Father Ron and Sid

Oberammergau

We start our journey to Oberammergau with a trip to the Netto Market for breakfast and lunch. 2 pretzels for breakfast, ham, antipasto and two rolls for lunch. Then on to the bus station for the 8:05 bus with one change in Echelsbacher. The ride is beautiful and the transfer goes smoothly. If you have to be a bus driver, this is a pretty nice office. We arrive in Oberammergau at 0935 and find our way to the hotel. I am surprised to find that google maps knew a footpath that winds through the woods and comes out on the road for our hotel. The total distance is only .6 miles so it is not bad.

Crucifixion Group

We are greeted by Eric the owner of the hotel. Our room is not ready but we can leave our packs there. Eric than proceeds to tell us about local attractions, trails, and gives us two maps of the area. We decide to take a short hike as our room will be ready in about an hour. Eric had told us about a crucifixion monument a short walk up a hill so we decide to check it out. We are there in no time and it is larger than we were expecting and very beautiful. It was a present from the king to the town because he enjoyed the Passion Play, which has been put on since the 1800s once every ten years and is still done so today.
We then decide to do a loop which Eric had shown us and looked short. Climbing into the woods, we discover what had looked short was not so short and over 3 miles later, we make it back to the hotel. Our room is ready and we lug our packs up and have lunch on our balcony overlooking a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains.

In the Bavarian Forest

After lunch, we head out to walk to the Ettal Monastery, 3 miles or so down the road. It starts out as a nice pleasant walk along a river and then we turn, cross a road and start climbing into the woods. Here we go again with another German workout. We climb steeply and then the path widens and becomes a more gradual climb. We come to a fork and the sign pointing to Ettal says 1 Km and turns to the left. Encouraged that we are less than two thirds of a mile away, I get a second wind a climb steadily. We hit the 1 Km mark only to be at an intersection with two signs both saying Ettal and both saying 1 Km. This must be some kind of cruel joke but we are not amused.

Ettal Monastery

Taking the path that looks more level we eventually round the bend and see the monastery. It is much larger than we were thinking. Walking down the road we enter the courtyard. The monastery was founded in 1328. Abbeys like this used to have jurisdiction over the legal system, administration, and taxation of their district. They were also self sufficient. Ettal still remains a self contained community with around 60 monks. The Baroque church has a beautiful dome over 230 feet high with a fresco depicting Benedictines worshipping the Holy Trinity.

Baroque Altar

The church also contains a miraculous statue of Mary and the baby Jesus. We take a bus back to the Oberammergau train stationary and then check out the local markets. We buy two cold beers and a cherry pastry cake. They have covered tables just outside where we enjoy our snack while we watch a thunderstorm roll by. Heading back, it starts to rain just a few minutes before we get to the hotel. It is still pretty early and we both lay down and crash for about an hour.
We get ready for dinner. Our hotel includes a half board which means that dinner is included. We chose our dinners when we checked in and head down to the restaurant. There is only one other gentleman there. I heard him speak German to the waitress. I ask him where he is from and in perfect English, he says, Vermont. He tells us that he was stationed here in the military after WWII. He has known the Scmid family who own the hotel since his early military days. I thought he was eating alone and said he could join us but he was waiting for his brother to come down to dinner.

Great Dessert. Yummy!

Our dinner started to arrive and the conversation ceased. A liver spaetzle soup to start and we both enjoyed it very much. Then a beef goulash with spaetzle and vegetables and hamsteak wit roast potatoes and corn. Then we had fresh peach with a cherry syrup, whipped cream, and ice cream for dessert. It was all very good and filling.

Beer is Good

                                                                                                                                                             As we get up to leave, we introduce ourselves to the gentleman we had been talking to and his brother. Ron and his brother Sid are staying here for a month. We talk quite a bit and learn that Ron became a catholic here and was baptized at Ettal Monastery, where we had just been. After becoming a priest he served his first Mass in the church here in Oberammergau. He met the Schmid family when an army friend was enamored with a waitress here and asked him to go for moral support. The owners son Eric (the current owner) was just a boy then. I go to our room to get money to pay for our drinks from dinner and when I return Father Ron invites us to sit with them. We are enjoying our conversation and then he offers to buy a bottle of wine to share. We spend the next several hours learning the fascinating history of Father Ron, the Oberammergau, area, and Sid’s time here. Sid has also been here several times of extended periods and loves the area. He tells us that there has been a book written about his brother so we definitely will have to read it. For those who may be interested, it is called Let Me Be a Light by Richard Rotelli and is about Father Ron Lawson. Sid also asks us about our plans tomorrow and says that when we get back from Linderhof castle that he would like to take us to the Weiskirche, a beautiful church in the countryside that is a Unesco world heritage site. We readily agree to that.
We finally call it a night after 10. This meeting is just one of the reasons I like to find smaller places to stay and visit. We cannot believe that we picked a hotel that has an interesting family history, visited a Monastery and then met a man than was baptized there and was a priest here. Meeting Father Ron and Sid has really made our day.
CNC

“A journey is best measured in friends rather than miles” – Tim Cahill

Expenses
4.14E- breakfast and lunch
19E- two bus tickets to Oberammergau
6.40E- 2 beers
67.60E- Hotel Friedenshoehe including Dinner

Miles walked – 9.4 Miles