Day #190 - Southern Germany

A river runs through it

Fancy

Awe-inspiring

Nice

My favorite

Monday, September 20th

Today I checked out of my place in Munich and headed to the central train station. I've been working on some plans for the next couple days - but things were still up in the air. Because I couldn't get the answers I needed via email, I chose to just go to the place and make things happen.

I took a 2-hour train south of Munich. I came to a small village surronded by the Alps - unbelievably, cool town. (still in Germany) I walked over to the tourist information center. They directed me to the main office of the place I was looking for. I scored big - I was able to get tickets, get 2 nights accommodation, 2 dinners, 2 breakfast, lunch, and museum access for $220 total. Very nice. (This place offers only package deals except on rare occasions)

Once I was settled into my hostal, I walked around town for a couple hours. Even if I wasn't here for a specific reason - this town is well worth the visit. A couple small rivers/canals, mountains towering on all sides, trees changing colors, an energetic stream of people touring the streets.

This town has put on a performance every 10 years since 1634 in the year ending in '0'. This is the 41st such performance. (There were a couple additional shows put on during anniversary years). The show runs from mid-May through early October. They are carrying out a vow made long ago. The town itself has about 5,000 inhabitants, over half of them participate and fully make up the cast. The show last over 5 hours in length, with a 3 hour dinner break (an all-day affair).

The event I'll attend tomorrow is about 180 degrees from the festivities in Munich I took part in the past 2 days. However, this place is very cool itself and brings back some memories of an area in southern France I visited early on in my journey.

It's all about experiences. The place/event I'll have a chance to witness tomorrow brings in 500,000 tourists every ten years to this small, sleepy village in southern Germany.

Where am I? And what makes this place so noteworthy?