We had planned to attend Passion Play 2020 in Oberammergau, after visiting the city on a prior trip. The COVID pandemic naturally made the trip impossible. The play itself would be postponed to 2022.
I had always wanted to plan for the trip again, but didn't get serious until mid-February when I checked the website for seats. To my surprise, many more seats than I expected were available. We picked a date for the Passion Play (Tuesday May 14), and planned a trip around it.
During the pandemic, we spent a lot of time at home watching British shows such as Father Brown, Midsommer Murders, The Coroner, and The Trouble with Maggie Cole, among others. The Cotswolds and Cornwall seem to be favorite filming locations, so we decided to spend a few days to take a look.
A couple of years ago I found out about this Wagner Festival 2022 that was to be held in Leipzig. I forgot about it, but David Y, when I told him about visiting Germany, reminded me of the festival. That made Leipzig another point in our itinerary. Pretty soon our travel plan came together: Newark to London, London to Munich, Munich to/from Oberammergau, Munich - Nuremberg - Leipzig - Berlin, Berlin to Newark. I visited Nuremberg several times on business in the mid-1990s but never toured the area, so decided to give it a visit.
6/7 Tuesday. Well, the (semi) unthinkable happened again. Our flight was again delayed, and this time it involved two changes of aircraft that gave some people unnecessary worries, and some people reasons to be upset. Let's describe the chronology of this mini-debacle. Things looked normal when UA messaged at 8 pm about flight departure at 10 pm. Then a new gate was announced, followed by a delay announcement (45 minutes), then another 20 minutes, then another 15. According to Flight Radar, the plane finally left at 12:09 am, and landed at 11:41 am (I believe these are wheels up and down times). Guess what, we had no gate at Heathrow. The pilot did come on and expressed that he was equally frustrated, he wanted to go home too; that remark I didn't find particularly helpful.
While in Newark we were in the Polaris Lounge, so things were okay. At about 9:30 pm an announcement came on saying the bar would soon close, and then another one saying the lounge would close at 10 pm, sharp. By that time the airport was quite quiet, so we had no problem with finding a place to sit, for about 90 minutes, it turns out.
One other problem that fortunately didn't affect us was the first plane change was to a 767 with a different configuration, one with only 30 business and no premium plus. We never lost our (upgraded) seat, but imagine some passengers got a very unpleasant notification that their premium seats were lost. (Of course the coach section was wide open as there were many more coach seats.) Eventually they switched back to a plane with the original configuration, so I assume all the "bumped" passengers had their seats restored. We then noticed a long line at the gate, I suspect the fewer seats in the (original configuration) meant some passengers had to be bumped. That would mean they gave some standby passengers their seats when they thought they had more available.
In any case, a mess, albeit a bit less of one than our Newark-Boston flight. The flight itself was uneventful, and I booked the 10 pm flight thinking I would be able to catch more sleep on a later flight; we ended up not getting much (a bit over an hour, may be) even though the plane left even later.
The first delay announcement. I just realized as I upload this screen shot that they use green color, perhaps to elicit less anger?
Plane change announcement. The "new" plane has a configuration with fewer Polaris (10 rows instead of 18) and no premium plus seats. So many people got downgraded or had unknown seat assignments.
Note the difference in plane number.
Our seats were in Row 9, wonder if that's why we never got a "warning" about possible downgrade.
Dinner and breakfast on UA940.
Amenities for flight.
Time stamp (trust me) on this was 11:32 am London time (GMT+1), so the plane took over 30 minutes to get to the gate.
Overnight on plane.
6/8 Wednesday. It is amazing how many people land at Heathrow, certainly at around noon. People streamed in towards the immigration area. The line for US passports (with readable chips) was quite long, but the automated system did its job and we were out in about 10 minutes. We found our way to Hertz and checked out our rental car, a Vauxhall Crossland X.
It didn't take long to get reacquainted with a stick shift (I stalled once the entire trip), and we were on our way to Wallingford, our first stop. The "hotel" we picked, somewhat randomly at Hotels.com, was a pub with rooms upstairs. Lynne, the owner (manager?) had emailed me so we knew what to do to get checked in (we arrived before the pub opened). Parking was a three-minute walk away. After settling in, Anne and I walked along the Thames River.
At about 5 pm Greta met us at the parking lot. She lives in Aylesbury but didn't come straight from there. We first had coffee, then drove about 45 minutes to Marlow to have dinner at a Thai Restaurant. We would have been okay if we stayed in town and eat some English Pub food, but the Thai place (Suun) served pretty good food. Greta also studied at Cornell (a few years behind us) but found her way to the UK many years ago. She has family in the Northeast so we would see her every couple of years - last time it was 2019.
One worry I had was driving in the dark on these country roads. Standard shift, and driving on the left side of the road. Greta reassured me that sunset is around 9:30 pm, and there would be some period of twilight after that. In any case, I had no trouble at all, getting back a little after sunset. I went for a short walk after getting in.
Coachmakers Arms is located about where the car is (opposite side of street).
The sign for Coachmakers Arms has a cat on it. Wonder if Brakspear (started in 1711) decided to parody Lowenbrau's logo. (Lowenbrau was started in Munich in 1383, per Wikipedia.) Note: Photo not of Coachmakers Arms.
Housekeeping duties perhaps don't extend to spiders? There is quite a bit of web (occupied) around. I was a bit worried this would come down and bite me at night.
Signpost for The Thames. The path wasn't that easy to find.
This section of Thames is very quite, and looked reasonably clean (of debris; who knows what pollutants are in it).
Oxford University Boat Club.
Center of town, Wallingford.
This general area is where Midsomer Murders is filmed. Nothing too obvious. The church (St. Mary-le-more) could well have been used.
The country just finished celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Queen's reign. All decked up with the Union Jack and Corgis.
Coffee with Greta Chang in town.
Waiting for dinner at Suun Restaurant. A Thai restaurant in Marlow, about 30 minutes from Wallingford.
Accommodations: Coachmakers Arms, Wallingford. (1 night)
6/9 Thursday. Lynne in her email suggested a couple of places for breakfast. We decided to go full English at the Dolphin. A regular and small cost GBP7 and 6 respectively, coffee included. So we had our fill - we snacked lightly during the day, and had only dinner.
One thing we noticed was all these decorations to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee anniversary. Greta reassured us that this is a small-town phenomenon, people in big cities wouldn't bother with that.
Our original plan was to drive all the way to Land's End, but changed our mind to limit ourself mostly to the Cornwall area, in part because Greta talked about how nice the harbors are in the area. She spends a week or so sailing this area every summer.
Our first was Southampton, a city I vaguely recall visiting with Anne's family in one of our early trips to the UK. Then we visited a boat maker, my in-laws being into boats. Both Anne and I remember the heavy rain during the drive. Weather was very nice; indeed it has been nice as I type this (Sunday evening). I bought a cup of Starbucks at the ferry terminal (Red Funnel being one of the lines); both vehicular and fast ferries make frequent runs to the Isle of Wight (IOW). Perhaps it is worth a day visit, or perhaps an English version of Rottnest or Kangaroo Island. Next town was Exmouth, located (duh) at the mouth of the Exe River (Dartmouth is at the mouth of River Dart).
It was around 6 pm when we checked into the Seabreezes Guesthouse. Our room on the top floor (2 levels up?) had a partial view of the sea, and the building is very close to a ferry terminal, we saw a boat from France come in.
For dinner we drove to the Sutton Harbour area. The pilgrims left the United States in 1620 from (where else?) Plymouth, and landed at Plymouth Rock a few months later. The Mayflower steps at the harbor commemorate that event. Jacka Bakery - "baking since 1597" - supplied the flour for the trip, so they claim.
After dinner I took a walk to Smeaton Light.
These ferries (vehicular and fast) leave for Isle of Wight (IOW). Evidently a popular destination, given the frequency of the sailings.
Thatched roofs are still quite common in this area.
We stopped by the town of Exmouth.
Tidal heights are quite substantial, so boats need to time their comings and goings.
Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, flying both the Union Jack and the American Flag.
The Harbour Restaurant is quite popular.
The food - crab salad sandwich and fish & chips - is just so so ...
... but the nice view of the Sutton Harbor makes up for it.
Jacka Bakery supplied the flour for those on the 1620 Mayflower trip, so it is claimed.
Smeaton's Tower in Hoe's Park. A short walk from our hotel.
Right next to the hotel is the ferry terminal for boats coming in from France.
Lots of sailboats, as indicated by all these masts.
Accommodations: Seabreezes Guesthouse, Plymouth. (2 nights)
6/10 Friday. Our goal today was to visit three locations: Port Isaac, known as Port Wenn in Doc Martin; Noss Mayo, town where The Trouble with Maggie Cole was based; and Salcombe, home base for The Coroner. For today's entry I will post some pictures. Later on I will describe a bit how these towns came across.
First, about driving on rural roads in Cornwall. There is this talk about these one-lane roads (with traffic in both directions) with tall hedges on both sides. What to do when there is an oncoming car? First, there are few oncoming cars; second, when that happens, one car can probably find a stretch wide enough so one car can pull aside while the other squeeze through; third, perhaps said stretch requires one car to back up a bit, with etiquette and local knowledge "dictating" which car should back up. I remember one stretch when I had ten consecutive encounters without any problems. Then it happened. I made a right turn to go downhill on a one-land road, and in front of me were two cars going up the hill. I couldn't see anything behind them that would make it feasible for them to back up, and there was a car following me. Anne remembered our turn had some space for me to back up to, and the car behind me had backed up a bit already. So I put all my standard shift driving skills to work: handbrake, put on some gas, slowly release the clutch, and then let go of the brake. Easy in theory, quite a bit more difficult for someone out of practice. Eventually we got it done. The two cars passed me, waving their appreciation as they drove by (or was it their way of shaking their heads?). And I followed them; yes, that means going back the way we came. We looked through the map and manually plotted a way that avoided these unnamed roads. That added about 20 minutes to our trip.
One issue is Google's interpretation of the speed limits on these narrow lanes. I am quite sure these don't have posted speed limits, and I notice Google assumes for them a default value of 60 mph. Many "regular" roads do not have that limit, particularly when it comes to intersections and villages. That would mean if routes using these are faster, even by a little, Google will pick them. So it happens a lot. Which probably has caused problems of various degrees for people who use it to navigate.
Anyway, here are the photos taken near Port Isaac. We had trouble identifying Louisa's cottage, and didn't drive to the police station.
Anne saw this interesting juxtaposition of a church in front of a modern-looking building. I was too focused on navigating these Plymouth roundabouts.
This would be a great one-lane road to drive on. We had to deal with much worse but too pre-occupied to take any pictures of the more harrowing sections, including a location where we had to ford a small stream - and there was a sign "ford" about 20 yards in front of it.
We had to park some distance from town. Here is the first glimpse of the Doc's surgery (called Fern Cottage).
Rose Hill Lane leads to the village.
Taken at the harbor. The white building to the right of the Fern Cottage is Bert's restaurant.
The Fish and Chips place is Al's restaurant, to its left is the Crab and Lobster inn.
Up the hill is the village school.
This is the pharmacy.
Fern Cottage, used as Doc Martin's surgery.
View from the Old School. It is a hotel and restaurant, with parking, by the way.
Afternoon tea at the Old School Restaurant. We were sitting outside but it got too windy.
Clever paintings of the doors to the ladies' and men's rooms. They are "regular" doors.
Ruth's cottage is located in a lane off the main part of the village. It (the dark colored one) is surprising decrepit.
If one continues up the hill, one is rewarded with a rather nice view of the town.
The waves are quite wild, the breakwaters do a great job of protecting the harbor.
To get to Port Isaac we had to drive on the Tamar Bridge. It is the only place that collects a toll (2 pounds, one direction only), and next to it is this strangely architected bridge for trains.
Ross Mayo is where "The Trouble with Maggie Cole" was shot. It's on the way here that I had the harrowing experience of having to back up the car uphill to let two others cross. We then map out the route manually (by defining some sensible via points) which made the trip easier - although there was no way to avoid them all.
Salcombe was a relatively big town, and from the crowds, a very popular one.
Dinner was Fish and Chips at the "Original Takeaway" in Salcombe. There was this herring gull that was very aggressive in flying right into a person to steal food from them, successfully in Anne's case. We notice that it was crippled, so that's perhaps that's the only way it can survive.
Salcombe is a boating town, with many boats at the various harbors.
I find this sign quite interesting, something Biblical.
We had Fish & Chips and Fried Shrimp from here.
This rather large poster was on display in a nearby shop. The bust of the queen is created from a lot of buttons.
Some random quiet street in Salcombe, away from the crowd.
Some nice beaches in the neighborhood.
This Herring Gull was quite audacious in swooping right at tourists and stealing their food, as it did successfully with one of Anne's shrimps. We noticed that one of its feet didn't look right, so perhaps that's the only way it could survive?
I again took a walk in the hotel area after we got back.
6/11 Saturday. That was the end of our Cornwall experience, for now anyway. Today we would make our way to Swindon, so as to be close to the airport.
One other objective was to get our clothes washed. So everything would still fit in a carry-on case, we would need our clothes washed twice or three times during our trip (too lazy to do any serious handwashing). Swindon Launderette seemed a reasonable choice, and it was. It was our first stop in Swindon, and the Middle Eastern family that runs the place couldn't have been friendlier. The wash would be ready in two hours, and they close at 7 pm. We picked up at around 6 pm, and the total cost was GBP 9. There was a place along Salisbury Road that was quite convenient to stop (with someone inside the car).
In between we drove to Blockley, of Father Brown fame, and visited the church and the village. It wasn't difficult to get to (unlike the places in Cornwall), and we enjoyed it.
Dinner was takeout from this place across from the Swindon Launderette. We ate in our hotel room, and afterwards I walked around town a bit. The hotel was situated in a nice neighborhood, with single family homes, duplexes, and some row houses.
Some remarks on these film locations. Both Port Isaac and Noss Mayo have a high degree of familiarity for the TV series viewer. In Port Isaac, you can imagine how people walk down Roscarrock Hill, or how school children would gather in the school yard. Noss Mayo's inlet is the familiar backdrop in Maggie Cole (a relatively short series). Neither Salcombe nor Wallingford have easy-to-recognize landmarks, at least not for me. In Blockley, St. Mary's church (in actuality an Anglican Church called St. Paul and St. Peter), is seen a lot in the Father Brown series. Both and I found sitting in front of it very peaceful. There continue to be services on Sunday.
Our room at Seabreezes Guest House in Plymouth had a "sea view," worth it for the extra few pounds it cost.
The Vauxhall Crossland, our rental car for our UK leg. We ended up putting about 800 miles on it. In Germany we would see a similar car under the Opel brand.
GBP 47.9 for 24.2 liters of E10 fuel. Works out to about US$10 a gallon. We ended up spending close to $250 in gas in the UK. 800 miles for 25 gallons works out to over 30 mpg. Gas in NJ on June 25 was about $4.80 a gallon.
We stopped by a Service Area on M5 and bought some pastries from this place.
St. Paul and St. Peter Church in Blockley, known to people who watch Father Brown as St. Mary's.
Inside of the church.
Blockley is the quintessential small UK village.
Walk around Swindon Marriott.
We had no idea what this sign meant when we first saw it. Photo from the internet. (In our defence, in a distance the blue circles looked like flowers.)
An aerial photograph, from the internet.
I couldn't quite follow the directions given by Google. We ended up getting out of the circle and went another way.
The people working at this launderette were most helpful.
Dinner was takeout from this restaurant near the laundromat.
Accommodations: Swindon Marriott Hotel. 1 night.
6/12 Sunday. I imagine many people make a one-day commute between London and Munich for work, and I am certain I have done something similar. However, this ended up being a travel day for us.
It is about an hour trip by car from Swindon to Heathrow, and we took a bit longer because we had to stop for gas. Next was a shuttle bus from the Hertz Car Return to Terminal 2. The driver for the Terminal 4/5 Shuttle told us traffic was all tied up at Terminals 2 and 3, and we would be well-advised to go to Terminal 4 and take the Airport Express to transfer to Terminal 2. Fair enough. Of course not having done that before, it took us a while to figure it out. One can ask for a free transfer card from one of the many attendants around, or get one from a machine. The line for check in and bag drop off was quite long (one would think bag dropoff would be a different line, but not in this case). After standing in line for 20 or so minutes, we found out as Star Alliance Gold members we could go to the Business counters, and there was no wait. There is also an express line for Gold members also. To add to the perks, we could use either the Lufthansa Business or Senator Lounge. There actually isn't a lot of difference as far as I can tell. Before we hit the lounge, we used Priority Pass to get some food at Big Smoke Taphouse and Kitchen.
Come to think of it, PP used to allow access to Plaza Premium Lounge in Terminal 2. That lounge is still around, but evidently the relationship has been terminated.
Our flight was delayed from 4:25 pm to 5:35 pm (per Flight Radar), and landed at around 8 pm. The part of the airport I was at was already quite quiet, so Anne thought we should get a couple of sandwiches just in case ... she turned out to be right. Bus 635 took us right to Novotel Munich Airport. Check in was slow, and the clerk didn't seem bothered by the line that was waiting. I picked this hotel because I thought it would be convenient for late arrival, turns out I should have continued into town given our plans.
The room was at best adequate, and we did eat what Anne got at the airport. The restaurant would close soon after we checked in - the bar remained open.
So, staring inappropriately is considered an offence.
Having Star Alliance Gold status sped things up quite a bit, we just wished we had realized it earlier. Nothing at Berlin when we were flying back to NJ.
Big Smoke Taphouse and Kitchen at LHR, courtesy Priority Pass.
This 9-euro Deutsche Bahn ticket, valid for the entire month of June, ended up saving us quite a bit of money, and hassle.
Our second flight was delayed again.
Accommodations: Novotel Munich Airport. (1 night)
6/13 Monday. Either Germany's transportation system is not nearly as good as that of Switzerland - although in my prior experience they were somewhat comparable - or our string of bad luck continues. Today's saga is how to get from Novotel MUC to Oberammergau. Our original itinerary was Munich Airport, change at Central Station, and change at Murnau to get to Oberammergau. We found out today there was a train derailment near Garmisch-Partenkirchen with multiple deaths, and the cancellation of the Murnau to Oberammergau segment may be a result of that. (As far as I can tell, the Murnau - Oberammergau line does not go over the section where the train derailed, so not sure exactly if this was the cause.) The Bahn APP doesn't say anything beyond "journey cancelled," so we looked for other alternatives to get from Munich Hbf to Oberammergau. The only reasonable option, taking 2 1/2 hours, was to take train to Weilheim OB (which means Over Bayern), then bus from Weilheim to Echelsbacher Brucke, followed by a bus from there to Oberammergau. I know enough German to know Brucke means bridge. And Google Maps shows it somewhat in the middle of nowhere, which to my mind means a shelter at best where we sit and wait for the next bus, which runs about every 60 minutes. I was ready to try as there didn't seem to be other options.
Story continues... To do that, we needed to catch the 11:58 am train to Weilheim from Munich Hbf. The S-bahn train we caught from the hotel should get us there at 11:25 am, but track work/signaling problem delayed its arrival until past noon. We were ready to try the next train-bus connection (taking even longer) which would start until 2:30 pm or so. I went to Customer Service and asked if that was a viable way to go. I was told to get on the Murnau train, and they would arrange buses (as needed) to get to Oberammergau. So we took our originally scheduled RB65, but we took a 2nd class seat as the car we were in was quite empty. Indeed when we got to Murnau there were buses waiting, with different destinations posted on the front. The bus was crowded, and people getting on and off would mean it's a regularly scheduled service, but we got to Oberammergau.
If DB had been clearer in their communications, that would have saved their customers a lot of grief.
The other worry was if the hotel still had my reservation, so imagine my relief when the receptionist said "Mr. Cheung, I presume" when I walked in. My recollection of Oberammergau was vague (more coming back as the day wore on), but it was exactly how I imagined it. Street are clean, houses in tip-top shape, with "murals" painted on the outside wall of most buildings.
We lived right across the Catholic Church, which advertised a program for 9 pm tonight at the Small Hall. We attended what was essentially a short video talking about the show. There were questions asked regarding how political the show has become, how dependent the villagers are on the show economically, and how this priest, who hails from Kerala, India, ends up being assigned to Oberammergau to provide services in English during the Passion Play period - he first came in 2019 but was then reassigned after the show was cancelled in 2020. Didn't pry, and he didn't volunteer a lot of information. Compared to the well-attended German session, there were only 5 people (3 parties) in the audience. A woman from Copenhagen, and a couple from Birmingham who came by a motor home. They said the RV park was a short 1/2 mile away from town. The priest then said there is a lightshow at the church, which had three of Jesus's last words (more like phrases) projected onto the walls. The words are: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do; Father, why have you forsaken me; and Father, I commit my spirit in your hands.
In between we walked around the town, went to Lidl (right by the train station) to buy some food, and visited a wood-working place. We vaguely recall where we bought the "3-D Picture." Dinner was at a Greek Restaurant.
I walked for a bit after we were done for the day. The evening felt quite nippy.
The map printed on table in the Munich-Murnau train gives a good overview of the area. I still don't understand how derailment near Garmisch would cause problems for the Murnau-Oberammergau segment.
A typical regional train. Behind the glass partition is first class, the blue fabric seats are second class.
From Oberammergau train station to hotel.
The Ammer river is where the town's name comes from: Upper Ammer Land. Not an impressive river.
Hotel Turmwirt is at the southern end of town, right next to the Catholic Church.
View from the balcony of our room. To the right is the church cemetery.
Room 10.
Altar piece inside the church.
Typical street, middle part of town.
Elaborated painted houses.
The priest suggested we take a look at the light show inside the church.
The Passion Play theater at night (about 10:15 pm) on Monday. There was no performance earlier today.
Accommodation: AKZENT Hotel Turmwirt, Oberammergau. (2 nights)
6/14 Tuesday. One major impetus for this trip was for us to see the Passion Play, so there was some anticipation as the day began. The show wouldn't start, however, until 2:30 pm.
Breakfast was included in the hotel tariff, and was typical German fare: cold cuts, cheeses, fruit, cereal and yoghurt. Eggs cooked to order and bacon were also on offer.
We went about walking around town. Eventually Anne went to the visitor center, and I to the train station, to ask about returning to Munich by train. People at both locations say there would be buses provided, although the person at the visitor center seemed more certain than the man in DB uniform at the train station. In any case, we shouldn't have to take the bus/train combination suggested by the DB APP, similar to our situation on Monday.
There was a talk given at the Theater at 10:30 am, given by one of the two actors who play Nicodemus, who was also a second director in the play. He talked among other things a bit about the history, and how the show has evolved over the years. I took some notes and will post them in the entry for my music blog. Most people know this started in the 1630s as a vow given by the villagers who survived the plague. What I didn't know was there were many other villages that made the same pledge, but the one in Oberammergau is the one that survived the centuries. Thomas Cook - yes, that Thomas Cook - visited in 1880 and suggested he could bring in tourists if the town built an auditorium for the play. The other visitor was Hitler, who used the play as an excuse to justify hatred for the Jews.
We bought tickets for the 2020 season, which was cancelled (ironically) because of another plague. Some parts of the story was re-written, and number of participants dropped from 2300 to 1800. Participants do get paid, even small children. Assuming an average ticket price of 120 euros, a filled auditorium (seating 4500) would bring in over 500,000 euros each show, and a hundred shows amount to 50 million euros.
For lunch we ate some sandwiches Anne bought in a local shop, and dinner was Donner Teller and brotwurst during the intermission. The show started at 2:30 pm, intermission at 5:00 pm, resumed at 8 pm, and didn't end until 10:40 pm. More than 5 hours of stage time. And I didn't doze off, not even once.
I also walked for about an hour during intermission. Together with the mile I walked in the morning, I did over 20,000 steps for a total of 8.5 miles.
Bavarian colors are blue and white. This is a hotel window.
If one pays attention, one would see all these elaborately painted murals.
There is also an Evangelical church (Lutheran) in town. Actually the Catholic and Lutheran churches cooperate when it comes to the Passion Show.
The somewhat austere interior of the church. There is a pipe organ in the back.
The inside of the Passion Theater. The slope of the main floor allows good views from all seats. Our seats were all the way up by the columns.
A May pole. Not sure if it is functioning, or built for the benefit of the tourist.
Enjoying lunch on the hotel balcony.
10 minutes before show started at 2:30 pm.
A few minutes before the play resumed at 8 pm.
The play ended at 10:40 pm or so.
During the break we had dinner.
And I also went for a walk.
Fruits tend to be expensive. But aren't they attractive.
6/15 Wednesday. After breakfast Anne and I strolled up to the Post Office so she could mail a card to Elaine. Elaine was all set to join us in 2020, but the lockdown in Hong Kong that's been going on for the entirety of the COVID pandemic made it impossible for her to join us. I also went to check out the Bahnhof again, not much happening then.
Again, the lack of communication from DB made the trip from Oberammergau to Munich unnecessarily complicated and anxiety-producing. We left the hotel a bit before 11 am, and got to the train station a bit before 11:15 am. One possibility suggested by the DB APP was to take the 11:15 am bus (9606) to Oberau, and then catch the train there to Munich. There were already lots of people at the station. A uniformed man (probably military) said some people are arranging a taxi to go to Murnau, and if there are more than 5 passengers, each will have to pay 10 euros. We decided on doing that, and actually got to Murnau early enough to catch an earlier train (they run every hour) to Munich.
We actually missed that train by a few minutes, the engineer was about to pull from the station. Our driver yelled "these are people from Oberammergau who want to catch the train to Munich" (at least that's what I think she said) and the engineer stopped to let us on. Which delayed the trained by a couple of minutes further. These acts of kindness have to be a reason for trains not running on time; I am grateful, however, that she extended such an act of kindness.
So we found out a trip to Murnau via taxi is 50 euros - the second taxi that pulled up said something to that effect. So our driver, who had perhaps 12 passengers, made quite a bit of money for this trip, which took less than 1/2 hour.
While Aloft had our online check in documents, there was no room available when we enquired at around 12:45 pm. After eating the sandwiches Anne made in the courtyard., we made our way to Marienplatz to have a look at the Old Townhall, Odeonsplatz with its statues, Theatinerkirche, and Frauenkirche. The last is also known as the Munich Cathedral on Google Maps, and Pope Benedict XVI was her Archbishop from 1977-1982.
At the Munich Hbf tables were set up to welcoming refugees from Ukraine.
Our room at Munich Aloft wasn't ready yet, so we had lunch (of self-prepared sandwiches) in their courtyard.
This is the "new" Town Hall in the "Old" City.
Odeonplatz.
Gold and black are colors of Munich.
Theatinerkirche is quite impressive. It was built in the 17th century. Frauenkirche, her much larger sibling only a few minutes away, was built in the 15th century.
Frauenkirche.
The architecture design is such that one sees only one window when entering.
A chapel/crypt with the remains of monarchs and nobility.
Joseph Ratzinger was the archbishop here. He later became Pope Bendict XVI.
A chapel inside the church.
There is a law passed in 2005 prohibiting building of any building taller than this church.
A major reason I picked Aloft was the availability of laundry facilities on premises. When asked I was told the floor is under renovation, so the facilities are not available. That resulted in multiple trips to the laundromat described in Rick Steves' guidebook.
Dinner was at Asiagourmet in the Hbf shopping mall. There are also supermarkets and many other shops in there.
Accommodations: Munich Aloft. (3 nights)
*** END OF PART I ***
As of today (June 28) I have finished my writeups on the trip. It will take a while for me to select and post photos. So I will publish this section today, and the second section when it is done.
