Sept 21, 2022
Hello From Munich:
After the great big high of the Passion Play in Oberammergau, coming to Munich was a little bit of a downgrade, but the city has it’s charms as well. We went to the Nymphenburg Castle located in Munich. Ludwig the 2nd, King of Bavaria, built his castle for his wife after she gave birth to a son. Our tour guide asked us husbands what we gave our wives after the birth of our first child. Many of us sheepishly said nothing, and the tour guide said if King Ludwig was willing to build a castle for his wife, we should have at least coughed up a diamond ring.
Anyway, this castle is huge, but even more amazing are the grounds behind the castle. There are long stretches of endless pathways through flower gardens and woods, you could easily spend a whole day just walking around the grounds and not cover all the territory . There was plenty of wild life to see as well, including ducks that are so used to having people around you can stand within 1 feet of them before they bother to notice you, and then, they pay attention in the hope that you have food. There was a large canal right down the middle of the grounds which the ducks loved of course, and the waters were teaming with carp. I almost wished I brought my fishing, but somehow I don’t think that would have been allowed.
The most amazing part was the surprise Kim and I encountered as we strolled down one path. All of the sudden three fawns/does emerged from the forest onto a meadow to the right of the path. They were grazing, no more than 50 feet from us, and were not alarmed by our presence. We stood and admired them for a while, took a few pictures, continued on our way, and when we returned, momma deer had joined them. They were not startled by our close presence, just lifted their heads from grazing now and then to see where we were. We felt blest to be that close to 4 deer, with these beautiful creatures sensing no fear.
We drove by other sites, heard some history of the city, and had lunch in the market square, which was much like our Byward Market. Eventually, we booked into our hotel, and had our last dinner together as a group. It’s been a great group of people, All of us from different church backgrounds, all of us on our own pilgrimage of one kind or another. A very caring supportive family over the past 16 days. Kim and I have been blessed to be on this journey with a group of people concerned that you were well, and making sure that you were never feeling alone or forgotten. We will most likely not keep in touch with one another, but we will always have this trip together, and how the presence of each one of us made this time together as close and as intimate as a group of 30 people and their guides can be in 16 days.
Well, this is my last blog. I hope you have enjoyed reading about this trip as much as I have enjoyed writing about it. For those of you who are a part of our community of faith, I look forward to seeing you soon. For those of you just checking out the blog for whatever reason, thank you for doing so. I hope I brought something special into your day.
Take care, my friends, and God Bless.
Ed