How do you explain relics to a 10-year old?

Started the day in Bad Tölz, a spa town in southern Bavaria. Hannah again referred to our accommodations, Hotel Zurpost, as the Tower of Terror. Is it because the stairs creak? Is it because of the old elevator? Doesn’t make any difference to me as long as I have a comfortable bed. Slept well, even though I received a text at 4 a.m. letting me know that Jeni, Jack and Peter finally arrived in Salt Lake City. I guess I should turn off my phone?

We walked to the Kalvarienberg Catholic Church, passing several huts which contained pictures depcting the stations of the cross. At the end of our uphill path we approached the Church and noticed three large crosses up on a hill. Hanging on the crosses were status of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and the two thieves. At the bottom of the cross were three Saints but I’m not sure who exactly they were but they did have halos. I’m sure one was Mary, the mother of Jesus.

The inside of the Church was filled with large murals on the walls and ceilings, statues, candles . . . .and relics. One of the relics was contained in a glass coffin and was approached by climbing stairs. In fact there were three sets of stairs. The center set was reserved for those who were offering prayers. Those individuals would kneel on a step, say a prayer and then ascend one step. On the railing of the steps were plaques with quotes referring to the seven deadly sins. This was obviously a place where prayers of repentance were appropriate.

When I explained what was in the glass coffin, it took a moment for it to register with Hannah, but now she knows the meaning of the word, both figuratively and literally.

Bavaria is predominantly Catholic, and each year, on November 6, there is a huge festival where members of the community adorn their horses and bring them to the Church for a blessing. There is a trough with running water that was installed in 2010 and I’m guessing that this is for the horses. I’m also wondering if this is also the holy water, as I did not see any inside the Church.

From the Church we walked back down to the town of Bad Tölz. On the way we met a woman who was out walking her dog and we noticed that the dog was wearing one sock. After the dog used the beautiful greenery to take care of business, Hannah and I both noticed that her dog had kicked off the sock. We pointed this out to her, but with the language barrier, I think she thought we were telling her to clean up after her dog. She waved us off and we continued on our way but we noticed that she finally realized the sock was missing and went back to look for it. At the bottom of the trail we noticed a container with plastic bags and sign asking dog owners to clean up after their pet. I guess we kind of did the right thing with whatever message was received.