My last trip in 2024 saw me as a pilgrim on a Catholic Pilgrimage with Select International. You may be asking how this is different from any other tour, and why I called myself a "pilgrim". Matthew Kelly defines a pilgrimage as a journey to a sacred place for a sacred purpose. That purpose could be to ask God for a favor, thank Him for something, or it could be a quest for clarity.
Since this blog is dedicated to travel, I'm going to focus on the travel aspects. If you're interested in diving more into a pilgrimage, please see my Catholic Blog.
This was kind of my first dip into solo international travel. I say "kind of" because I met the local group at my home airport. We weren't sitting together, and I tried to maneuver around the airports on my own. It helped that I had the security of other people (one being a former flight attendant) if I made a mistake or if I had questions. I also had a roommate, but she was meeting us in Munich.
After an overnight flight, we had just enough time to get into our hotel room before meeting the whole group. This was a very large group...around 140 people. I wasn't sure how I would like being with so many other people, but there was a reason for it. Part of this pilgrimage was a river cruise on the Danube, and the hosts wanted to have only "their" people on it. So, 140 people. We were divided into 3 buses; we stayed with this group for the city tours, so it didn't seem like there were so many people. We were given "whisper boxes" so we could hear the tour guides, which was very helpful.
Before we boarded our river ship for the cruise, we had a few stops to make as we traveled to board the ship.
When someone talks of Nazi Concentration Camps, Auschwitz and Dachau are often the first 2 that come to mind. I was surprised to learn that Buchenwald, a camp that I visited during my visit to Germany in 2013, was more brutal than Dachau. This camp was in operation from 1933 until it was liberated in 1945. More priests were held here than in any other concentration camp, which was the reason for our visit. I usually like to research places I'm going to visit, and reading a book that was recommended helped with my understanding of this camp, as well as my impressions. (For more on this, read my post on
Munich and Dachau.)
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| The front gate |
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| The Jourhaus: I would call it the camp's "office space" |
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| Lane between the rows of barracks leading to the Jourhaus |
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| The International Monument in front of the former maintenance building |
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| Ashes of an unknown prisoner. The inscription reads "Never again" in 5 different languages |
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| The Jewish Memorial. There are 5 chapels/memorials: Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Russian Orthodox, plus a Carmelite Convent (Catholic) |
Munich
We had some free time when we got back to Munich. My roommate is gluten-free, and she found a restaurant that had some delightful pastries in the case. She uses the app
Find Me GF to find places she can eat and not worry about whether or not there is gluten in it.
The walking tour of Munich was very good, although very fast. We ended in Marienplatz just in time to see the Glockenspiel do its thing. I visited Marienplatz before, but it wasn't decorated with pretty flowers in May 2013 like it was in 2024.
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| Marienplatz |
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| Munich's Coat of Arms |
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| Beautifully decorated Glockenspiel in Marienplatz |
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| Neat reflection on a glass building |
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| Bavarian maypole |
The walking tour took us through
Frauenkirche. This is the iconic church that was built in the 15th century. As with many churches throughout Europe, it sustained heavy damage which required reconstruction.
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| The "devil's footprint" legend: When the church was being finished, the devil was angry that another church was built to glorify God. Once inside, he thought that there were no windows and laughed at the stupidity of the builder. Jumping for joy, he left his footprint on the floor. But then he took a step back and realized that there are windows, they are covered by the pillars and the former Gothic high altar. |
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| The iconic towers of the Cathedral |
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| The front door |
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| The pillars hide the windows from being seen |
We had dinner at the
Augustiner Bräustuben, the oldest brewery in Munich dating back to 1328. The food was okay, nothing great. Since we had such a large group, we were seated in the cellar. It was warm, crowded, and very noisy. The beer was excellent, though, and the staff did a fantastic job with making sure we were fed. They also did a good job when it came time to pay; there was very little waiting.
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| My roommate & me. You can see why the room was so hot and noisy with the brick walls and ceilings |
Altötting is known for being one of the Shrines of Europe. Its history dates back to the Neolithic period. It was also the court for Bavarian dukes. The most popular chapel (Gnadenkapelle or Chapel of Mercy) houses the Black Madonna, which was made around 1330 out of lime or coniferous wood. Pictures were not allowed within the chapel. Also in the chapel are the hearts of Bavarian royalty and nobility, placed in silver urns along the wall.
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| Outside the chapel, people leave pictures or other objects representing their healing |
There are 7 churches surrounding the courtyard. It was a very peaceful little town.
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| Currywurst and Pommes Frittes were at the top of my list, and they did not disappoint. |
From there, it was time to board the ship. The company used Amadeus River Cruises. Our ship was only a year old, and the crew really pampered us. After boarding, we gathered for orientation. We had a very small problem with our cabin: when we were taken there, our beds looked like this:
I asked the porter if it was 2 twins, and he said yes. After he left, we decided we could just separate them ourselves. However, there was one mattress over both of the beds. My roommate spoke with someone; when we came back from orientation, they looked like this:
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| Much better! |
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| The bathroom |
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| The shower |
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| Plenty of closet space for both of us |
1 thing that I discovered while on the ship: if I ever do this again, I'll request a room toward the front of the ship. Since we sail at night, if you're towards the back and aren't a sound sleeper, the engines will wake you up, especially when stopping or turning.
I was a little disappointed that the dinners we had weren't local specialties. Quite honestly, the food was just "okay". The desserts were fabulous, and I can't say enough good things about the crew and staff.
Regensburg
We boarded the ship in Passau and then headed north to Regensburg. The walking tour was quite interesting, as the town boasts the largest medieval town north of the Alps, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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| Imperial Abbey of Niedermunster |
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| Jewish tombstone on the side of a building |
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| Patrician Tower |
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| Remains of a Round Tower |
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| Tallest tower north of the Alps |
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| Miraculous image within the Basilica allegedly painted by Luke the Evangelist |
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| Stolperstein: Brass plates in sidewalks that memorialize those lost during WWII. Located at the victim's last known address, these plates include the victim's name, date of birth, deportation date, and date of death if known. |
We had a nice walk from the parking lot to the Abbey. For those with mobility issues, a shuttle was available. It was a very peaceful and beautiful walk along the Danube, with reminders found along the way:
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| Sign for the Abbey in the parking area |
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| Memorial to 3 US Army Servicemen who lost their lives during maneuvers in the Danube |
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| Flood mark on the side of the rocks from 1845 |
Once in the Abbey, we toured St. Georg Church, which was very interesting. It was designed to be more of a stage with an audience than an altar with the congregation. The builder and the plasterer make a special appearance in the dome of the church.
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| The plasterer (as a painting) looks over his brother, the builder, shown in stucco relief |
I found the church to be whimsical and quite interesting. It was dark and just a bit overwhelming with so much to look at.
Weltenberg is first mentioned in documents dating back to 889 AD; they started brewing beer in 1050, making it one of the oldest monastery breweries in the world. Just let me say...it's obvious they know what they're doing!
Unfortunately, we didn't know about the visitor's center, which is in the cellar. Looking at
the picture on the webpage, just the building looks incredible. This is definitely a place I'd like to come back to.
My time in Germany came to a close as we sailed down the Danube into Austria. Check back for more.
