Today started with a wonderful breakfast at the Austrotel, just what we needed to give us strength for a very busy day! Once we were finished with breakfast and the bus loaded, we were off for a tour of Innsbruck. Our tour guide today was Fritz and he was wonderbar! We had a panoramic tour by bus of this beautiful city followed by a walking tour of the old town. This city was the most gorgeous yet! Being in the middle of the Austrian Alps, you can't help but be overwhelmed by all the beauty and majesty of the area.

Our first stop was at a church at the base of the ski jump that was built for the Olympics a few years back. Fritz told us that the ski jump is also used during the summer as well. He also mentioned that the end of the ski jump landing area is practically in the cemetery across the street from the church! We had a good laugh when he also told us about another ski jump that had been built elsewhere, but that one landed practically on a hospital…..I guess they had a better outlook on the state of the jumpers at the end of their run than the ones in Innsbruck!

After leaving there, we learned some of the history of Innsbruck as well as visiting St. James Cathedral and the Imperial Palace. The cathedral was beautiful with the most gorgeous pipe organ we’d seen yet. Vicki and I were wondering if we asked nicely if they’d let us play, but we decided chances weren’t in our favor! However, we were in awe of the beautiful pipes in this church (the rest of the church was great too, but we organists tend to notice the organ a little more than anything else!!). Because the church was actually connected to the Imperial Palace, that was our next stop. The altar had two balconies on either side for the visiting celebrities and dignitaries. One of these balconies could only be entered via the Palace, so that was how Maria Theresa and her family got to church. I guess you really can’t have the excuse that it’s too cold/wet/ windy, etc. to go to church when your home is attached directly to the church! Although we weren’t able to go in the palace, we did get a bit of history and were able to see the outside.

Attached to the palace is another smaller church where Maximillion I is buried…..well at least that’s where his grave is! This church was built specifically to house his grave, but he got mad and decided to be buried elsewhere. Because the people had already started this large grave, they completed it, but it now sits empty! Again, we weren’t able to go inside, but it was very interesting to get the history of this church.

From the palace, we walked through more of old town and learned a little bit about the architecture. One row of houses we saw had 4 out of 5 buildings that had four floors and one with only three. The reason for this was that the person in the fifth building was over 7 feet tall and because they had to make the ceilings higher, they could only fit three floors in that house. Surprisingly enough, a few years later, the house next to it was the home of a man who was only about 3 ½ feet high! Located in this same neighborhood is the narrowest street in Innsbruck. This street can not be reached by car; it can only be navigated by foot or by bike. We ended our tour with a visit to the Swarovski Crystal Store where we saw lots of sparkly things, including a winter scene, which was amazing!

After the crystal store, we were on our own to explore and have lunch. The group I was with decided to try the local pizza…..and I’m very glad we did! For €3,90, I had a pizza the size of a large dinner plate with Prosciutto and Funghi (ham and mushrooms). I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this tasted a whole lot like Duane’s Pizza from back home! It was an awesome lunch and we had time for some people watching while we ate out on the patio.

We were now off towards Oberammergau. Our first stop was at the Weisekirche. This is a large, very ornate church basically located out in the middle of nowhere. It’s truly a church that you would expect to see in the middle of the city, not in the middle of a cow pasture and next to a farm! However, it was a nice break in our drive and definitely worth the stop.

After boarding the bus and making a quick drive, we arrived at Neuschwanstein Castle. Although I’d been here before 10 years ago with my friends Laura and Teresa, I was just as excited to see it again as I was seeing it for the first time. However, I conveniently forgot a couple of things…..like how crazy the drive up the mountain to the castle is and how steep the hills are to get back from the castle, not to mention the 63 steps from floor one to floor three and the additional 33 steps to floor four (not to mention the 96 steps you have to take to get back down to floor one!!). Again, I joined a gym specifically for this reason….didn’t work!! However, for all the pain and lack of breath, it was all worth it in the end….this castle is BEAUTIFUL!   It’s very opulent and rich, but maybe just a little "kooky" too….I mean, come on…..who puts a phone in just to have a phone when no one else you know has one so you can call them??? But still, if someone said I could have it for my second home, I wouldn’t turn them down!

At last, we were on our way to our hotel. My group from ND/MN was staying right in Oberammergau at the Schliferhof Hotel, but some of the group was staying in a couple of the outlying villages. For once it’s a good thing to spend a little extra money to be in the heart of the action! We got dropped off first and discovered that the playhouse is only ½ a block from our hotel…..sweet!   Our dinner was included tonight at the Hotel Wolff and we had the most enjoyable meal with our new friends Mary, Greg, Debbie and Jerri from Baltimore. We laughed so hard, my stomach muscles hurt almost as much as my leg muscles from all that hill and stair climbing today! However, the highlight of our evening had to be our waiter, Lucas. He was a hoot and we have found out that he’ll be working tomorrow too, so we’ve made sure that we’re all going to meet again and sit in his section so we can have a fun-filled lunch too!

By the time you read this, it’s most likely going to be a couple of days late as there is no internet connection here in Oberammergau (at least not at this hotel), so sorry for the tardiness! More tomorrow when we get to explore this quaint little village and attend the Passion Play! Good night all!