The unbelievably stunning church at Birnau.
September 28
It was still cloudy when we awoke in our hotel room. But, the rain was not falling, which meant it would probably be a good travel day. The plan was to leave Garmisch and head over to Meersburg, which sits on the shores of Lake Constance in the southeast corner of Germany. Kelly had obtained hotel reservations for us in Meersburg before we left for Garmisch. The guidebooks described Meersburg as a quaint medieval town. That sounded like the perfect stop on our German tour.
We again went downstairs to enjoy one of Reindl’s magnificent breakfast buffets. Kelly, Denise, and Julia joined us about ten minutes after we arrived. While we were all eating breakfast, Kelly asked if we could cancel our reservations in Meersburg and just go back to Kaiserslautern. He said they wanted to skip the overnight stay in Meersburg so that Julia wouldn’t have to miss another day of school. In exchange, Kelly said we could spend 29th by drive anywhere that Dianne and I wanted to go within a four hour radius from Kaiserslautern. I wasn’t happy with this change of plans, because I had my heart set on seeing some sights in the Lake Constance area. I told Kelly that I’d think about his offer. For the short term, I asked if we could drive to Oberammergau, so that I could get some souvenirs. Since it was generally on the way to Kaiserslautern, he agreed.
We went back to our rooms, finished packing, and checked out of Reindl’s. Within an hour of finishing breakfast, we were on the road. As we pulled out of the valley where Garmish is located, I couldn’t help but reflect on the wonderful time we had at Reindl’s. The rooms were very comfortable, the breakfasts were delicious, and the setting was magnificent. Then again, it wasn’t hard to get the setting wrong, so long as one was in Garmisch. The town was as beautiful as advertised. I silently hoped that I would return to this beautiful area again. And, if that hope came true, then I would make sure to book another stay at Reindl’s.
About 15 minutes after leaving Garmisch, we drove into a small town whose distinguishing structure was a magnificent white complex crowned with a domed building in the middle. I thought we were in Oberammergau, but Dianne (who had been to Oberammergau before) said that she didn’t remember this church in the town. Kelly and Denise had no idea where we were, so we decided to stop and figure out our location. We stopped at the white complex, figuring that someone there would know if we were in Oberammergau or not. Fortunately, there was a map in the complex’s parking lot which showed that we were not in Oberammergau; but were about 3 miles south of it in the town of Ettal. Since we had a few minutes, we decided to check out the complex, which turned out to be a Benedictine abbey. The domed building was a church was a beautifully decorated exterior. We went inside to see if the interior matched the exterior. Our jaws dropped when we saw that the interior surpassed the exterior. The interior was completely decorated with frescos, gold leaf, and baroque sculptures. Even the dome’s interior was complete covered by a fresco. It was one of the most magnificent church interiors I had ever seen. I was all set to snap some pictures, when a priest stepped forward and began to say Mass (I didn’t read the signs which said there was an 11:15 a.m. Mass). I felt a bit self conscious taking pictures during Mass. So, I sat in the pews for a few minutes to try to soak in the scene. Dianne wasn’t as encumbered by Catholic guilt as I was, and did get a few pictures of the interior. I would have loved to stay longer, but I knew we had to get on the road. So, we bought a €2 pamphlet as a reminder that we’d been there. Still, as I exited, I told myself that if I ever found myself in Garmisch again, I’d make sure to take a side trip to Ettal to spend some real quality time at this abbey.
After briefly discussing it with Dianne, I told Kelly at the abbey that we agreed to forgo the overnight stay in Meersburg. However, I had a price. In addition to the offer that he made, I wanted to go back to Kaiserslautern via the Lake Constance area, so that I could see two sights. He enthusiastically agreed to the change in plans and called the Meersburg hotel to cancel. Why did we skip Meersburg when we wanted to go there? Well, I’ve found that one has to be flexible, compromising, and considerate when traveling with a group whose members each have priorities. In the end, the stay in Meersburg wasn’t as important as being with our good friends. So, we skipped Meersburg this time, and added it to our list of reasons to go back at a later time.
After leaving Ettal, we drove about 5 minutes before reaching Oberammergau. While Oberammergau is famous for the Passion Play that is performed there every ten years, we were in the town for its other famous product: wood carved sculptures. We stopped at the first wood carving shop we saw, which just happened to be right across from the town church. This store, Dedlerhaus, was chock full of magnificent wood sculptures that were guaranteed to move the most strident atheist. We felt like kids in the candy store. Best of all, the store shipped all of our purchases back to the States, so we didn’t have to carry them. Given the amount we spent there, it was clear that we were very happy with our experience at Dedlerhaus.
While we were inside Dedlerhaus shopping, a tour bus pulled up and disgorged a group of tourists into the store. Some of them stood outside while the others shopped. One of them was wearing a San Francisco Giants baseball cap. Kelly went over to the gentleman wearing the cap, introduced himself, and asked him where he was from. The gentleman replied, “Clovis.” Strangely enough, that’s where Kelly is from as well. The two of them discussed events in Clovis while they waited for their respective parties to leave the store. It was just another example that a world were two strangers from the same town on the other side of the planet can meet in a German town is a small world indeed.
After we finished our shopping, we got back in the car and started making our way to the Lake Constance area. The majestic Alps disappeared, but the rolling hills remained throughout the drive. After a couple of hours, we made it to Lindau, which is on Lake Constance’s east shore near the Austrian border. We then turned west to get to our first destination: the Birnau shrine and abbey. Along the way to the shrine, we passed through some beautiful countryside dotted with vineyards and orchards. While it wasn’t as dramatic as the Alps, it was still stunningly beautiful. We also drove past Meersburg on our way to Birnau. Knowing this was as close as I’d get to it, I looked with a bit of disappointment at the town as it passed our car windows.
After a 45 minute drive, we made it to Birnau. We spent about an hour at this magnificent church. We had enough time to visit our second attraction in the Lake Constance area: the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen. Unfortunately, that meant backtracking on our tour. But, because we didn’t know what hours Birnau was open, we had to visit it first and then visit the Zeppelin Museum second. Kelly was a good sport, and drove us back to Friedrichshafen. He dropped us off at the museum, while he, Denise, and Julia went to find some food. Our tour of the museum was a bit briefer than I’d hoped, but we managed to see it all. I had sort of hoped to walk a bit around the pedestrian malls that surrounded the museum and Friedrichshafen’s wharf area. But, because we didn’t know when Kelly would arrive, we simply made ourselves comfortable in front of Friedrichshafen’s bus terminal (which was next door to the Zeppelin Museum). We spent about a half hour waiting in front of bus terminal before Kelly arrived to pick us up and resume our trip to Kaiserslautern.
By now, it was about 6:30 p.m., and all of us (except for Julia who had a snack) were getting hungry. However, we didn’t want to lose much time getting back to Kaierslautern (which meant no stopping at a formal restaurant). The solution appeared on the A81 just south of Stuttgart, when we came across the Rasthaus im Hegau. Kelly pulled in, explaining that these Rasthauses could be found all over Germany. They’re located next to the autobahns in order to provide all kinds of services to travelers. Kelly noted that most of them contained a hotel, a service station, and a restaurant (which he said usually had pretty good food). It didn’t take me long to be impressed by the establishment. The entire structure was sheathed in a stainless steel exterior that made it very attractive. Inside, the building (including the bathrooms) was spotless. We made our way to the restaurant, which was a self-service buffet. As was the case with most German buffets that I had seen, there were plenty of options available for anyone’s pallet. Dianne and I had spaghetti dinners with salad, bread, and soda. The total for both of us was €20.19. Not exactly the cheapest meal, but very good nonetheless. The restaurant even had a children’s play area just outside its door, which Julia found entertaining. For a quick place to stop while getting from one destination to another, it was a great choice.
It was about 7:30 p.m. when we left the Rasthaus. Four hours later, we were back at Ramstein and the Kafeyan apartment. All of us were exhausted after our long day across Germany. So, we quickly retired to bed in order to re-energize ourselves for another adventurous day.
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