Day 3 - Oberammagau

Oberammagau & Linderhof Palace

Friday we woke up to snow falling! It wasn’t sticking on the ground here in the valley where our hotel is, but we had a beautiful view of it falling all around us and incredible views of the snow covered Alps from our balcony windows. We got ready and headed over to Edelweiss, the military resort we were originally trying to stay in before we heard about our hotel. They have info about things to do in the area and discount tickets so we checked in there to see what they had to offer first. Colin got his first opportunity to walk around and touch the snow in the parking lot here. He was very intrigued and didn’t quite know what to make of it.

Later we walked around Oberammagau, which is famous for two things, their woodcarvings and their Passion Play. The Passion play is a BIG deal around the area. Apparently many many many years ago the people were facing some horrible plague and to get rid of the plague they promised to spread the word of Jesus and to retell the story of his life every ten years in an elaborate theatrical play. The next Passion Play is to be held in 2010 and if you wanted to get tickets or a hotel you are most likely out of luck, they sell out years in advance! Another interesting note about this is that the city enacts a no shaving law on Jan 1 of the year prior to the year of the play (so Jan 1, 2009 a law went into effect for the 2010 play) and the residents of the town who are prohibited from shaving! The woodcarvings are also incredible and this is the place to come for this type of thing and cuckoo clocks. They are half the price of the clocks in our area! We spent the day wandering the village and taking pictures of the buildings and shops and then had lunch there. The buildings here are all done up in traditional Bavarian style with lots of woodwork on them and artwork painted on the walls. It’s so rustic and looks like the pages of a story book.

Next we stopped off at Linderhof Palace, one of King Ludwig II’s many palaces. This is the one he actually spent the most time living in. We didn’t go inside to tour the interior, just walked the grounds and saw the outside. Colin had a blast running in the snow there and talking to the geese on the lake, who swam right up to greet him. After the Palace we stopped at the Kloster Weihnachtsmarkt. We walked through the market that was all covered in snow with the Christmas and moonlight shining all around, gorgeous. When we got home Colin was pooped. We skipped his bath for the night and let him run around the room for a bit. When we said “are you ready for night nights” he actually walked to his room and stood at the door (which was closed) and when Shelby opened it up Colin went in his room and walked right over to his pack n play which is his bed at the hotel. He must have been tired!