PASSION PLAY 2010: The event of the decade.
… I should probably see it again
The last time I saw Oberammergau’s Passion Play, I was 9. It’s not to say that I didn’t like it. I just… okay, I didn’t really like it. But: I was 9! It was 7 hours long. About the life of Jesus. And in German. I challenge you to find a 9-year-old leave that open-air theater saying, “Can we see it again, Dad?” For a kid, it’s kind of like church – only a lot longer and more confusing (being in German and all).
My parents and grandmother immediately deemed the show the best experience ever. At the time, I probably thought they didn’t get out enough.
I remember my mom had dressed me in a hunter green, velvet outfit with suspenders which she’d bought in the Bavarian village and made me feel like a Von Trapp. Not that I minded; The Sound of Music was my favorite movie of all time for the first 11 years of my life (okay, maybe it still is). Actually, now that I remember the outfit clearly, I think I looked more like a Swiss yodeler. Regardless – I remember the outfit. I remember snippets from the show. My brother, sister and I actually were really good during it. We didn’t cause a ruckus (considering we were all between 9 and 14, and the show was 7 hours long, I do think that is an accomplishmet). We were quiet and behaved. At one point, I fell asleep on my grandmother’s shoulder.
Now – I work in travel and I understand the legacy of this show that’s been running for over 400 years since the villagers promised God to perform it every 10 years if they were spared any more deaths from the Bubonic Plague. After the vow was made, no one else died from the Plague. The first performance in 1634 sparked the tradition that lives on today.
The story, the show’s endurance, the villagers’ involvement still today… it’s pretty cool.
Our epic adventure in 1990 to see the Passion Play remains one of my favorite family trips. We saw a Sound of Music Dinner Show, saw places where the movie was filmed, visited salt mines in Germany and Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest, had fun in Salzburg, Vienna, Lucerne, Zermatt. The trip was so wonderful in fact, that I returned to the Alpine region following my graduation from college. I revisited favorite sites and saw them with the kind of scope you get after years of world history, geography, and piano lessons focused on classical music (did you know Mozart is from Salzburg?). The “city of Music” welcomed me back with open arms. The experience was new and different from my adventure in 1990.
Back then, I never would’ve said, in regards to the Passion Play, “I want to do it again.”
But… I’m gearing up to head back this year. It’s the year. And now… I really get that. I’d love to experience the Passion Play again – this time so I’ll remember more than the outfit I wear; and mostly so I can really appreciate it. And, okay, I’ll probably visit my favorite Sound of Music spots as well. When in the Alpine region, right?
posted by Travel Bug
Nicole Sullivan, Supervisor of Branding & Communications
Collette Vacations
Tags: Alpine Countries, Oberammergau & Passion Play
