On September 12, 2023, Lin and I left Albuquerque for Munich, Germany through Chicago to begin an amazing Bavaria Tour with square dancers and the Crisps. In Chicago, we endured a delay, but the overseas trip went seamlessly. We bought the upgrade to Economy Plus for the overseas leg of the trip and enjoyed the extra leg room.
The Crisp Tour began at the airport in Munich, Germany airport where Tom, Gina and Curtis Crisp. They met us joyfully at the airport even though our group was two hours late! Gina greeted me personally and gave us our room keys and our name tags. They gathered the group, and we walked to the buses—I was in Munich! Yahooo!
Then we headed to Grassau, a small village one hour away. We stopped first at the Hotel Sperrer where most of the tour had their rooms. We opted to be in the apartments, a 10-minute walk away. Curtis carpooled us to the apartments and what a lovely surprise we had with our room. We had a lovely space with a kitchen, living room, spacious bedroom, and a bathroom with a sunken tub. We settled in then returned to the Hotel Sperrer for our first dinner together and our orientation meeting.
After dinner, the mayor (in German Bürgermeister) of Grassau, Stefan Kattari, welcomed us. Looking out the windows, we realized it was raining, so we walked back to the room and didn’t join in the welcome dance that night. We were exhausted.
We had fourteen days of action-packed fun.
Itinerary of our amazing trip:
- September 12—Day 1: Travel Day
- September 13—Day 2: Travel Day
- September 14—Day 3: Frelichtmuseum—Farmer’s Museum. Dancing after dinner.
- September 15—Day 4: Berchtesgaden: Salt Mines & Eagle’s Nest Tour. Dancing after dinner.
- September 16—Day 5: Alpine ski lift. Invitational Square & Round Dance with Jet Roberts, Tony Oxendine, Tom Crisp, plus a Mystery Guest Caller and Klaus Völkl & Stefanie Christian on the rounds.
- September 17—Day 6: Munich Oktoberfest And Opening Costume Parade. Square & Round Dance & Potluck in Munich hosted by the Tamara Twirlers.
- September 18—Day 7: Lake Chiemsee boat cruise to visit Herrenchiemesee Island and King Ludwig’s Castle. Optional: Hotel Wessner Hof. Free Schnapps Tour. Dinner on your own. Caller’s night off.
- September 19—Day 8: King Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein Castle. Visit the village of Oberammergau, famous for woodcarving and the passion play.
- September 20—Day 9: Innsbruck capital of Austrian Western State of Tyrol and Rattenberg am Inn – famous for Swarovski Crystal.
- September 21—Day 10: Munich City Tour with English-speaking guide. Visit downtown Munich, including Marienplatz & the famous Hofbraeuhaus. Return to Grassau in time for dinner and dance.
- September 22—Day 11: Morning: Visit the beautiful village of Reit im Winkl. Evening: Heimatabend – Bavarian Traditional Schuhplattlers Show. Oom-pah music tonight.
- September 23—Day 12: Free time. Optional tour offer—Tolzer Twirlers Anniversary Dance in Bad Tolz.
- September 24—Day 13: Salzburg: City walking tour with English-speaking guide. St. Rupert’s Day Evening – Salzburg Mozart Dinner Concert. No dance, live Classical Music tonight!
- September 25—Day 14: Free time for last-minute shopping and time to pack. Last dance 11 am—1 pm. Please bring luggage to the hotel lobby to be loaded onto busses no later than 4 pm.Special Farewell Banquet. No dancing after banquet—party or early to bed.
- September 26—Day 15: Depart Grassau for an early flight from Munich to USA.
Finally,
I have memories to last a lifetime. I started organizing my picture last night, and I relived each moment! Bavaria, the part of Germany and Austria we visited, is overwhelming in natural beauty!
As you can see, we saw many sights. We danced a lot, and we were busy, busy! We met some wonderful new friends from all over the country. In my next couple of blog posts, I will highlight some of my favorite places and memories. There’s no way I can write about each day individually—I wouldn’t write anything else for the rest of the year. Highlights—that’s what I plan to do!
Have you ever been to Bavaria in Germany? If so, what was your experience? If you haven’t, Crisp Tours may be returning to Germany in 2025. Email me if you’re interested and I will forward it to them.
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