European Tour: Day Nine

June 24:

We had a leisurly morning. After sleeping in a bit, we got up, got ready and went to breakfast around 9:00 a.m. It was a very yummy buffet breakfast- ate too much. We then had free time until noon. Brenda and I decided to walk around town (Bad Kohlgrub). Sharon joined us. It was fun. We got back to our rooms around 11:15 a.m. with just enough time to write and send a few postcards.

At noon, our bus took us to Oberammergau for the Passion Play. This was to be the highlight of the tour. Oberammergau Passion Play is a passion play performed since 1634 as a tradition by the inhabitants of the village of Oberammergqu, Bavaria, Germany. The town's residents vowed that if God spared them from the effects of the bubonic plague ravaging the region, they would produce a play every ten years thereafter for all time depicting the life and death of Jesus. The play, now performed repeatedly over the course of five months during the first year of each decade, involves over 2,000 performers, musicians, and stage technicians, all residents of the village.

Before the play started, Mike, our tour guide, showed us where a few things in town were. We all went to lunch at 12:45 p.m. which was part of our package (dinner was also here). It was a very nice restaurant with part of it built in 1034.

We still had time after lunch before the play started, so we walked around looking in the many, many shops. At 2:05 we headed to the theater. Good thing we went early because we had to wait 15-20 minutes to use the restrooms before it started!! We then went in and sat down. Our group had seats together, of course. Our seats were great; right in the middle, close to the front. And the seats in the row in front of Brenda and myself were empty so we didn't have to worry about looking around someone's head. The first half of the play ran for 2 1/2 hours. Now mind you, this play is in German. We were given English scripts at the hotel to use to follow along. We brought them on the bus but figured it would be too hard to follow, so we left them on the bus. We thought since we knew the story, we would be able to follow along without too much difficulty - Wrong!!! We had a very hard time figuring out what was going on. It was very hard to stay awake. Several in our group kept falling asleep. No pictures were allowed during the performance, but I did take pictures of the stage before it started.

We then had a 3 hour break. Brenda and I were not hungry at all yet (after the huge breakfast and yummy lunch) so we went to look through some more shops. Around 6:30, we headed to dinner at the same place we had lunch. Everyone else was there and about ready to leave; they had gone there straight from the play. So we ate alone and then went through a few more shops.

We again had to wait 15-20 minutes to use the restrooms before heading back into the play. The 2nd half of the play was also about 2 1/2 hours. We borrowed a script from a couple who had brought both of theirs; they just shared one and Brenda and I shared the other one. It was much easier to follow along this time. While it was obvious that the town has some definite talent among their citizens, there just didn't seem to be much emotion associated with the play; especially during the crucifixtion and resurrection. I was very disappointed in the play. It evoked no emotions in me at all. For all the "hype" over this play, I expected a lot more!! I was not the only one who felt this way; there were quite a few in our group that were just as disappointed.

After the play was over, we took a shuttle bus back to the hotel and all crashed for the night. It was a very tiring day sitting through a 5 hour play in German!