We could see the Ehrenberg castle ruins from our window, and the kids were anxious to explore it. It was high on a hill across the valley. The weather was foggy with low clouds and drizzle. Allison prefers this eerie look of mist and fog for her black and white pictures. She will develop the film herself at her school. We hiked 30” up the rocky trail to the ruins. Everyone was happy exploring old ruins. Better than Neuschwanstein.

We drove on to Oberammergau. The narrow streets were very, very crowded because it was during the 3-hour break of the play. We found our assigned pension with delightful rooms. The lady did 2 loads of laundry for Carol, a lifesaver! We hadn’t been able to find any laundromats. We enjoyed some free time walking around the small village (only 5,000 residents). There were many, many shops with wood carvings of all shapes and sizes. Many buildings have religious paintings on the front. It was all very picturesque, even in the rain.  

Passion Play – the event we had been planning toward for over 2 years. It was raining, but the audience was all under cover. The play takes place in the open. The actors all get wet, but they carry on anyway. I was a little disappointed in our seats; they were very far back, only about 10 rows behind us. (The auditorium holds 4800) So it was challenging to see the faces on stage, hard to tell who was talking. We each had a script book in English so we could follow along, and we managed okay. Seats were narrow, sort of like airplane seats, but we were so entranced with the play that we didn’t notice. We could see and hear very well. The acoustics were great for the beautiful music by the orchestra and choir.

The play portrays the last week of Jesus’ life, the Passion Week. It starts with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. There were crowds of people in that scene (2,200 townspeople are in the play). It often showed still-life scenes from Old Testament prophecy that related to the action on stage.