Riding to the Silent Night Chapel in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria
Our first adventure out of Austria was to Germany - Obendorf to take a look at the town and the “Silent Night Chappel’.
The ride was along the river and was of course very picturesque but the last stretch felt like it was going on and on and on a straight dirt track covered in leaves so the conditions were a little harder than we normally ride but soon we were out of the forest track and into the back area of Obendorf.
It was when we saw the cutest bridge and a sign that said “Laufen'“ that we knew we had made it across the border to Germany. It felt almost a little naughty for some reason but once I got over the initial shock and the thought of all my history lessons it was again very pretty.
When we crossed the bridge the bells were ringing exactly 12pm “Mittag” and there were some gold ornate statues and carvings on the bridge which made it feel quite grand.
We rode around and explored for a little while then made our way to the “Silent Night Chapel”. I was expecting another ginormous structure but instead there was the sweetest smallest little chappel that would maybe hold 20 people.
The reason this chapel is so famous is it is where the carol was first performed in 1818. A priest actually wrote the carol. The history is silent night carol was written by a young priest named Joseph Mohr in 1816, two years before it was first performed. Mohr wrote the poem while serving as an assistant priest in Oberndorf, Austria, inspired by the peaceful message of Christmas. Later, in 1818, when the organ in the church was broken, he asked his friend and church organist Franz Xaver Gruber to compose a melody for the poem so it could be sung with guitar accompaniment during the Christmas Eve mass. This collaboration between Mohr’s heartfelt lyrics and Gruber’s gentle tune created the timeless carol that continues to be cherished around the world.
Loved understanding that about the carol, now it will take on a different connotation when we sing it at Christmas time.
After exploring we found a great restaurant and inside was so warm and cosy, it felt like it was calved out of a cave and there were communal tables to sit at and everyone was drinking a stein of something or other.
Gasthof Greimel Restaurant
Ben and I asked waitress to have the same thing another table was drinking - that looked like a pale yellow colour (not beer) and I asked if it was sweet. She then brought us 2 huge steins of sprite lol. In future I will keep my mouth shut and just point to what we want.
No one spoke any English in this restaurant and we didn’t have any reception so couldn’t google translate so we decided to just pick 2 dishes and go with it and of course we were not disappointed.
Both meals were with pork and crackle and saukraut and a delicious gravy and a noodle/ bread dumpling. There seems to be a lack of vegetables with these meals but perhaps they are a side we need to order, either way it was a hearty and yummy meal, like a pub meal that warmed us up as it was about 15 degrees today.
We decided to ride home not via the river but through the towns of Germany to take in all the sights and explore a bit. The ride home went so fast and it was a lot more scenic and passing through the smaller towns and farmhouses.
There were pumpkins for sale along the road on the ride home. We considered getting one for halloween but it would have been a feat trying to carry it on the bike.
Heading off to school
Heading off to school