("Drive" by Vanessa Hudgens)
I think those of you reading this blog realize by now that I have an unusual (I refuse to call it unnatural) bond with my car (codename, Hudson). Under my lease, I am allotted 20,000 kilometers per year, so at 1.5 years into the lease I should have about 30,000 kilometers on him. Alas, as of the beginning of this past week, I was only about to finally (FINALLY!) crack the 20,000 barrier. I had planned a long road trip this summer that would have helped in this regard, but it was scrapped for a variety of reasons. But I thought it would be wrong, just WRONG, for him to hit 20,000 kilometers on something as mundane as the commute to work. No, he needed the wind on his shield, the asphalt of the Autobahn under his summer shoes, the bugs sucked into his grill. We needed, in short, a roadtrip. So a roadtrip we had.
Borrowing from my aborted summer roadtrip playbook, we (yes, I refer to us collectively) headed south. We drove from Frankfurt to Stuttgart on Friday night and stayed at the Le Meridien Stuttgart that is easily one of my favorite SPG properties in Germany (though the ramps to their underground garage are wickedly narrow!). Then on Saturday morning, we went to the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart (see separate posting) so Hudson could recall the superiority of his own provenance (why have a three-spoke star when you can have four rings????). And then on we drove to Lenggries, which is in southern Bavaria about an hour out of Munich.
So, why Lenggries? Well, let's be honest, it was only on my not-so-familiar-with-Bavaria radar because it is home to a Starwood property, the Four Points Sheraton Brauneck. Brauneck refers to the nearest mountain, Lenggries being at the foot of an area known both for its skiing and hiking. A very good start. Did a bit more research and it seemed like it might be a nice, restful destination.
The hotel was in "downtown" Lenggries, rather than a bit further out in the wilderness or higher up in the mountains than I had hoped. But it was fine, albeit what I would refer to as a "humble" property - clean with friendly staff but no bells and whistles like an executive lounge or an upgrade to a suite. The proximity to greater metropolitan Lenggries was interesting, though, and I thought a nice wander and perhaps some retail therapy were in order. I arrived around 4 PM, which unfortunately was the time that all the stores in the quaint little town closed. Doh! It was also getting dark, so I only had a little bit of time to wander around. But the next morning I awoke at the crack of dawn as sunlight filtered in over the tops of the mountain peaks and decided to set out for a wander in the town and the woods at the base and leading into the mountains. Both were really, really quite pretty as you can see by the picture posted above.
But after the hike as I headed back from the mountains and was passing by what appeared to be the primary village church, it looked like something was about to happen. There were a few people standing around in Bavarian attire who seemed to be waiting for something. Hmmm... And then I saw a group of guys standing around in a sort of Bavarian uniform -- with drums!! Something certainly was going to happen. I mean, you don't just have a drummer gathering without expecting something to happen, right? So I decided to hang around, even though I didn't have my cool leather coat that I bought in Austria that might allow me to at least kind of blend. My thistle-colored (okay, lilac or light purple) Marmot shell wasn't quite so blending.... But in any event or color, I was not to be disappointed.
After standing quietly and trying not to look too American, the event started. The drummers picked up their drums, as did a Bavarian band with their instruments. And out of the old town church began a very large procession of men in Bavarian attire carrying a
variety of colorful flags and banners. Hmmmm.... The drummers led the band and the rest of the entourage around the small square, stopping in an angled formation around a podium that had been set up and was swathed in the German flag. Next to it was a sort of eternal flame that was burning - not Olympic size, but sufficiently sized for this venue. In the background, the German and Bavarian flags flapped in the crisp breeze. A Catholic priest made a short speech, which was followed by a considerably longer one from a protestant minister, and then the priest led the audience in reciting the Lord's Prayer.
It was all very fascinating and very somber. It clearly related to remembering those who had died. This was a few days after 11 November when Veterans Day and Remembrance Day take place in the US and the UK, respectively, so I assumed that this event was related somehow to that. My nascent German skills picked up quotes on not forgetting the dead, there were some references to World War II, and the names of the eight German soldiers who had perished in Afghanistan this year were also read. Even though I didn't understand everything, I still found the experience very moving, much as my eyes always fill with tears when the US flag is waving and we're singing the national anthem or even saying the pledge of allegiance (the latter of which I can't remember when I participated in that, but it has been far too long).
I did a bit more research when I got home on this celebration and it turns out that it is slightly different than the holidays in the US and UK. Germany does not celebrate the armistice itself, but has a national day of mourning which seems to be more similar to All Saints Day that I celebrated a few years ago in Guatemala. Germany's national day of mourning (Volkstrauertag) has been celebrated since 1952 and is held on the Sunday before the first Sunday of Advent. While it is a secular holiday, churches have their own special take on the holiday, with the Catholic church celebrating All Souls Day and the Lutheran church celebrating Eternity Sunday. So I'm guessing the protestant minister who spoke may have been Lutheran.
All in all, Hudson logged about 1,000 kilometers on this trip. He arrived home dirty with quite a few bugs on the windshield and in the grill (apparently we haven't had cold enough weather to kill them all yet?) but a lovely twinkle in his daytime running lamps.
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