| European Heritage Tour II with John Sharp |
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and the Oberammergau Passion Play
June 29-July 12, 2010 
With tour leaders John Sharp and Audrey Voth Petkau TourMagination’s classic European Heritage II tour in 2010 includes the world-famous Oberammergau Passion Play which is performed every ten years by the villagers of Oberammergau because of a vow made in 1634. It will feature our usual sites of Anabaptist/Mennonite heritage in Friesland, The Netherlands, the Palatinate in Germany and the Emmental region of Switzerland. There will be many other highlights including an afternoon cruise on the Rhine River, the Aalsmeer Flower Auction, a cog rail mountain experience and much more. Join John Sharp, history professor at Hesston College who has a passion for the Anabaptist story, and Audrey Voth Petkau, TourMagination staff person, who will look after the tour logistics, for this unforgettable tour experience. Tuesday & Wednesday, June 29 & 30 The tour departs from O’Hare International Airport, Chicago, on an overnight flight to Amsterdam, The Netherlands. It will be Wednesday morning when we arrive in Amsterdam and are met by our coach driver. Our first stop will be at Zaanse Schans, an unspoiled village with typical Zaan Region houses, where we will see a working windmill and a craftsman making wooden shoes. Before going to our hotel, we will make a stop at the Volendam dike. Thursday & Friday, July 1 & 2  John Sharp with Onijdes Sijtsma in his home Saturday & Sunday, July 3 & 4 This is the day for a cruise on the scenic stretch of the Rhine River with many castles and vineyards on the hillsides. First we will go to the Deutsches Eck at Koblentz to view the confluence of the Mosel and Rhine rivers before going to Boppard where we will board the ship for Bacharach. We will visit the town of Bad Kreuznach and then go to our hotel for the night. In the Palatinate area on Sunday, we will worship with the Mennonites at the Mennonite Church in the Weierhof, a semi-communal Mennonite village, and then visit Worms to see the Reformers’ Monument and hear the Martin Luther story. We will travel through the Black Forest to Offenburg, where we will stay tonight. Monday & Tuesday, July 5 & 6 Today we will visit Strasbourg, France, with its magnificent cathedral. We hope to have a conversation with Mennonite World Conference staff at their office in Strasbourg. We will drive through France’s wine region to Colmar. Here we will visit the museum to see the Isenheim Altarpiece by Matthias Grünewald. Lodging in Bern, Switzerland for three nights. On Tuesday, our coach driver needs a break so we will stay in Bern for the day. In the morning, we will have an Anabaptist walking tour and you will have a free afternoon to explore, visit a museum, shop, rest, etc. Wednesday & Thursday, July 7 & 8 In the Emmental (Emme Valley), we will visit Langnau to see the oldest continuous Mennonite church and other important sites related to Anabaptist/Mennonite history. We will go to an Anabaptist cave where we will have a worship service and then visit Erlenbach, where Jacob Amman was born. On Thursday, we will have a mountain-top experience! If the weather cooperates, you will enjoy a beautiful ride up the Brienzer-Rothorn on a cog rail train. After lunch in Meringen, we will walk through the scenic Aareschult gorge for another kind of scenic beauty. We will stay at a hotel along the picturesque Vierwaldstättersee for two nights. Friday & Saturday, July 9 & 10  Early Anabaptist leaders studied at the Grossmunster Cathedral, Zurich Sunday, July 11 This morning you will have free time to attend a worship service or explore the village of Oberammergau, home to the world-famous passion play. Over half the citizens of Oberammergau will be involved in the play that you will see this afternoon and evening, with a break for dinner. This will be a day to be long remembered in years to come as you think about the Good Friday and Easter stories. Monday, July 12 It’s time to return home so we will drive to Munich to get our flight back to North America. You will have many new memories and stories to take home with you, as well as new friendships made. For further information regarding the complete tour fare, please This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . We would be happy to be of assistance. |
