door. Not a problem as we left the key in the keyhole while in the room. So we get back to the room, and to our surprise there are chocolates on our pillows. Not only that, I slept a lot better than I did in Munich, leading up to Day 5. Tomorrow's touring plan centers solely around the Passion Play, with a Mass and time to explore Oberamergau. I can get used to these late start times for a European trip.

Day 5 - Thursday, September 30, 2010

On the morning of the Passion Play, we had a dilemma. The problem was deciding how to dress. The Passion Play theater, while covered is not enclosed or climate controlled. Our tour instructions we received prior to departure indicated we should plan on dressing in layers. Stepping out on our porch, the morning was quite brisk, which we interpreted to mean the night will also be cold. The other thing is we would not be returning to the hotel, so you had to haul everything you needed with you, but then they mentioned that we may not be able to take bags into the theatre. Well, suffice to say, we decided on what we thought would be a good outfit for the day and headed down to breakfast.

Breakfast here was just as plentiful as in Munich with about the same selection of food. An added bonus for honey lovers was provided in the form of an actual honeycomb they could get real fresh honey from. After breakfast, we were loaded onto the bus. Before getting too far from the hotel we were asked to check to make sure we had our theatre tickets, our meal tickets, and our program books with us, as the bus would not be staying with us. It was about a 15 mile drive from our hotel to Oberamagau, and when we arrived we were briefed on some important information regarding that evening. Namely that our regular, driver, and guide would not be meeting us after the play. Due to driving restrictions, if our regular driver drove us home from the play, he would not have enough hours left to drive us to and around Salzburg on Friday.

The solution to this problem is that they chartered a local city bus to take us back to the hotel, and that bus was instructed to pick us up at the same place our own bus dropped us off. We parked in a grocery store parking lot right next door to the train station. As you might imagine, they don't allow you to drive all the way into the village, everybody parks on the outskirts and then either catches a parking shuttle or walks in. We walked as a group into the city, it seemed quite simple in the daylight, you just walk along one long straight road until you get to the city center, then make a left and you head right to the theatre. After the play we were to gather as a group outside the theatre, then walk back to the parking lot. Our guide, however, uttered the phrase "You can't miss it" in explaining the walk back was just one block away from the theatre, hand a right and walk till you see the lot. Anybody who has ever gotten directions knows about the mystical jinx associated with "You can't miss it", but then I am getting ahead of myself.

When we got to town, we happened to pass a fire house where it looked like there was a school field trip going on with the children playing with the fire hoses and all that. We then walked around the Passion Play Theatre so we could see both the post show meeting spot as well as our entrance. We then walked as a group to the center of town. It wa about 10AM, and we were told that while there was no group Mass scheduled today we could take advantage of the public Mass at the parish church at 11AM, which would be said in German. We were also told to meet back where we were at 11:50 to be shown where we would be eating.

We then head some free time to walk through the village. The first thing you notice are the fancy painted walls on the buildings. There are wall frescoes that take up an entire side of a building, not only that they are very elaborately done. The town is like walking through an art museum, it truly is a storybook town. Speaking of the town, the main stock in trade at the shops are products made by the area's many woodworkers, all manner of statues, and religious goods made out of hand carved wood, Therefore, not only are the buildings works of art, but looking in the store windows provides more artwork.

Bob and I window shopped out way up the road to the church, you face the mountain as you walk towards the church, and I was encouraged to look at the mountain through my binoculars to see the giant cross perched on top of the mountain. When we got to the church, first you walk through the cemetery which may have been the site of the first Passion Play. With all the artwork and wood carving outside the church, the inside did not disappoint. As an added surprise, we joined some other tour groups from the United States and Canada inside the church, including having the Mass said in English.

After the Mass, we headed back to the center of town to meet back up with our guide. As part of the massive organization behind this play, you are assigned a restaurant with your tickets, for us it was Zum Bremsl. We were led to the restaurant, seated, and told to order anything we wanted from the special event menu, and use the lunch ticket to pay for it. (Beverages extra of course). It was a full course lunch with soup, grilled salmon, wih veggies and potatoes, then cheese strudel. I tried yet another German beer in Klatenburg Weissbier. It was an excellent lunch, and before leaving the restaurant, we were given the directions by the restaurant staff to return here during the intermission and to go ahead and take our same seats again for dinner, no need to stop at the host station on the way back in.

After lunch, we made our way back to the Theatre, taking time to get photos of the town. The first half starts at 2:30, and the house doesn't open until 2:00. More of that great planning comes into play here. Along the two sides and back of the theatre there are numerous doors, which are identified with large letters. Your ticket specifies which door you are to use, and they have it all mapped out for maximum efficiency in getting people seated. At 2:00 a trumpet fanfare sounds, followed shortly by the doors opening. The tickets are quite large souvenir quality tickets with two stubs, one for each half. For this showing, they barely looked at the tickets, much less tore the stub.

On your way in you can pick up a free loaner blanket from the stand just inside the door, we then made our way to our seats. There is a slight rake in the seats which gets more pronounced as you get to the back of the theatre, to allow for everybody to see, the seats themselves are standard wood theatre seats with a very thin padding on the seat. During the afternoon several people were seeing using their blankets as seat cushions. We were about 5 seats in from the aisle, which meant we were up and down several times while the audience filled in. When I saw our tickets, the seat assignments give you a door, a row, and a seat. Mine was N-3-45, the door letter is also your section designator, so I was in row 3 of section N. A quick count would reveal this to be about 12 rows from the stage, and close to the center. In other words prime seating,

While waiting for the show to start, I looked over the program notes in the program. The short version of the history of the play is as follows. Legend has it that in the 1600's the black plague was sweeping across Europe wrecking havoc in town after town. The villagers of Oberamagau made a plea to God that if he would spare their village, they would put on a play memorializing Christ's passion every 10 years. So, time came to pass and nobody in the village lost their life to the plague, and the village has kept up its end of the bargain to this day. An important note to those seeking to add performing in the Passion Play to their resume, you have to be a citizen of the town for at least 10 years before you are invited, and you must be judged to be worthy in character.

It's a massive undertaking, just about everybody in the village takes part, either directly in the production of the show, or in the infrastructure that provides all the support services needed. Also according the program notes, there were some modifications made to the play to soften what had been viewed as an anti-semetic tone in the play. One interesting thing they also added this year is a series of tableaux they call "Living Images". These are static scenes meant to refresh the audiences memory of key Old Testament moments.

As I mentioned the theatre is covered, meaning the section the audience sits in has a roof, towards the front of the theatre a clear curved surface both shields the audience from the elements as well as allows the audience to see the Alps behind the theatre. I'm sure it also helps with the acoustics of the theatre. The stage itself is exposed to the elements. When you go in, the stage looks like a city street at the time of Christ. A big building in the middle with its interior visible in a painted surface, then on either side of the center building are archways that appear to lead to side streets, these hide the stage exits for the cast. On either side of the stage is a round turret like building with a door to backstage and several large curving stairs in front. Between the stage and the audience is the traditional orchestra pit.

15 minutes before the show, and then again at 5 minutes before the trumpet fanfare sounds again beckoning the audience to take their seats. Before the show the usual theatre safety announcements are made, including the fact that video and photography is forbidden. This is the only part of the show they repeat in English. The show itself is presented in German, and the program books we were given contained both the follow along German transcript as well as an English translation. I think it would have been easier to follow along if the German were set directly across the page from the corresponding English, but that's not how they did it.

The production followed a framework which consists of each scene being introduced by a narrator, which is followed by a choral piece. The choral piece usually is performed amongst the backdrop of one of the "Living Scenes" I told you about. The choir is all dressed in white, and their choreography is perfect beyond words. When one person makes a hand gesture, the entire choir makes the hand gesture in unison, in exact timing. When they need to move about the stage, it is almost an artform. Right before the first Living Scene, you realize the painted interior building scene you have been looking at is actually a door that protects the interior part of the stage.

The show starts with a welcome by the narrator, then right into the first Old Testament tableaux, that of Adam and Eve being cast out of the garden of Eden. The telling of the Passion then picks up on "Palm Sunday" with the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. When they say the faithful followed Jesus in huge mobs, imagine what must be hundreds of people, including what looks like it might be a lot of the children of the village on the stage all at once. At this point you also get an appreciation for the costuming, and you try to associate a costume so you can better follow the dialogue. They managed to work in most of the famous teachings of Jesus: the beatitudes, the "Give to Ceaser what is Ceaser's, give to God what is God's" quote, the whole love your neighbor as yourself, and "He who is sinless, cast the first stone" in dealing with the fallen woman.

The next Old Testament image is Moses leading Israel through the Red Sea to escape Egypt., followed by the presentation of the Ten Commandments and the Israelites idolizing the golden calf.

The show then turns to Jesus casting the merchants out of the temple. Using sheer numbers of people on stage creates the chaotic frenzy of a temple turned marketplace. Here you also learn they are not opposed to using live animals on stage, and in one scene, the birds one merchant was trying to sell are released and fly as straight as homing pigeons backstage. The story then follows Annas and Caiaphas plotting Jesus demise, and Judas entering into the deal to betray Jesus.

Then the Old Testament scenes start to parallel the New Testament unfolding. The tableaux of the famous Passover in Egypt is the lead in to Holy Thursday and the Last Supper. The Last Supper includes the washing of the feet, the breaking of bread, and Jesus announcing that one would deny him and another betray him. For the Last Supper the interior part of the stage is expanded to look like a large tent, the tent itself being unfolded from the stage, and the canopy ropes being hooked to clips built into the stage.

The next scene starts with the tableaux of Jacob's betrayal at Gibeon and Moses and the burning bush followed by Judas's betrayal of Jesus. It includes the prayers in the garden, the arrival of the soldiers, and the arrest of Jesus. It is at this point that the first part of the show ends and your are dismissed for about three hours for dinner.

Bob and I made a beeline back to the restaurant and found our seats and a whole new menu waiting for us. We made advantage of the fact we were faster than most of the group to take care of some personal issues then sat down to dinner. We started with a plat that had some melon, ham, and bread on it followed by a pork roast with spatzle for me, capped off with a neat lemon yogurt type desert. After dinner, we hit the shops and we each picked up a copy of the coffee table book about the passion play, along with some other souvenirs. This is also where I acquired my Bavarian hat,

When we returned to the theatre for the second half which starts at 8pm, we knew we were so close to the end of a long row of seats that we stood outside in the platz until the second trumpet fanfare and most people had already been seated. We found room for our purchases on the floor between our legs, then we opened up our blankets and prepared to get comfortable for the cooler night time act. It was already twilight before the second act began. We also had to get the book lights that Father Barry recommend we bring out and ready so we could continue to follow along in the book. Again, the tickets were not torn, which means I have the full ticket to keep as a souvenir.

Shortly before the second half, the orchestra comes out on stage in what is its only recognition in the entire show, and walked towards the pit to applause. The second half is much more intense than the first owing to the subject matter. The show picks up with the trial before the High Council, flanked with Old Testament scenes of Daniel in the lions den, and the mocking of Job. The story continues with Peter's Denial, and Judas's remorse and ultimate suicide. Yes they showed the suicide, but quickly closed the curtain before you have time to dwell on it.

The story goes on with the trials before Pilate and Herod, to include the whipping. Now, this is nowhere near as violent as say the Mel Gibson version, yes there does appear to be blood drawn. The mockery goes on with the purple robes and the crown of thorns, forcibly embedded into Jesus's head. If the shows treatment of Jesus from this point on makes you uncomfortable, I think that is the point. As the narration has as a recurring theme variations on the verse : "Heed well what you are seeing, it was for YOU and your salvation that this took place"

We go on to Pilate and Barabbas. You know that huge number of people on stage shouting Hosanas in the first scene. Imagine the entire stage filled with people being egged on by he High Council to plead for Jesus' death. You really do feel like you are in the middle of a rioting mob.

Then there is the Way of the Cross, and the Crucifixtion. I always wonder how the various Passtion Plays "crucify" a person without killing them. I mean it is very real looking, with just enough violence to get the point across. All the familiar dialogue is there. After Jesus' death, we get a news report that the veil in the temple is torn, and thanks to strobe lighting and the orchestra we get earthquakes and lightning storms.

After the Crucifixtion, the scene changes to just outside the tomb. The angel is sitting outside the tomb waiting for them to come back out. "Why search for the living amongst the dead" The Resurrection is not a long scene, maybe five minutes tops in a 6 hour play but that doesn't make it any less powerful. The show ends with the choir in candlelight vigil as Hallelujah's ring out.

There are no curtain calls, when the choir retreats backstage, the big doors close over the interior part of the stage, the house lights come up, and that's it. You then sit there for a few moments processing the spectacle and pageantry you just witnessed.

On your way out of the theatre they have bins to deposit the loaner blankets. We then all went to the meeting spot, and it seemed like everything was going right to plan. We started going as a group back to the parking lot. But alas, it was dark, it was raining, and there were thousands of others trying to move at the same time.

Bob and I honestly thought we were following the group, until we kept walking and realized we were not in our group, then all of a sudden we are alone, in the rain and dark. We try to retrace our steps, but nothing looks familiar on our way back into town. Just when we realized we were hopelessly lost, we came upon a rather upscale looking bar and restaurant on the outskirts of town. \

Well, at the very least, we figure someone in the bar can help us, so nervously we walk in. We walk up to the bartender and explain our situation. What happened next was nothing short of a miracle. Or as I often say, proof of angels on earth. The bartender literally leaped over the bar, and went out back to get his car and told us to meet him out front. We had explained where our meet up point was supposed to be, and he drove us right there. By the time we got there, the group bus was gone of course.

He offered that he could drive us back to the bar, we could stay for drinks and then after closing time he would give us a ride home, or he could put us in a cab. We opted for the cab option, and so he pulled out his mobile phone and within 5 minutes a cab pulled up. While waiting for the cab, we learned he was a Roman Soldier in the play.

So, he put us in a cab, gave the driver instructions in German for us, and soon we were on our way to the hotel. We would later find out the driver also speaks perfect English, in fact he might have spoken better English than my last cabbie here in the States. The cabbie was as interested in America as we were of Germany, so the 20 mile or so ride back to the hotel seemed to just fly by thanks to the excellent conversation.

So we pulled up to the hotel, and Bob and I slinked into the lobby feeling bad about ourselves for getting lost. We walk into the lobby and find a scene like Phil checking in teams at the Pit Stop on the Amazing Race. One of our tour members was in the hotel lobby with a copy of the trip roster and was checking off names as people returned to the hotel. I'm happy to report we were not the last to check in, and so were not eliminated from the race. It seems that what happened after the show was nothing short of a royal mess. Seems there were at least 6 others that failed to make it back to the pick up point, and those that did found our chartered bus filled with strangers, and then the bus took them to the wrong hotel. At least that's the way I heard it. It should be noted we beat the bus back to the hotel. In fact we had time to unwind in the lobby, go back to our room and drop our bags and coats off and get back to the lounge just in time to see the bus crew walking in.

A large group of us gathered in the hotel cocktail lounge for post stress cocktails. We then soon headed to bed as we needed to be out on the road early tomorrow as we had a three hour bus ride to Salzburg. Tomorrows touring plans include the bus ride to Salzburg, Hellbrunn Castle, Mirabel Gardens, and assorted other Sound of Music sites.

Day 6 - Friday, October 1, 2010

The day started off in the usual routine including having another big breakfast before getting on the bus for the drive to Salzburg. On our way out of town, we had a shot debriefing about the incidents of last night, and a brief apology for same. Now is just a good of a time as any to mention that we would have numerous bus drivers on this tour. First we had the driver that helped us from the airport to the hotel, then on Tuesday we had a different driver for he city tour, and maybe even another one for the return ride from Hofbrauhaus, on Wednesday we picked up our main driver who, with the exception of the return from the play, would be with us until Budapest. As is usually the case on bus tours, use of the on-board restroom is strongly discouraged, and to that end we would make regular rest stops during any long drives. Bottled water was also sold on the bus for 1 Euro per bottle if you needed some.

That said, we would be making much of the drive on one of the famed German autobahns. To help remove the mystery, autobahn is merely the German word for highway. It is true also, that there is no national speed limit on the autobahn for passenger cars. For special vehicles like busses and trucks there is a limit, which means you are wise to remember you an only go as fast as the slowest vehicle. Also, in the cities and other congested areas there are regional speed limits, and these are even dynamic based on traffic. Watch for the digital readout above your lane for the top speed.

As many people were drained from last night, it was a rather quiet ride into Austria. As promised, we did make a couple rest stops along the three hour drive. The rest areas on the autobahn are quite nice, reminding me of some of the full service plazas on some of our bigger turnpikes. We pull in and there are restaurants, convenience stores, gas station, and restrooms.

You may note I listed restrooms with the businesses, and that would be correct in the European viewpoint. I think that represents a big cultural difference in that we view public restrooms as a public service that businesses and municipalities provide, they view restrooms as a legitimate business. Like any business, they have a profit motivation in mind, so this means that you will have to pay for their services. Now, when you are at a restaurant or tourist attraction or something like that they will, most likely, offer free restrooms, but truly public restrooms will cost money.

In this case, they even gave it a snazzy sounding name: SaniFair! Sounds festive doesn't it? We entered SaniFair, and just like a fair, they had a front gate, in this case you deposit 0.70 Euro into an overly complex looking machine that can make change, and will give you a ticket as well as unlock the turnstile its attached to. From there you go on inside to an admittedly very clean, very modern facility, then you exit through the exit gate into the adjoining convenience store. Here is where they have done something clever, you can redeem your restroom ticket for 0.50 Euro in trade in the store. The store even has their vending machines setup where you can just insert the ticket into the machine. So with purchase you can get it down to 0.20 Euro. We bought some drinks and a candy bar from the store, and while in there noted they have slot machines. No, we didn't try these particular slot machines. I did attempt to use the ATM at this point, but the ATM was not feeling cooperative.

Back on the bus in a rather unusual punctual manner for a tour group, we were back out on the road early. The drive continued until we were nearing the Austrian border. We were told one of the benefits of the European Union, and the Shengen agreement in particular is that it abolished a lot of the border controls, allowing for the free movement of people and goods within the Shengen zone, What this means is the checkpoint into Austria is gone, and now crossing an international border is more low key than going from one US State to another. There is one small blue sign with yellow stars on it resembling the European Union flag with the name of the country you are entering printed on it, in that country's language. That's it. You have crossed a border with practically no fanfare. Now, it is commonly known that Germany is only the English name for Duetschland, and the language Duetsch, so too is Austria only the English name for Osterreich.

They have made good use of the old border control station, converting it into a service plaza complete with a hotel and all the other usual amenities. It is here that we took our lunch break as they had several restaurants and shops and things in one big central building. I spotted a few of our group headed in McDonalds, but we decided we wanted something a bit more civilized. We headed into a restaurant as well as a really efficient system. I would dare to almost call it sit down fast food. When you go in, you or your party, are given a big plastic card with a number printed on it. You are then told you can sit anywhere. You go in, take seats and shortly a server comes to drop off menus and take drink orders. When you order she uses a palmtop device and enters your number, the table number, and the code numbers for whatever you ordered. Within moments another person is rushing the drinks out to your table. You then have time to look over the menu as the order taker circulates around their section. On their next pass, they take the food orders in the same manner. When your food is ready, one of the runners brings it out to your table. When you are finished eating you take your card back to the cashier station in the middle of the building where you settle the bill.

In this case we ate light, with Cokes to drink and what sounded like chef salad. Oh, it was chef salad alright, but the pleasant surprise was instead of using deli turkey, there were big chunks of honest to goodness roast turkey, and not only that the turkey was still hot. The salad was very easily an entrée, and was quite delicious. After lunch we looked through their gift shop, as we were on the exiting Germany side, it looked like a "Last Chance shop" for everything Germany. I also tried their ATM to no avail.

On our was into Germany we got the short version of Austrian history, talking about the various tribes that settled in Europe leading up to the Austria-Hungary empire. That lasted until about the end of World War I when the two nations became separated, which lasted until just before World War II when the Anschluss rejoined Austria with Germany under Hitler. The story then continues that after a time of post war occupation, it became its own nation in 1955.

It was important to cover this part of Austrian history as we were headed to Salzburg. Although Salzburg was named after, and got its start due to the large salt mines in the area, they had a Hollywood spotlight shone on them in 1965 that continues to this day. I'm talking about "The Sound of Music" that perennial holiday classic movie that tells the now famous story about the Von Traps' and with it the Anschluss. Salzburg has more or less, embraced the movie and the boom to tourism that it has brought. In town you can take tours focused entirely around "Sound of Music" To give us some background to the story, you may remember the captain was a retired navy captain, retired because when Austria became land locked after World War I, they no longer needed a navy. Of course, Hollywood condensed a lot of the life between the Captain and Maria so that it looks like it all took place in one summer, but in reality took several years. She told the story about how it was the Von Trap children playing both the Captain and Maria that got them to finally marry. One of the big things Hollywood did was to redraw Europe. The movie makes it look like they fled Salzburg, climbed into the mountains and escaped on foot to Switzerland, which a look on any good map will tell you that didn't happen. In fact had they escaped into the mountains the way the movie depicted, they would have been headed right for the Eagle's Nest, which would have been a very bad plan if you were trying to run away from Hitler.

We arrived for our first sightseeing stop of the day Hellbrunn Palace. In something truly rare, we did so good on time we had to wait for our local Salzburg guide to join the trip. Part of that time was spent advertising an optional excursion we could take on Satuday night. We could go to a dinner theater to see "The Sound of Salzburg" which, as you may have guessed, is probably as close to saying "Sound of Music" without trademark infringement, the show would feature music from the show, and well as some traditional Austrian folk music and dancing, all that with round trip bus right to the door of the theatre, all for just 52 Euro per person. She advertised it shortly after leaving in the morning, took sign ups as we drove through Austria, and we could pay her at dinner. Bob and I quickly decided that was a 'no brainer' and signed up.

While waiting for our guide, Karolin walked us to the other end of the coach parking lot where we could see a tree lined alley. We were told that this was the tree lined alley that you can see in a couple scenes from Sound of Music. We paused for a group photo, before returning to the bus. We soon caught up with our local guide, and the first place she took us? Back to the tree lined alley. But this time with details, we learned that this alley runs all the way to downtown Salzburg, but is now a pedestrian and bike road only. The one exception being if you own a villa home along its length, you are allowed to drive to your own house. This road happened to run between the two palaces and that was its primary early use. We were told about it's Sound of Music fame and that about halfway down the road we can see the exterior of one of the houses.

One of the places people always want to see is the Sound of Music house, when in reality it doesn't exist. Hollywood used one house, the one about halfway down this road for the exterior shots of the front of the house, and another house, located closer to downtown for exterior shots of the back of the house. The inside of the house, that was all a sound stage and doesn't exist. The tour was filled with trivia like that about the show, and she tried to mention specific sense to jog people's memory. A lot of the same trivia can be learned by watching the audio commentary on the DVD of the movie. An example of the trivia would be the scene where the captain returns home to find a nazi flag on his house. In anger and disgust, he rips the flag in half, and if you watch carefully you can see him hunt for the special spot as they used a break-apart flag for that scene.

From the alley we started to enter the grounds of Hellbrun Palace which is now a big city park at the end of the tree lined alley. I don't know, but I think its really cool when you walk in and around buildings that are hundreds of years old. Around here we think of a building built in the 1800's as really old, and anything before 1800 is ancient. Over in Europe it seems that a building built in the 1800's could practically be called new. Take Nymphenburg Palace from Tuesday, built in the late 1600's, the Hofbrauhaus restaurant in 1607, Neuschwanstein Castle is a relative baby being from the late 1800's, for Hellbrunn palace, we are talking early 1600's. I may have noted it earlier, but although we associate purple with royalty, for them it was a golden yellow which we will see repeated in several palaces including this one.

So we walked through the gates and into the formal gardens, it didn't take long to come upon one of the icons of Sound of Music, the gazebo. Yes, it was moved here from the house where it originally stood so that it could be seen by the public. In actuality there were two gazebo's the one we see here, and a Hollywood version which was a much larger scale model so they could do the interior scenes. You may recall the famous dance scene, involving running and jumping from bench to bench. Well unfortunately, they have had one too many injuries from people trying to recreate that scene, so the gazebo is now locked.

After pausing so everybody could get their photo with the gazebo we walked through what I will call the normal part of the formal garden. Large pools, statues, flower arrangements. Up on the hill you can see a small castle, also golden yellow in color. This is known as the one month castle based upon how long it took to build. It seems that a colleague told the Archbishop, who by the way was also ruler over Salzburg, that particular place up in the hills would make a nice spot for a house, the Archbishop agreed, and the colleague said "Okay, we can meet there when I return next month" The Archbishop saw this as a challenge, and using a work crew of 2,000, had a small castle there within a month.

As it turns out, we are not here to tour the palace, instead we are here to visit a very unique tourist attraction known as the "Trick Fountains" in Engligh. Before heading into the area, which is also referred to as a waterpark, we were advised we may want to grab umbrellas, raincoats, etc and place anything you don't want to get wet, like cameras, away. We met at the gate for the Trick Fountain and they use a tour grouping system similar to Neuschwanstein Castle. In this case we would be sharing a tour with another group, and our guide did the tour in both languages.

We entered through the turnstile, and right on our way in a souvenir photo person was thee to get our picture. We walked around a nice pool of water, very innocent looking, nothing looks out of the ordinary yet. At the end of the pool there is a large stone table with stone chairs all around. In back of the table there is a ring of raised ledges offering stadium style viewing of the table. We were told that this area was built by the Archbishop who had a strange sense of humor, he loved practical jokes. Take for instance, the dining table in front of us, it looks like a nice place for an outdoor summer dinner, however, embedded into each of the guests chairs, also along the edges of the dining area are series of water jets aimed at the chairs of the diners. All the chairs were similarly equipped except for the Archbishops. When the Archbishop tired of the groups company he would have the water turned on drenching his guests from both above and below. Remember also, that protocol forbade getting up from your seat until dismissed by the Archbishop.

Of course, he didn't just explain this to us, first he demonstrated it by calling for volunteers from the audience. We got one brave soul to take a place at table, and the group sort of volunteered Fr. Barry who wasin his priest's shirt. The guide, seeing what was going on was sure to put Fr. In the Archbishops chair. The water was turned on a little bit to get the reactions, then the volunteers rejoined the group, and the water was put on full strength so we could see what this could really do.

We were told that we were about to see a lot of mechanical animations and fancy fountains, the key thing to remember is that no electricity is used, no pumps are used, what we are seeing is the end result of careful control of gravity fed water straight from the mountains. We were next led into a small grotto where it sounded like one room was full of birds, little statue animals circled a pond, and in the front room, the facial expression on another statue moved. We were very leery after the slick, wet, floor was pointed out to us in a word of caution. For our group, I don't think anybody got wet inside the building, the trouble came on our way out. Just over the doors on both sides are a set of antlers, and when turned on, water sprays out of the antlers in bursts every few seconds. That's what got us.

We then walked past a little canal with a series of small waterfalls, just over the waterfalls in little shrub covered boxes were little animated displays, apparently powered by the waterfall under it. This same technology on a much larger scale is present when you come to a little theater in the middle of the garden. It was a band organ and a large elaborate stage with lots of animated figures moving about, though we are told this was a later addition to the garden.

We went into another building that looks like a miniature palace on the inside. The key feature was a crown that bobbed up and down riding on a geyser of water that kept getting stronger and weaker. Almost hypnotic, the way you could just watch that, then you exited the building to a pathways that had water jets on both sides spraying towards the center. Just try to stay dry here, though if you ducked down, you had a better chance. We passed some more pools and statues and our guide indicated he took it easy on us due to the cold weather.

You exit the trick fountains past the booth where you can buy your photo, then you walk through the normal gardens. We walked back to the bus being advised that we did not have time for the gift shop. On the way to Salzburg, the bus slowed down so we could see the front of the "Von Trap" house from a distance, which is about as close as a bus tour can get. We rode around Salzburg with the next stop being the Mirabel Gardens, a famous formal garden. Tour busses can only stop in three places in Salzburg, and luckily one of them is near the gardens. I did not, and like the tram/bus stop signs with digital readouts that told how long the wait is. Mirabel Gardens is a large formal garden, the design of which changes from year to year. Flanked by museums and the Mirabel Castle. We were told only one room of the Mirabel Castle is open the public, and then only if you want to get married. She quipped that is so popular its like a "Las Vegas Wedding" - in and out in 15 minutes.

In the gardens you can also visit a rose garden, and for the Sound of Music fans the Do-Re-Mi stairs, so named as that is the stairway in the park while they sang the song, which sits right behind the fountain they run around. Yes, I climbed up and down the Do Re Mi stairs. After touring the garden it was back on the bus. We heard the tale that the dating ritual used to be the guy would climb up the hill and pick some eidelweiss for his girl, now more commonly the girl brings the eidelweiss in the form of a six pack. Yes, they have an Austrian beer named Eidelweiss. It was also mentioned that, in case you didn't know, Eidelwiess is not the national anthem, despite the impression that Sound of Music may have given you. It's not even a folk song, but it was designed to sound like an Austrian folk song, and was unknown until the movie became popular.

We toured around the town, saw a part of the old city wall that still remains. We drove near Nonnberg Abbey where our guide mentioned that even though the tour plan calls for a stop at the Abbey, there is one problem: they don't receive tour groups. You can, however, visit on your own during the Salzburg free time, and they do receive individual tourists. We did, however, join with the other group for Mass in a little church, St. Erhard, located just under the Abbey. We noted onion domed churches are quite popular in the area, and I'm sure the art majors in the group appreciated better than I when they talked about the Baroque and rococo periods and examples of each during the tour.

To get to church, we had to park in one of the other approved tour bus stops and walk a few blocks to the church. Doing so did allow us to pass a flower shop that had eidelwiess on display, so that was cool. The church looked impressive, green onion dome, stately looking exterior with the twin staircases running up the front of the building to the front door. Inside was just as ornate with artwork covering the walls and a dome right over the center. It wasn't a large church, in fact our full compliment of 90 had to shoehorn in, After having our Mass for the day, we returned to the bus and headed to our hotel.

We were staying at the Mercure, which is owned by the same people that run Motel 6 here in the states. Note that the place we were at was far fancier than any Motel 6. We went inside, checked in, and went to a modern room on the 1st floor. By modern, I mean lots of power outlets, a nice desk that could function as a workstation if the internet were free. As Bob noted we were given loads of pillows and bedding. We didn't have much time in our room before heading down for dinner.

The restaurant went through the formality of printing up a menu even if there was only one selection. It looked like everybody was getting onion soup, beef stroganoff, and something called Sacher Torte which we all spent a lot of time trying to guess what that could be. I also tried some Eidelweiss beer, which was a wheat beer, I don't usually like wheat beers, but I am changing my mind on that. The soup was essentially onion broth with no stock, we did get a small field green salad which we weren't expecting, then the beef and noodles which is about what you would expect. The desert was a rich cocolate cake with some kind of filling we couldn't initially place until our guide told us it was apricot filling. It was a very nice desert, and after dinner we were told to go to the bar and pay for any drinks you ordered, it was all on the honor system.

We next stopped past the front table in the restaurant where Kristine and Karolin had set up shop selling the theatre tickets for the next night. That taken care of it was back to the room. I tired to use the foreign exchange desk at the hotel, but was told they had already sold the limit in foreign currency. Bob then joined Fr. Barry's famous evening Hearts game, and I took advantage of the fact nobody seemed to want to one hotel courtesy computer in the business center to catch up on email, Facebook, Twitter, post to some forums, check some news. Let me tell you, try logging into Facebook from Europe, it puts you through the third degree, all in the name of anti-hacker protection. After my time quota on the computer, I grabbed a Stigel beer from the bar, and watched the hearts game. From there it was off to bed, in what we will vote Best Bed of the trip. Let'ssee tomorrow's plans include Mass, city walking tour of Salzburg, some free time, and now the Sound of Salzburg Show. It also includes me trying to find a bank as I am down to only 30 Euro.

Day 7 - Saturday, October 2, 2010

So, we wake up in a different hotel, which means I get to gush again about how good the breakfast was, and every time I think it can't get better, it does. Was that really bratwurst and pretzels on a breakfast bar? I don't know, but it was some kind of large white sausage. Over on the fruit bar, is that really a display of fresh watermelon, which has pretty much gone out of season back home, and is one of my favorite fruits, over at the bakery counter amongst all the beads, were coffee cakes, and I rediscovered Nutella. This breakfast was epic, right down to the cheese laden scrambled eggs.

From breakfast it was back out to the busses, and time to get resorted back to our proper color groups. Check the signs on the fronts of the busses to make sure you get on the right one. It really didn't matter at first since we all started the morning back at the same church as last night for Mass. When we got to the church, we could only go as far as the vestibule. You know how in Sound of Music, the church had that big fence and gate in the back, well that's what we are facing here, and we had to wait for the local pastor to let us in. During Mass, I used to think being the subject of a church sermon can't be a good thing, but today Fr. Barry used Bob and I's experience getting home from the passion play to frame the sermon. The church was recognizing Guardian Angels as the patron of the day, and our story was a very real, very relevant to the group example.

After Mass, it was back on the bus, and we were handed street maps of Salzburg which we could use later during the free time. We then drove what seemed like a 2 minute bus ride where we were dropped off and met back up with our local guide for the city walking tour.

Our guide made it a point to wear the traditional costume, and we learned details like you could tell a persons marital status by how they tie their bow. We were heading into the old part of Salzburg, and most vehicular traffic, and particularly tour busses are restricted during the day. That meant we had to park on the outskirts of town, and walk in from there. As long as you keep up this is a neat way to immerse yourself into the town.

Our first major stop was Mozart Square. Mozart was unique as he was the first person who wasn't nobility, political or military figure to be recognized with a statue. Mozart who lived in Salzburg, is a big figure around the area, with at least two museums and candy stores selling all manner of Mozart chocolates. The square is also boarded by museum's most notably the Salzburg Museum, and we also learned we are here on a great weekend for tourists. If you like, its "Late Night at the Mueseums" tonight, where they will be open till 1AM, and free. We were told to take note of the years painted on the fronts of the houses in the historic district, this will tell you the year the building was built, and if you see a second year under, it notes a major renovation.

From there we walked across the street to another big square where they were setting up for a music festival later today, we also saw another of the fountains from the Sound of Music, and were told about how the real Maria had a short cameo that has been cut from later released of the film, that took place right around this fountain where she is in the background.

From there we walked next door to the Dom or Cathedral, first we talked about all the various statues on the outside, and, perhaps the most unique feature is a crown mounted on the front of the building, and a Madonna statue in the middle of the square in front of the cathedral. Stand in the middle of the archway at the other end of the square and the crown will appear to be on the statue. I'll have to try that later.

We then did a tour of the cathedral, including seeing its five independent organs which can all be run separately for concerts. Some of the artistic and architectural features were pointed out, and we walked up the side aisle to take a good look at the baptismal font. After touring the cathedral, it was mentioned that admission is free, but if you make a donation on your way out they will give you a card about the cathedral.

After the cathedral tour we took a short rest break, and I spotted an open air market that had Austrian flags, I also know I was down to just 30 Euros, so couldn't see spending the money on a flag right now. Also in the open air market was a huge modern art sculpture of a golden globe with a man standing on top of it. We were told the man represents any man. You can bet a lot of comedic photos were taken of people holding up the globe. Also of interest next to the globe was a life size chess board, no chess pieces but the board is there.

In front of us, you can see a big hill with a castle or fortress sitting on top, and coming down from it towards us, you could watch an incline. That incline was our next destination. We walked as a group to the incline station and waited outside a few moments while they picked up the tickets. We then walked through the station and right through the turnstiles with no one checking the tickets. It was then up a short flight of stairs and into one of the doors of he incline train. The train had several compartments, each much higher up than the one ahead of it, so in effect the car body matched the agle of the track. We crammed into the car and rode on the very quick, quiet ride up the hillside with a great, if unnerving for some in our group, view. When we reached the top, you exit to the same side of the train as you entered and up a short flight of stairs to leave the station. Once outside, it was up some more stairs to the first overlook. This one looked out towards Hellbrunn palace, and you could see snow covered alps ahead of you. The house that was the back of the Sound of Music house was pointed out, as well as the fallacy about Switzerland that we had heard about the prior day. Also of a surprise, the church filmed for Sound of Music was not the abbey church, as the movie implies, but another one about 30km away. So we took some time to take in the view then up more stairs.

This time we came out into what looked like a street. To remind us we are in a fort, a pile of cannon balls sets the stage. The purposes of the various buildings were explained to us, as well as the fact the fortress was never breached. I guess when you are this high up a steep hill, you don't need a moat. Watch your step walking around the castle/fortress as the open sewer system means there are storm drainage conduit embedded in the roads ever go often you have to step over. We were shown the old original incline railway, and told that it essentially worked by running a rope from the train car up the tracks and into the stables on top of the hill. Inside the stables, horses would walk in circles while tethered to a big gear that would either let out or take in rope, which in turn moved the rail car. We were told it was also very dangerous as the ropes were known to break, sending the car on a very fast trip to the bottom. This original incline is said to be the oldest surviving incline in the world, dating back from the 1500's, the newer passenger incline we rode up in is from the 1890's and of course has been modernized several times since then.

We walked around to another overlook, this one overlooking the old town, the river, and the newer part of town. Just a short walk around a turret and you could look down on the Abbey and get another postcard view of Salzburg. A wooden part of the wall was pointed out to us, said to contain the bull organ. This wasn't a concert organ for surebut a way to send out alerts. Today, that duty was being taken over by what sounded like a very loud air raid siren, going off about every 15 minutes. We continued to tour the exterior parts of the fort, and I noted it was built in 1077. Talk about walking through your medieval history. After completing the circle tour, including many great views of Salzburg, it was time to ride the incline back down. We were told to have our tickets out, but the station attendant was far more interested in his paper than checking tickets. So we rode the incline back down, and I hear that was even more unnerving for part of the group. At the bottom, who is surprised to hear you exit into a store?

From the incline, we headed through St. Peter's Churchyard, which you may recognize better as the cemetery they hide in towards the end of Sound of Music. In a bow to modern technology, I noted a no segways sign next to the no bikes sign. We then quickly passed through a square where a wedding was going on, into another square that had a statue in it ultimately coming on the festival hall where the Salzburg Music Festival is held, we couldn't go inside but they have big posters showing what it looks like. You may recall this theatre features prominently in Sound of Music.

We then walked around a university, past a street market, through an alleyway to come out on what must be the main tourist street. It is lined with all manner of shops all the way from your souvenir shops to high end retailers. The walking tour stopped in front of the Mozart Museum. Here she made sure everybody had maps. She also offered that if anybody wanted to return to the hotel, she would walk them to the bus, and that we have the rest of the day free to do whatever. She would arrange for a second bus pickup, meeting at this same spot at 4:45 for a 5pm departure. Also of note, if you are going to Sound of Salzburg, the bus leaves the hotel at 6:45. With that we started our free time.

We joined several members of our group for lunch at Nord See which was pointed out to us, it looks to be a chain seafood restaurant. "I'd like the fish sandwich?" "All of our sandwiches are fish sandwiches" We settled on a fried fish sandwich that came on a hoagy roll with lettuce and tartar sauce for 2.90 Euro, and added soft drinks to that. We used our time at Nord See to eat, talk amongst our fellow tour mates, and formulate a plan for our free time. Oh, yeah, and the fish was good, so even the fast food is pretty good,

We decided to head to the Franciscan Church that a few of the others were going to see, and as we were walking we came across The Bank Of Austria. I know it's not a major tourist attraction, but when you are down to just 25 Euro, it's just what the doctor ordered. We went inside, and of course the teller windows were closed, but they had,no joke 4 ATMS. I pick one, insert my card, follow the on screen prompts, which started to get annoying: "Select Language" "You selected English is this correct" "Please enter your pin" "Please select transaction type" "You selected withdrawl, is this correct?", "Please select account" "You selected checking is this correct" "Please select amount" "You selected 100 Euros, is this correct?" YES, just tell me if you are going to give me some money, I've been this far before. I mutter some magical incantation, and then I hear the whirring of the money dispenser springing to life. I may not have gotten a receipt, but I got some other very important pieces of paper. In the souvenir stands in Austria, they seem to have taken sport at how they seem to constantly get confused with Australia, with t-shirts that proclaim: Austria: There are no kangaroos here, or variations of that.

From there, we happened to get back to the square by the catedral, which meant some fountain photos without people in the way. We also heard them starting the music festival. Now armed with Euro, I went to get the Austrain flag for my collection. I do wish I would have gotten the larger of the two sizes instead of the smaller, as it turns out I got a 2'x3' flag, where most of my collection is of the 3'x5' variety. The flag itself was of the 'tourist grade' or economy type flag. Flag purchased, we could continue our tour, we went back to the square on front of the cathedral. We then lined up arch, Madonna statue and the crowd on front of the Dom and got the photo. We then did go around to the Franciscan Church and met up with a few others inside the church. We took a brief look around before continuing on.

Our next order of business was to walk along the river and get up on the bridge for some photos of the town, the river, the boats, the streetcars and the like. The Rolex store near the candy store was an interesting store placement. So anyway, we get the river photos, then walk a bit around the Mozart place on the other side, and the theaters, including an interesting marionette theatre. We tried to get photos of a church near there, but to get far enough to get a good photo, you have to go into the city park across the street, and if you do that a row of trees blocks the shot, and just where the photographer's sweet spot would be, there is a modern art sculpture.

By this time we start to make our return to the square, this time using a different bridge so we can get some different views. We walked up the street, stopped in some shops, and wound up in an ice cream parlor right next to the Mozart museum. More 1 Euro a dip ice cream for us, and look at that we are trend setters! More amazing was running into a totally unrelated tour group from near Dayton, OH I think as we were waiting. One could have even gotten hot chestnuts roasting on an open fire from a stand near where we were waiting. We soon deduced that this is the unofficial meeting spot for your groups, but we met back up with ours, and took the walk back to the bus, which was at the pick up point near Mirabel Gardens.

We returned to the hotel, and had time to freshen up and relax before going out to the theatre. Around 6:30 we headed to the lobby, and learned there were enough people signed up that we would need both busses, so get on your color coded bus. This time, because we were going to a restaurant, we were able to drive all the way to the restaurant, which was actually very close to where we just left.

The Sound of Salzburg dinner show takes place in the Sternbrau Restaurant. You know a business is well established when the logo on the china states "since 1542" and according to their website, the got the building used, and it most likely dates to the 1300's. Living history I tell you. We waited a short while in the lobby before being directed into a dining room that is said to seat about 100 people, so it's a real intimate show, and we would be making up most of the audience. After some confusion about seating, we finally wound up near the center of the dining room. After being seated, we were offered a complimentary cocktail, the first drink is included in the package. I ordered a beer and wound up with Kaiser, and Bob had wine. They confirmed our meat orders we had made when buying the tickets. Real simple low tech system, if you ordered the Salzburg Special (pork) you got a roll ticket to sit in front of you, if you ordered the "Von Trap Special" (chicken) you didn't get a roll ticket. Bob and I each got tickets.

For starters they had bread and a green butter that had some sort of flavoring in it we couldn't identify. From there it was a nice bowl of cream of vegetable soup, then the main course. The pork came with sauerkraut that had a bit of bacon in it. Everything is better with bacon. The desert was apple strudel.

During dinner a slide show of scenes from Austria is shown on the movie screen, then right before the show an interview with the Von Trapp's is shown telling what really happened. (The Captain was actually an Italian citizen, no joke, so they just calmly boarded a train to Italy) I know a lot less dramatic than the movie.

The show itself is in the form of a musical revue, and it's a sing along. A lot of the show's music is taken from Sound of Music. It starts, appropriately enough with the title song, then the first sing along piece is "Do Re Mi", followed by "My Favorite Things" At one point in the show they go around the room asking people where they are from, and the sheer number of nations represented in that small room that night was amazing, particularly with us taking up most of the seats. Incidently, the emcee used a whistle just like the captain did in the movie to introduce the cast. At one point they did remark how full the room was, so maybe its not always this full. They also work in a couple Mozart pieces to honor the great local composer, and some true Austrian folks music. They used the Lonely Goatherd (yodeling from the audience strongly encouraged) to lead into the intermission. They had a gift table setup so I got a Salzburg Sound of Music magnet and a CD of the show, which was supposedly marked down for end of season. They also took this time to collect on any bar tabs so that wouldn't be an issue at the end of the night. The second act opened with "How do you solve a problem like Maria" with the cast in nun's habits. More Sound of Music music, more folk music, Bob got called on stage when they did the folk dance from Sound of Music. Towards the end of the show the big sing along was Eidelweiss, first the cast did the song so we could enjoy it. Then the sing along, and if it's one song from that movie people know, its that one. The closing number was, of course, the "So Long Farewell" song. Wow, what a wonderful way to spend an evening.

After the show, we had to wait a bit for the busses to come, not too long, then we piled back onto busses and I think were still talking about the show and maybe singing a little bit all the way back to the hotel. Short night tonight, as we need to be on the road early for Vienna the next day. No meeting of the Hearts club tonight, just time to get some sleep. Tomorrow's plans to include getting out of here by 8:30 or so, drive to Vienna, city tour of Vienna, Schoenburg Palace, and more. As became a stock answer, when we asked how far to Vienna, "Oh about 3 hours or so"

Day 8 - Sunday, October 3, 2010

Today started with getting ready, having another great breakfast and getting the luggage out to the bus. The day would start with a 3 hour bus ride to Vienna. On the way our driver mentioned that some people in the front of the bus had been asking about the beeping noise. It seems that the autobahn in Austria is metered for heavy vehicles. The idea is that at every exit, you drive under a sensor similar to the EZ Pay systems seen on some American toll roads. The in vehicle box will beep to confirm it has been read by the sensor. You hope to only hear one beep, that means you have been charged and have enough funds left on the meter to drive awhile. It starts getting serious if it beeps twice at the exit, that means you are OK for that virtual tollgate, but you are running low on credit. Three beeps means you have been detected and did not have enough credit to pay the toll.

Anyway, there wasn't much narration during the city to city bus rides. One thing of note is that we may have noticed there are lots of churches and all in very good shape, well part of the taxes go towards maintenance of the Catholic churches, and if you want out og that tax, you have to go to a hearing and explain yourself.

The format on the road was similar to Friday's trip to Salzburg. First we had a restroom and convenience store stop. We hit this convenience store pretty hard for drinks, candy, chips, and even some souvenir items. This rest stop was setup with a turnstile on the way in so you had to exit through the shop. We continued on and started to drive through the town of Vienna, finally stopping at Rossenberger which is a cafeteria near the opera and the Sacher Café. This was our lunch stop, and in the interest of time it was suggested we all choose the cafeteria for its fast service.

We enter the building and on the main floor is a coffee bar and bakery, as we would learn the cafeteria is tucked two floors under street level. A grand spiral staircase encircled the elevator down to the cafeteria. Turnstiles at the entrance to the serving area help to make sure you exit through a checkout lane. It was a cafeteria with a wide variety of food stations, some self service and others full service. We looked at soups, salads, and bakery stations, saw a sandwich station, but finally found the traditional hot foods in the back of the serving area. They claim one of the benefits of eating there is language is not a problem as everything is prepared right in front of you, so you can see exactly what it is you are getting and can just point to what you want. It seems a lot of places in the region used the display case where you could order using charades if need be. Not to worry as the staff we encountered there knew English, and we soon had ourselves a plate of goulash over potatoes. One thing I would suggest is the serving stations could use a tray rail, as sometimes it was hard to balance a tray and utilize the self service stations. I spotted a bar station and ordered a Gosser Dunkel to try. Let it not be said I didn't get to try enough regional beers. Another thing to make note of is it seems to be common that you don't hand a cashier money directly, a lot of places had little dishes or plates and you are expected to place your payment in that, and they will look at it make the change, take your money, and put your change on that plate.

Anyway, we got lucky with a table real close to the front where we could see the parade of food go by. The goulash here was ok, but didn't have the spice kick I was expecting. Apparently, goulash merely means stew or something like that, in a red sauce. If it wee in brown sauce, that means gravy. We enjoyed our meal and had time to go outsie and get some photos of the Sacher Café, the local streets and a big statue across the street. We were told to meet at the same place we were dropped off to catch the bus after lunch. We met, and there was no bus, ah, the difference between "meet here" and "return to the bus" We had to walk a few blocks, which actually meant walking around the side of the opera house. Due to the various railway systems, we had to make a few crossings to get to our bus parked in the bus pad in the middle of the street in front of the opera.

We then proceeded to do a lot of backtracking, that's when you realize you are passing the same things multiple times, but in order for the larger plan to work you need to do so. In that vein, we backtracked to Schonbern Castle, which we had passed when we first entered Vienna. Recall, there is no V in German, so Vienna is really Wien. It was here that we would meet our local city guide for Wien. This guide led us from the bus down the street and across the massive courtyard to the entrance to the castle. Like Hellbrun Castle, this one was also bright gold-yellow in color. We waited off to the side of the lobby while she got the ticket, and then escorted us around the ticketing plaza and down a long hallway to the entrance gate. They were using the same three lane system as the other castles, and she let us all into one lane. Before she let us in, she informed us that once through the rotary gate (as she called the turnstile) there is to be no photography. She scanned the one ticket through the turnstile, and I noted the display on the countdown started a countdown of "Guests Remaining", apparently this special ticket would allow a stated number of guests through the turnstile. Once through the turnstile it was up the stairs to the second floor.

The castle, which in its current form dates back to the 1700's was the home of the monarchy, and has since been turned over to the government when the monarchy ended and is apparently still used for some state functions. Judging from the floor plan in the souvenir book I bought, we skipped the entire west wing, and started our tour with the Great Gallery, or part of it. The Great Gallery is the subject of a three year rehab and restoration project. So as to allow the tourists to get a feel for the room, they have split the room in half for the project, so there is always one side fully open for viewing. The other side has construction walls forming a much narrower walkway, and the tactic of putting wallpaper on the construction walls that is a picture of what you would have seen if the construction walls was absent was used. Anyway, due to the rehab work, there will be no state dinners at Schonbrunn until the project is over, as this is the room they use.

We were told a humorous story about how the chandeliers used to be all candle powered, and you couldn't really lower the chandelier to change the candles midway through your meal, so the anecdote was the size candles they would put in the chandelier depended on hour fast they wanted to get rid of their guests. For the American history buffs - this is the room where John F Kennedy and Khruschev met. Anyway, it's a long room with chandeliers, ceiling frescos, giant wall mirrors, and lots of windows overlooking the front courtyard. The walls are mostly white with gold trim leading to a room that is the epitome of a grand ballroom in a castle. Interesting also, during World War II, only one bomb hit the palace, and it entered by ripping through a fresco with a war scene. The giant mirrors helped to add light as they reflected the candle light throughout the room.

A rope runs halfway through the room forcing the tour to detour through the Small Gallery. As its name implies, it looks a lot like the Great Gallery, just smaller, and its windows face the massive formal gardens in the back of the castle. From there you could peek into the Chinese cabinets before returning to the other half of the Great Gallery and then moving on,

You next pass through the carousel room, and no it doesn't have a carousel, but merely a big painting of a carriage parade, and if you think about it, with the chariot seats found on most carousels, they do kind of resemble a carriage parade. You then pass through the Hall of Ceremony. This was another party room, best known for the large portraits of Maria Teresa's wedding. A couple things of note is that Mozart appears in one of the wedding pictures even though he was never there. Who said they didn't photoshop pictures centuries ago. Another thing we were told to notice at the reception was een though the reception hall was full of pictures, only the wedding party and certain dignitaries were shown at table, and this is correct, all the other wedding guests just got to watch the others eat. Speaking of eating, you can look into a dining room known as the Stallion's room. As you may have guessed, a lot of the rooms are named after the artwork in the rooms. The Hall of Ceremony also contains another ticket barrier, asnot all tickets include the state rooms in the East Wing. If your ticket doesn't include the East Wing, its to the exit for you at this point. We had the better tickets and got to continue the tour. From looking at a ticketing brochure, the palace grounds contains several attractions: a zoo, carriage museum, gardens, a hedge maze, and a few other buildings including a palm and desert house, each of which is a separate ticket. It is quite an array of ticketing options to say the least.

These were the private chambers of the ruling family. You first start with the Blue Chinese Salon, so called for its now discolored blue rice paper on the walls. A small section of restored rice paper is shown so you can compare and get the true feel for the room. These rooms, in general are much smaller, and with the crowds and the lack of air, were actually quite warm, almost uncomfortably so.

You continue through several rooms each more elaborate than the last, with possibly the most elaborate being the so called Million Dollar Room, based on how much the room cost. Mostly because the walls were all done in expensive rosewood. Another nifty feature is we were shown the porcelin space heaters in the rooms. We were to note there appeared to be no service door, and that is because the servants accessed them through secret passages that ran behind the rooms, so the royal family only got the benefits of the heaters, and not the smoke or soot or watching them get tended to. Also in a fun house kind of way, one portrait was pointed out to us where the eyes and feet of the portrait appear to move and follow you. I also appreciated the fact some of the windows overlooking the gardens were open, so I could both see the gardens as well as get some cold air.

We passed through the state bedroom, not a bedroom used everyday with its larger than king size bed. The idea is that childbirth in that time rendered the mother bedridden for a long time, and this was a throne bed that Maria Teresa could use to still conduct business while staying in bed.

After that you pass through a few more rooms, then through the exit gate, which happens to lead you right into the gift shop. We bought some souvenirs then went down the stairs back to the lobby. There was a brief free time that they suggested could be used to view the gardens but we headed back to the bus instead, and didn't have that much time to spare. On the way, we passed by several out buildings that one might assume were stables, but were actually several kitchens, each specializing in a certain kind of food. The irony of this elaborate kitchen setup is that the dining rooms were so far away the food would be cold.

We backtracked once gain, almost appearing to go back to the opera house. We passed the same rugby field 4 or 5 times. I did like the trench down the center of town for the subways and trains, and how they have markets lining the big trough. We were told that here, grocery shopping is a daily ritual, and you only buy what you need for that day, so everything is fresh and doesn't sit around too long. I noted in one of the parks, they have hammocks already setup as part of the park furniture, which I thought was really neat. They told us about the City Bike program. The idea was simple, the city bought a lot of bikes and placed them around the city for citizens and tourists to use whenever they needed to go a short distance. Just drop a 2 Euro coin in, the bike unlocks, take and use the bike, and then return it to any city bike rack. The problem was people rented the bikes, but then never returned them, After all, where else can you get a bike for 2 Euros. The City Bike program is back, but this time with credit card security against the loaned bike. We also passed a gold dome modern art type building.

Our next tourist site was the Vienna Cathedral, and we needed to get there before they closed down to prepare for the afternoon mass. As it turns out, we got there just in time to get about ¾ through the tour before they came through converting the cathedral from museum mode to church mode.

Some points of interest are that the organ is not original, the original one having been destroyed, the unusual tactic of the sculptor getting himself into the pulpit along with the four saints. The tour basically went down one side aisle, across the front by the main altar and then back up the other side aisle. There is a grotto under the church, but only an actual cathedral docent is allowed to take you down there, regular Vienna guides aren't allowed.

After seeing the Vienna cathedral we had to walk several blocks back to our bus. We then started the bus tour of Vienna. There is a movie, Vegas Vacation, where the two lead characters hijack a Vegas tour bus and proceed to give an exaggerated fast rapid fire tour "On the left is, on the right is, on the left is, on the right is"etc. Well, this city tour felt a lot like that. No way can I retain much knowledge under that kind of rapid fire presentation. Suffice to say we passed the opera house, and if it is an important political, military, or cultural site or building in Vienna we most likely went past it. I know we saw the important capitol buildings, and what is with me? I have now seen the national capitals of Ireland, Italy, Vatican City, Austria, and tomorrow I can add Hungary to that list. Add to the fact I have been in an airport in the capitol city of England, and that is 6 national capitols I have visited, none of which are my own.

Of course being an amusement park fan I did retain the trivia when we passed Prater Park that the vintage Riesenrad (ferris wheel) takes about 20 minutes to go around once, and only has half of its cars now, the other half being destroyed. It's a giant ferris wheel, visible from quite a distance in Vienna, and I think I was not the only tour participant who would have liked to have gotten a ride on it. The tour mainly followed the ring road, and at one point where there was dead time, the guide talked a little bit about the invasion of American fast food, and the differences (there are no refills, and they charge for condiments), and also noted that Subway tried, but could not compete with the local sandwich shops. Anyway, it was actually an interesting city tour, just a bit too fast paced for my tastes.

All of this was to end up back at Schonbrunn Palace. There may not be any state functions there right now, but that doesn't mean there are no special events. We had the rare chance to have Sunday Mass in the chapel on the ground floor of the Palace. Again the room just barely accommodated our group, but was just as ornate as the upper parts of the palace. It was an interesting setting for Mass, now I can say I've done the outdoor lakeside mass, the convention hall mass, and those from the Ireland may recall the tent revivial Mass in the heavy storm, now it's the Mass in a castle. Very rare indeed, and I can only imagine what favors were pulled to get that special honor. When we left the Castle they had pretty much just left one gate open for us to leave, which was, no doubt, closed soon after we left.

It was then time to do the backtrack one last time to get back to our hotel. Checkin was quick and we got a nice second floor room. We had time to get checked in and rested up before quickly returning for dinner. They offered the group either 7:30 or 9 for dinner and we made real sure to make it down by 7:30.

I managed to add Zipfer to my beers tried list and we had a nice relaxing dinner, complete what has become our customary apple strudel. Some of us joked we have hit our lifetime quota on Apple Strudel, in one week. After dinner, it was out to the lobby where the Hearts Club was in session, and I decided to participate. They gave me the usual new player introduction, which is to say I lost pretty spectacularly. I believe I was playing way too aggressively, have to try a new strategy if I get another chance.

After Hearts, it was up to the bedroom where I see we have one of those bathtubs you practically need to pole vault to get into, along with the glass partition that seemsjust long enough to keep the floor dry. I had noted part of the partition is hinged, but it was Bob that let me know that you fold it into the tub it forms a wall in back of you to catch the water spray. That makes sense. One thing I liked about all of our showers was they have the hand nozzle, which was also on an adjustable vertical track, so you really could customize the shower to your size. Also on this trip, more of the hotels provided real soap and not just the liquid that seems to be very common over there, so common in fact I packed a bar of soap.

Tomorrow is our last full day in Europe, starting rather early (okay I really should not moan about an 8:30 departure, that is sleeping in on some of my other European tours) Touring plans for tomorrow are known to include Budapest Hungary, what isn't really known is anything about what we are going to do there, but it sounds like another rapid fire bus tour. We'll see what the new day brings.

Day 9 - Monday, October 4, 2010

So we start the final full day. We start it much like every other morning, getting ready, leaving bags out in hall, and heading down to breakfast. In this hotel they had a host guarding the door to the breakfast room to ensure that you either had it included in your room, like we did, or paid for the breakfast. The breakfast, while maybe not quite as extensive as in Salzburg, was still an exceptional breakfast bar. I heard reports there was even champagne on the beverage counter, but I did not go to verify this.

Then it was back out onto the bus for the drive to Budapest. How long it it to Budapest, well about three hours of course. On the way to Budapest, our guide passed around a souvenir map of Budapest that we could look at, it would have been nicer had she gotten one for everybody, like they had done in Munich and Salzburg. During the drive we did pass one of the wind farms that are common in Europe, and not so common here in the States.

We got a bit of a history lesson on the way to Hungary. We had already heard how they were, for a time, part of an empire with Austria. Well, when the lands were taken and divided after World War I, Hungary was a big loser in that deal. The history of the nation from that point isn't a very rosy one. During World War II, they aligned with Hitler and Germany, then after getting through that were overtaken by the Soviets, finally becoming a free nation again around 1989.

Hungary has been sort of a late comer in integrating into the eurozone of the European Union. One area of concern for us is that they have not yet officially converted to the Euro. Karolin conferred with our bus driver who is from the Czech Republic and is closer to the situation, than Karolin, who calls France home. Anyway, he reported that the latest rumblings is that conversion to the Euro may take until 2016. As you can also tell, the free movement of people and goods also extends to tour operators and bus drivers, which may explain the heavy reliance upon the local city guides.

Anyway, the good news for us is that the Euro is almost universally accepted in businesses in Budapest, with the caveat that they may give you your change back in forint. Forint being Hungary's currency today, and is one of those currency's that is in the realm of play money with it taking 200-300 forint to equal 1 Euro. Therefore, we were advised there is no reason why we should go out of our way to exchange money, unless you really want some forint as a souvenir.

Hungary has also just recently joined the Shengen agreement which removed border controls. Just like when we crossed from Germany into Austria, the border crossing here is noted merely by a small blue sign. The language here is Hungarian, and so the country's name as noted on the sign is Magyar Koztarsasg. Of slightly more interest, we can see the remnants of the border control checkpoint. Recently, the road has been redone to bypass the checkpoint, but at least for a while it still stands as a reminder of times gone by. Also, like the crossing into Austria, the former checkpoint contains a rest area. This would be our rest stop on this leg of the journey. The part of the rest area we were in wasn't as nice as the ones in Austria with only a spartan convenience store, restrooms, a few slot machines that we couldn't figure out how to operate, and a closed currency exchange area, along with signs indicating the taking of pictures in the rest area was prohibited. We also saw some of the dual pricing, with the signs for the restrooms priced in both currencies, either 100ft or .50Euro. The restroom attendants will make change for larger coins, but don't expect them to change up smaller coins to get the .50 Euro coin it takes to operate the turnstiles. I found the store clerk to be more accommodating in exchanging some smaller coins to the .50 Euro coin.

I noted the way the store was dealing with the two currencies was to operate with two cash drawers. It seems that this would be quite common, with some employing a calculator to perform the forint to euro conversions on the spot. Others had a chart posted that showed the conversion. More sophisticated business had registers that printed the receipt with the price in both currencies. Anyway, I bought a bottle of lemonade from the store, and back on the bus, opened it and I'll put it this way, I took a drink and Bob looked at me and said "If your facial expression is any indication, that is some pretty sour lemonade"

So, we had a bit longer to drive into Budapest, and I am starting to notice how many nations use the Eagle or Hawk in their symbolism, there were eagle statues on some of the hillsides in Hungary. "Settle where the eagle lands" seems to be the theme in Hungary. Next thing I know we are driving alongside the famed Danube river. We then cross the more modern looking Elizabeth bridge and then we stop for our lunch stop.

We happened to be in an area with several souvenir stores, market stalls in the street, pedestrian areas and little cafes. We walked down the street and selected a café, we weren't too wild about eating outdoors, even if they were providing blankets. We went inside and sat down. I appreciate the fact the menu there was more of a picture book, with each item pictured and captioned in four different languages. I'm guessing Hungarian, German, and English were three of the languages. So we decided to go the soup and sandwich route for lunch. We wound up each ordering the same thing, soe goulash soup and a hot ham and cheese sandwich. I couldn't resist trying a Hungarian beer to add to my tasting sampler of the trip, Arany Aszok in this case. Bob ordered a hot chocolate which came in an ice cream soda class, and looked so much like a milkshake I had to feel the glass to confirm that it was in fact hot. Bob reported very good things about the hot chocolate, noting primarily the fact it was dark chocolate.

So then the soups arrive, served with two large slices of fresh bread. The cafeteria I eat lunch at regularly has Hungarian Goulash soup on the menu, and so it would be interesting to get the comparison. Back home the soup is a little spicy, and I reall an episode of Amazing Race indicating one time that "the soup was like eating a bowl of hot sauce" The truth is, of course, somewhere in the middle. I think the spiciness of the soup can be attributed in this case, to the use of jalepeno or similar type peppers in the soup. I think we both hit one of those peppers in the soup that will set you free, or at least it will set your sinuses free. Overall it was a great soup, and with the generous portion of soup, and the generous amount of bread served with the soup, could have probably stood alone as a meal, but remember we still had sandwiches coming. The hot ham and cheese sandwich was served open face, on a little cutting board. You start with a slab of bread, cover that with ham, put a few tomatoes on top of that, then totally cover the whole thing with a lot of melted cheese to the point where it almost looks like pizza when they are done with it, and then sprinkle on some spices, seasoning and garnish. Substitute turkey for that ham, and you would have a local specialty from around here known as Hot Brown. After finishing both the soup and the sandwich, all of it wonderful, Bob ordered a second hot chocolate for desert, and I couldn't resist ordering one as well. Hmm, if anybody knows anybody here Stateside that makes hot chocolate with dark chocolate, please let me know. And even after our very large lunch, in the end we found the total check to be quite reasonable, particularly after noting the "service" was already included.

We had time after eating to peruse the booths setup along the street, and in the process I got the usual picture book and magnet to bring home. We were almost back to the bus when I looked in the door of one shop and saw flags on display with price tags. Putting on the flag collector hat, I walked inside. After looking around, I ultimately settled on a 3'x5' Hungarian flag. It wasn't till I got it home in my hands that I realized what a good flag it is. Decidedly not a tourist grade flag, the three color panels are sewn together, not printed, and the white panel has the coat of arms on it. The coat of arms is printed, but it's a higher quality print process than what you get on the economy grade flags. Just having the coat of arms is unusual, as I don't see that variation offered from the places I usually buy flag. Perhaps the most authentic feature is the flag bears the proper manufacturer tags that are often missing from lower grade flags, and even though I can't read the tags, plugging in the web address offered took me to the website of a Hungarian flag maker. I was puzzled about one thing, instead of the usual header and grommets, this flag has a sleeve for the flagpole, which is normal, but usually there are tabs inside the sleeve that attach to clips on the pole. I felt around and could not find any tabs. I thought I could use the manufacturer tag as a tab, but it's on the green panel and I need the red on top. Looking at some of my flag collecting resources, I leaned the local custom for these type flags is to use a wooden pole, slip the pole through the sleeve, then nail the flag to the pole. Fine it that is your flag, that you will be displaying regularly, not so great for the collector that may just want to display it for a special occasion.

Anyway, now having eaten and done the souvenir shopping, it is time for the bus tour. I am happy that they decided to break the tour up into smaller chunks. We started out driving alongside the Danube river and observing all the boaters and cruises enjoying the water. Looking across the river we could see Buda Castle, before turning inland to drive around the Parliament building, which is large, stately building. We drove around the Pest side of Budapest (the river separates the two sides) stopping at the cathedral for a tour. Getting out of the bus, one has to be careful of the bike lanes, I noted that bikes are very popular in Europe, and with the price of gas being about 1.25 Euro per liter or almost 5 Euro per gallon, or nearly $7 a gallon on can see why. Here, they have the bike lane painted in bright red on the sidewalk, with railings running along either side of it except for designated crossing spots. So, yes, be very careful as they will be traveling at high speed on the bike lane.

We approached the cathedral from the back and made our way up the grand stairway, and I noted the track of the wheelchair lift as it curves its way around the front of the building. On the way in, we were handed flyers for some organ concerts. During tour hours the cathedral is pretty dark inside, and they don't allow you to go much further than the back area behind the pews. I did like the miniature of the cathedral they had in the vestibule, and the intricate mosaic tile work out in front of the cathedral in the big square. As for the inside, the walls were reddish in nature with the usual assortment of paintings and statuary. I think I reached the point where after touring three major cathedrals in as many days, they start to blend together in your mind.

After touring the cathedral, we had time to enjoy the square. While we were there we noted a unique pedal operated car go buy, sort of a cross between a bike and a car. Note this wasn't a child's toy, this was a legitimate transportation alternative. The square also had a large souvenir store with a wide selection of the embroidery work that Hungary is noted for. Also taking a page from many a roadside attraction, the large gift shop makes a selling point of free restrooms, which they put at the very back of the store.

After tat, we returned to the bus and did the driving tour of Pest, including passing the opera, the circus, the usual assortment of museums and other important political and cultural centers. We even passed by a zoo, and the whimsical looking lighthouse like structure we can see poking up is the elephant house. Near the zoo is the local amusement park, albeit closed, not that I had time to visit anyway. The cultural highlight of the city tour of Pest was Hero's Square. Here we got out of the bus so we could get a closer look. Hero's Square is a semicircular promenade with statues of former Hungarian kings and military leaders. Sitting in front of the semicircular ring is the symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Hero's Square is flanked on either side by museums, truly making it a cultural center of the city.

During our drive through Pest, we saw some of the old stately houses, and told the story of how many of their owners were evicted at the start of the Soviet era rather harshly, with only an hour to get whatever they wanted to keep.

We then crossed the Chain bridge, a suspension bridge over the Danube over to Buda. We saw the tunnel that goes under Buda hill and next to it the incline one could taketo get up to the castle and other attractions located atop Buda Hill. We drove around and parked in back of the castle, were we walked along what looks like a bullet ridden building that is flanked by an avenue of flags. We made our way through this part of town towards Holy Trinity square and ultimately to Mass at the Matthias Church, a 13th century church. I'm not sure what time the church normally closes to tourists, but we are about to become some unpopular people in Buda as our group had reserved the church for our private use for about an hour or so.

It's an unusual church in that the entrance we used required going through the vestibule and then down a flight of stairs into the church proper. Again reddish tones highlighted the wall with an ornate and unusual pattern inscribed in the design. We first had our final mass of the tour, during the offertory collection it was brought up how back home we have the annual collection to restore the churches that were damaged during the Soviet era, and that right now we can see the fruits of that collection.

After the mass we had our guided tour of the church, The key feature that I recall is that the church started out as a Catholic church and during its history was taken over and converted into a mosque. At that point all the original artwork was painted over, and we can still see the women's gallery that rings the main floor. After the tour there was some talk of group photos at the statue outside of the church.

We then went up on Fisherman's Bastion, which is an overlook that offers a commanding view of the Danube and Budapest (mainy Pest). This is a great place for taking pictures, and we noted what might be the most interesting part of the Mathias church, the very elaborate tile work on the roof, as you get to look down on the church from the bastion.

As we left the square, I noted a pedestal with a model of the church on it, and then we retraced our steps back to where the bus had dropped us off. We drove a bit around Buda before going through the big tunnel I mentioned earlier. They mentioned one of the more unique tourist activities they have are cave tours under Buda. What makes it most unique is they have a variation where they lead you in, get you all turned around and lost, then give you just a miner's lamp, turn off the lights, and see who can find their way out. Yes, after a couple hours they do go rescue the ones who got hopelessly lost. We drove alongside the Danube before ending up on Margaret Island, which is a high price resort island in the middle of the Danube.

Literally, about two days before the tour began, we received notice that our Budapest accommodations were being upgraded to this resort island. It's an exclusive island with checkpoints and luxury resorts. So great, I am in this resort, I kind of wish I had packed a swimsuit so I could go down to the ornate baths. The other problem came in the form of the bad news about our departure time. It was something I had feared right when I was handed my airline tickets. You see, the departure from Budapest was pegged at 7:05 AM, with it being an international flight and all, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that we will have to have an extremely early wake up call. I think the original plan was to have us there three hours early, until our local Budapest guide interjected the fact the airport doesn't open until 5am, and that we are only about a half hour drive from the airport. Still, to be sure we padded in some time with our departure pegged for 4:15, an thus bags out in hall around 3:30.

So, we arrived, got checked in, and went up to our room. It was a nice large room with all the amenities including a large balcony. After getting settled in, we returned to the lobby to go to the restaurant for the farewell dinner. The farewell dinner is when all the thank-yous and good byes are said. As a further tribute the wine was free during the farewell diner. We started with some soup, and then we had goulash for dinner, this time served over rice. Much like the ever present apple strudel, I am getting my quota on certain European specialties. At least the desert here wasn't apple strudel, more like some sort of torte instead.

After dinner, the Hearts Club convened in the lobby of the hotel in Budapest for another session. There was talk of making it an all night game, since it was already 9 and we needed to be up at 3, but we wrapped it up early anyway. Some other people in our group went through the tunnel to the spa and noted it was most unusual. Probably if I wasn't tired, I would have had the thought to go see for myself.

Before going to bed tonight, a thorough repacking was needed to put as much of the heavy lifting tomorrow on the part of the airline. I also prepared my cost estimate for US customs. This is because when you re-enter the United States they ask the approximate value of foreign goods you are bringing with you into the country. We then prepared the in room coffee maker for our courtesy coffee in the morning. It was neat seeing a European power strip, with its recessed sockets and all. Remember, we are talking 220V power supply here, I noted in Ireland the mechanical safety shutters, here the idea is the socket is recessed far enough in to keep curious little fingers out. I know in Munich I saw it and thought "I don't have an adapter for that plug style" and wound up renting one from the hotel. (Okay, I borrowed one for a 10 Euro deposit), and Bob mentioned that if I was careful I could fit y adapter into the recessed portion. I tried that in Obermaergau and found that yes, it works, and the adapter is just long enough so I can plug my step down transformer into it. It can be tricky getting the adapter back out, but not too hard.

Okay, we have to get up way to early to keep talking. Tomorrow's plans solely revolve around the flight back to the US.

Day 10 - Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Wow, is this early. I think I had to try to wake Bob up two or three times. We got the coffee going and got ready. We were planning on just lugging our own luggage to the lobby, but the porters knocked on our door to collect the bags. We made our way to the front desk half asleep to check out. Upon checking out we were each handed a bag with breakfast in it. The bags had two boxes in them, and at first there was some confusion over if we should take one bag per room or per person, but they told us it was one bag per person. The porters only took our luggage as far as the lobby, which is a good tactic as it makes sure you load your own bag on the bus since we won't have time for tracking down bags later.

Out on the bus, we dove into our double box breakfast. The main feature was a deli sandwich with all kinds of meats and cheeses and other stuff on it. Apart from that the boxes contained a juice box (apple), an assortment of fresh fruits and breads including a couple Danish. I hear they have a wonderful buffet breakfast and I guess the thought was "We don't really know what they want, so we'll put a wide sampling of all the cold stuff in the boxes" it was a filling on the go breakfast.

We got the usual airport briefing, check in, go through security, get on plane. Sounds simple enough, and since we were first going to Frankfurt, Germany, which is still in the Shengen zone, no passport controls on the way out. We arrived at the airport and porters took our bags right from the bus into the terminal. It wasn't a long walk, but the help was appreciated It was lulling us into a false sense of thinking we were in a civilized airport.

We get inside the terminal, and it looks simple enough, large departure boards above the ticket counters give the flight schedule, and monitors over the ticket lanes tell which lanes are for which flight. There was also already a large group of people gathering in the terminal building. At precisely two hours before your flight, green lights start flashing next to your flight on the big departure board, this tells you your flight is now open to check in. What happens next is people stampede to the ticket counter where there may only be two or three agents for the whole flight. There is no sense of order, its mob mentality and to be honest I was much relieved to get through that step. Once we finally got up to the kiosk, an airline agent checked us in, nothing out of the ordinary there except he checked out bags to Cincinnati, but could only give us boarding passes for the flights to Germany and Chicago. "We can't issue boarding passes on United" We then got between some rope barriers which means a fairly well organized line getting to the baggage check desks. From there you have to cross through the mob again to get to the entrance to the security area. We followed the arrows to economy, glad to be walking past some rather ominous "The wait from this point is" signs. There are two entrances, one on either side of the ticket counter, and the both merge together at the entrance to the security checkpoint. Here they have a booth where they check your ID and boarding pass, then you proceed into a waiting area. I do like the fact the security workers here actively try to help you, getting out plastic tubs for you as you fill them.

After Cincinnati, I was glad they were just using a normal metal detector and baggage scanner, which meant I got through the checkpoint pretty easy, none of this take of your shoes business here. Bob was held back for a hand inspection of his carry on luggage, a bottled water being the culprit. They discarded his water and we both proceeded through the doors into the departure lounge. Let's see flight boards at 6:30, and its already 6:27. At least we were lucky enough to have the gate closest to where you enter the departure lounge.

The flight to Germany was smooth, as with most short flights, there was no entertainment, but surprisingly we did get a breakfast. The breakfast was a much smaller version of the sandwich we had just eaten from the hotel. Not nearly as good, but it filled the time. When we got to Germany, instead of a jet bridge, the rolled the big staircase up to the plane, or rather they rolled two big staircases up to the plane, as they unloaded the plane from both ends. Suddenly our seats in the next to last row of the plane were looking good as we were some of the first to unload. Down the stairs and onto a waiting bus. We took a short bus ride to the terminal, and then it was up a couple escalators and we followed the signs to the A terminal. As is common in European airports, the path to a connecting flight (or transiting) took us right to a security checkpoint to be rechecked.

It looked like a long line, but with numerous lanes open, and a greeter guiding people into the shortest lanes it was a real efficient process. Again, just a normal metal detector and no fuss getting through this checkpoint as well. We then started to run the marathon to our next gate. First off, we were in the B concourse, so we had to walk quickly about halfway down the B concourse, then dodge the metal poles, then hoof it down numerous flights of stairs, then jump on the moving sidewalk that took you through the tunnel under the tarmac to the A gates. Then we had to wait in line for an elevator up to the concourse. We reemerged near gate A1, and our tickets clearly say A59. Oh boy, time to run another marathon. In terminal A they do have moving sidewalks between every gate cluster which makes it somewhat more tolerable. At about gate A22 or something like that we are directed to turn around and go up an escalator to the third floor. At the top of the escalator there is another boarding pass check to see if you really are leaving the Shengen zone, then you go through passport control. Again, little more than rubber stamp formality, but I note they do look to see if you are within the terms of your visa. (90 days in most cases). It was about halfway down the third floor to our gate, again arriving within 5 minutes of the boarding time.

Bob and I, as usual go up for the pre-boards due to his vision, and rather than going down the stairs to the plane, they escort us to the elevator. This leads us to a Boeing 747, often seen in movies, but this would be my first time flying in one. No AVOD system on this plane, just the overhead monitors. We struck up a friendship with the people in our row, and had a hearts game going for part of the trip. We did get a dinner on board, and by the time they got to us they only had veggie dinners left, but they did have an Indian meal left which I took, particularly since I like Indian restaurants. Some sort of vegetable masala over rice with cheese, and then raieta, a Caesar salas, and some sort of coffee cake thing. It was actually really good, even though I may have been one of the few around us who got excited there was an Indian meal left after the meat meals had run out. As with the flight to Munich, complimentary alcoholic beverages are available, and I think I availed myself to three Warsteiners during the flight. Oh, and yes the hot moist lemon towels before the meals is a very nice touch. The lunch when we were about to land included the option I selected which was essentially a bratwurst in a pretzel bread shell with german mustard already inside. We also used part of the flight time to fill out our US customs paperwork.

Upon arrival in Chicago, we left the plane and were kept in the usual secluded passageways that ensure you go to Customs, and only to Customs. Here, first you divide into numerous lines depending on your nationality with special lanes for military and the like. We got into the US citizens lane, and after waiting through a twisting line for a bit, they also had a greeter that kept the line moving smoothly. One more rubber stamp in the passport accompanied by a "Welcome home, where did you visit?" They look over and also stamp your arrival form. Then you go find your luggage, and we were surprised to see our luggage come out as some of the first, then you take your luggage and your arrival card over to customs and see if they want to inspect further. We both gotlucky, they just took our arrival cards and sent us out the doors into the aiport.

You exit right into the United ticketing lounge, first they have workers who scan the barcode on your luggage tags and take your checked luggage back from you, then you go up to the desk to get your boarding pass. Rather easy system. From there it was out the front door of the airport and up the escalator to an L station to grab the train from terminal 5 to terminal 1. At terminal 1 a couple more escalators and we were in the ticketing area of terminal 1 and the escalator drops you off right by the entrance to security. It was a long slow moving line with only two lanes open. Again, I was happiest to see no body scanner, which meant another pain free airport screening, my third one today.

We needed to go to area C of terminal 1, so we had to then walk to the center, down an escalator, across a moving sidewalk and back up into concourse C. Of course our gate was the furthest one. We got settled in, got some ice tea from Starbucks, and soon the Hearts club was in session in the airport. We did pause for some to visit the bar when everybody had to change gates. Bob and I grabbed a quick bite for dinner, and then we started up another Hearts game. This hearts game took us all the way up till it was time to board the United Flight to Cincinnati.

Bob and I were lucky to get seated in Economy Plus, which is basically economy with 5" more legroom. Wow, the difference 5" makes. It was a quick flight to Cincinnati, I mean were we even up in the air an hour? The servers barely had time to serve the free soft drinks.

Then, at long last, back home. No matter how great or fun a trip was, there is something to be said for getting back home. We would arrive at the furthest gate from the street, not that it was too far with only 8 gates in terminal 2. We got down to baggage claim ad had and had a problem, yes all our bags were there, sitting off in a corner of the room, ties together with steel cable. It took a bit to get somebody to come unlock our bags, and then we could head home. We dropped Bob off at his house and made sure everything was okay for him, then I went home, and after a real quick show and tell mae my way tomy own bedroom. Nothing beats your own bed.

And so this ends Europe 2010, thanks for reading.

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