Day one of our tour went right on schedule. Our flight on a new Airbus 330 was comfortable, had very little turbulence, and got us to Amsterdam right on time. We had a short layover, and then took another punctual flight to Munich. We had time to check in at our hotel, freshen up, and then go to dinner at the Hofbrauhaus. Our dinner was a buffet, and everyone had plenty to eat. We also enjoyed a folklore show. When the show got interactive, virtually the whole group took part. This was a ploy to get as many people on the dance floor, and then the chicken dance started. It was the most enthusiastic chicken dance I've ever seen. I think all the group members used up the rest of the energy they had after a long day of travel.

Today we traveled first to see the Wieskirche. This was an extra stop that had not been originally planned for the tour. We also made a second unscheduled stop in Ettal to see the beautiful benedictine monastery there. The reason we had time to stop at each of these was a slight intentional change in the schedule. We put off our stop to see Neuschwanstein Castle until tomorrow, because we didn't want such a full day on the bus after our travel day to Europe. In the afternoon we went to Linderhof Palace, where we had a tour of the opulent favorite home of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Then we checked into our hotel in Oberammergau at about 3:30, for some time to explore this beautiful Bavarian village on our own.