Melanie McDonagh follows Pope Benedict XVI to the feet of Our Lady of Altötting.
To begin with, I didn’t think I was going to like Altötting, Pope Benedict XVI’s favourite place of pilgrim-age. I had booked a room in a pilgrim hotel in May, so I was indignant when I arrived at the beginning of July to find that the Glockerlwirt was, that day, shut. I tried three doors; no luck. But a kindly lady in the clothes shop next door noticed my efforts and said her mother worked there; she would phone to ask what was happening. Her mother got hold of the cook and he turned up to let me in. The hotel was empty and he had to phone the owner to find my key, and when I got to my room I found that the bath I’d asked for was in fact a shower. Moreover I’d travelled by rail and German trains don’t run on time.
