From a Salt Mine to the Eagle's Nest!

On Day 3 of my tour with the Bavarian Tourist Office and the National Tour Association, we visited the Berchtesgaden Salt Mine. When you arrive, they give you a black overall to wear over your clothes. It would have been smarter to have taken my coat off, as it's really not that cold in the mine and I was too bundled up. Once you are dressed, they take you to the waiting area for the train. It was lovely to see scripture written above the door, "You are the salt of the earth" Matthew 5,13. My favorite part of the tour was when we had a ride across the underground Mirror Lake accompanied by beautiful music and a light show. This is still a working mine and you can buy the salt they produce in the gift shop. We were all given a large pack and it's delicious!

After the salt mine, we met up with David Harper from Eagle's Nest Tours and as it was a gorgeous day, he was able to take us to the summit. The so-called “Eagle’s Nest” was built as teahouse for Adolf Hitler’s 50th birthday. It's perched up on a mountain summit, so to get there we had to take a train, then an elevator. In its day, it was a unique engineering feat. Hitler’s home and headquarters - the second seat of 3rd Reich power - were actually located at Obersalzberg, which is at the foot of the Eagle’s Nest mountain. David also took us to the underground bunkers, which are very extensive.

The end of the day was in Ruhpolding, which is a great place to be based in the Alps. We had a quick visit to the Woodcutter's Museum, then enjoyed a fun Bavarian meal complete with dancers!

Lake Chiemsee and Herrenchiemsee Palace

On Day 2 on my trip with the Bavarian Tourist Office and the National Tourist Association, we met up at Munich airport (I'd arrived the day before) and set off for Prien on Lake Chiemsee. This is Bavaria's largest lake and it's gorgeous! After checking into our hotel we took the boat to "Men's Island" and had a horse-drawn carriage ride to Herrenchiemsee Palace. This was one of Ludwig II's palaces and it's a great example of Rococo and Baroque art. He only partially finished it though and it's quite a surprise to go through the last finished room and see a completely bare-brick stairway!

After we toured the palace, we took a second boat ride to Fraueninsel "Ladies' Island" which has a convent and a number of little artisan shops. At Christmas this is definitely the place to go!

Neuschwanstein anyone?

I got back a week ago from a wonderful trip to Bavaria, where I was part of a group of tour operators with the National Tour Association hosted by the Bavarian Tourist Office. It was an excellent trip and I'm going to try and share some of the highlights.

Day 1: I actually flew in a day early, as my friend Gunter Meyer had invited me to visit Hohenschwangau. Not sound familiar? It's actually the name of the village at the foot of Neuschwanstein Castle. There are two castles in the village and I chose to visit Hohenschwangau Castle, where Ludwig II grew up. It's incredible inside (which I could show you photos, but you aren't allowed to take them) as the furniture is original and the walls have the most beautiful frescoes. Ludwig had a telescope in his sitting room so that he could watch Neuschwanstein being built.

I stayed in the Jagerhaus hotel, which is fabulous! the photo above is the view from my window. The Lisl Hotel is right next door and the food there is amazing. If you would like to find out about packages in Bavaria including staying in this village, just let me know. You can call 1-800-303-5534 and I'll be happy to help.

Oberammergau Tickets are in!

We are delighted to announce that we have our first installment of Oberammergau Tickets for the Passion Play in 2010. If you are still interested in taking a group, give us a call at 1-800-303-5534 and I will let you know the dates I have available.

We have two categories of tickets:

Category 3: Seating in area 1

Category 4: Seating in area 2

Category 3 tickets come with 4 star quality rooms and Category 4 tickets come with 3 star quality rooms.

We also have a number of tours that have room for individuals, families and small groups to join and I'll be posting the details this week. In the meantime, visit our website http://www.reformationtours.com/.

When will the Oberammergau Tickets be confirmed?

The Oberammergau Passion Play is only performed once a decade, so 2010 will be a very special summer for the small town nestled in the Bavarian Alps. The play is extremely popular, so the tickets are in high demand. All the tour operators (including us) have put their ticket requests in and the Oberammergau committee is working on assigning the tickets. It's taking much longer than expected this year (it's a tough job!) and it will probably be the middle of June before we have firm confirmation of tickets.

The good news is that there is extra time to build your group or join one of ours! We have a wide selection of tours featuring the play, in conjunction with tours to Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. We can also arrange a custom tour for your group, as long as you can be flexible with dates.

Call us today at 1-800-303-5534 or visit http://www.reformationtours.com/

Meeting Rudy Maxa at The St. Louis Travel Show

If you're like us, you have favorite television presenters, and Rudy Maxa is one of ours. We've enjoyed many an early morning show on PBS visiting Switzerland, Germany, Italy and so forth from the comfort of our home (while mentally planning the next trip!).

Rudy kindly stopped by our booth last weekend at the St. Louis Travel Show to choose the winner of a free 8-day first class Swiss Travel Pass.

If you missed the Travel Show this year, make a note to attend in 2009. There will be shows in St. Louis, Kansas City, Tampa and Indianapolis.

Tim Frakes Productions: The Life of Apostle Peter with Rick Steves

This looks like a wonderful new production and we encourage you to buy it to share with family and friends. We'll be ordering one and will update this post with our comments. Rick Steves is one of our favorite presenters

Looking for Reformation Books, Dvds or Videos?

If you are interested in books, dvds or videos about the Reformation, we invite you to visit our Reformation store, hosted by Amazon.

Thinking about an Oberammergau tour in 2010?

Although 2010 seems like a long time away, if you are thinking of attending the Oberammergau Passion Play, now is the time to be gathering your group.

Every ten years, this picturesque Bavarian town puts on a spectacular passion play with a cast entirely from the town. For more about the play, click here to read our webpage.

In order to accomodate the literally thousands of people from all over the world who want to attend the play, the town sells tickets that also include 2 nights accomodations, 5 meals (2 x breakfast, 1 x lunch and 2 x dinner). These tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Demand is extremely high and so groups need to gather their group as soon as possible, so they can get seats.

How can we help? We have designed a number of tours for 2010 that feature the Oberammergau Play and there's still space available. Call us today at 1-800-303-5534 or fill out our Oberammergau tour questionnaire. Our tours include the Passion Play with options to visit surrounding countries, such as Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Italy. We are also able to provide fellowship opportunities, both with fellow travellers and local believers.

New Jan Hus DVD from the Christian History Institute

Next month marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of Christian History Institute. Their very first project was preparation of a mimeographed study guide to accompany a film release on 15th century Reformer Jan Hus.
Now they revisit the Hus story and the amazing new appreciation of his life and a public apology by the pope for the wrongful death of Hus.
This new one-hour documentary is titled Truth Prevails: The Undying Faith of Jan Hus.
Jan Hus lived almost 600 years ago and was a forerunner of Luther and the Reformation. A man of deep conviction, he took a dangerous stand against corruption in the church. He stood for the Truth of God’s Word and was put to death for it – burned at the stake.
Learn more about the story in Truth Prevails: The Undying Faith of Jan Hus offered at this special price – Order online at Vision Video for only $15.99 – a savings of 20% off the retail price of $19.99!