D22 – CANDLE LIGHT CURING AND A BAPTISM OF FIRE

Not far from Schliersee is a little chapel that is the result of a princely dream. It was commissioned centuries ago by a royal prince who had a dream of a miraculous cure. Once the Birkenstein Chapel was built the prince invited a religious order of monks to maintain the site and help those seeking a cure.

That order still says Mass in this ornate and exquisite chapel with barely enough room for the priest and a few worshipers. It’s dedicated to Mary because, in the prince’s dream, the mother of God said, “Here is where I want to be worshiped.”  (Excuse the poor focus.  Had to grab the shot on the sly.)

In good weather, the priests use a pulpit geared more to an outdoor crowd seated in an amphitheater arrangement. Couldn’t help thinking, “They were doing this long before Reverend Schuler started at a drive-in theater in Orange County.”

People now come to light candles in a grotto that requires stooping to enter…perhaps a way of humbling oneself.

Once inside, the faithful light candles and pray for a miraculous cure of whatever their aliment or personal problem. This display appears to represent those that were helped by visiting this grotto.  Have no idea of the cure rate but apparently it is enough to keep them in candles.

Can’t help but wonder what brought this young mother and daughter to their knees.

 Like all similar sites, this one has a gift and curio shop but we chose not to capture the commercialism. Let’s just hope that Mother Mary looks the other way too .

On our return, I followed through on my offer to cook old fashioned, California-style spare ribs on their brand new, never been used, Weber kettle cooker.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. The German ribs are slightly smaller than those at home…smaller bones, less meat, higher altitude, different cooking time, etc.  All the excuses I could find if it didn’t work out.

Also, could not find anything that approximates Pappy’s rub or Harris Ranch seasoning and settled for the marinade from the butcher shop. Gave up on finding dried wood chips that give ribs that smoky flavor, so would try to describe the taste during the meal.

Was tempted to call fellow barbecuer Terry Crofoot, but felt he wouldn‘t appreciate being awakened for advice on ribs. A tri-tip or prime rib maybe, but not just ribs. Forged ahead and after three hours on the grill, they were tender, moist, tasty…

and a success! No one noticed the lack of smoky flavor or even understood what I was talking about. At the end, all plates were clean.

Tomorrow we start Stage Two of our European tour. Switzerland, France and Italy are our targets and the Audi is rarin’ to go.

Louise and Ray