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OLM 
Parish Reporter IN Rome?

Munich as Base[2]

(click on tiny picture to view original)
     One of the main sites in Marienplatz in Munich is the Clock Tower on the City Hall - The Rathaus. At certain times of the day when it chimes the figures move until the rooster at the very top crows. The second scene above was in one of the churches. It was entitled "creche" but as far as we could tell this diorama depiction was of Moses striking the rock in the desert providing water for the Israelites. Maybe they use this in ordinary time and then put the Christmas Creche up at the appropriate season - a question for future travels. Finally, I am pictured along the Isar River which runs through Munich and at this particular spot is dammed up with flood gates.
 

Neuschwanstein, Eagles Nest, Et. al.

 
 
   Neuschwanstein is a castle in souther Germany. As we travelled to it, the Alps grew more magnificent in size and splendor. The Autumn setting of changing colors added to the beauty along with clouds on the way. The Castle itself is a grand place. It is the castle which Disney used as a model for the Magic Kingdom Castle in Disneyland for us California buffs. It towers high above the scenery and from above in its ramparts as you can see there are gorgeous views of the countryside.

      The castle turret is awesome and quite a climb to get a view of the domain it surveyed shown in the second picture. The small shot is of the inlaid marble floor in the bedroom of the castle. It is truly awesome and a work of art. I had to sneakily take this photo since there were no cameras allower - the awesome little digital Kodak worked great - no noise even as the shutter clicked. Finally, at the base of the castle Fr. David took this shot of me in the foreground after a little coffee and strusel [as I learned to say it in German since I couldn't get one if I said Strudel as I am accustomed to calling it].

  Moving along toward the famous site of Hitler's summer resort called "Eagles Nest" we stopped in the town of Obermmagau place of the Passion Play. Of course, this is the wrong time and year since it will not be performed until the year 2000. The houses in the town like the one pictured above are beautifully painted with scenes mostly from the scripture and honoring the saints.
   The second photo is not meant to be disrespectful but found a friend for my two beanies back home in Daly City so Ants will be travelling with me on my way home. It was in one of the souvenir shops and really the first indication of a United States fad that was not evident so far in my travels. Just a little light humor on the road to Kehlsteinhaus - better known as Eagle's Nest.
   Fr. David Cullings whom I met and travelled with in Munich gives the high sign after we climbed to the top of the mountian which holds Eagles Nest pictured second. Actually the fact that this building is built high upon this mountain and has such a gorgeous view overtakes all the history behind it being built by Hitler though he didn't really get to use it. The mountain peaks and scenery take your breath away and we had an awesome day to visit this site. We were truly blessed since a couple of days in Germany were very overcast and rainy.

 
  Finally, after trekking and viewing and climbing, we boarded our train back to Munich at the endof a full day of touring. The center photo is of the Watzmann Peak the highest peak in the Alps surrounding Eagles Nest. The last photo is the ticket for entrance to the site. I find that tickets in European countries are much more exciting and informative than in our own country. In addition to admission they supply information, beauty and even souvenirs of the sites that are visited.
The embossed background on this page is, of course, Watzmann Peak.
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