Angels, Busts, and Saints Dressed in Snow: A Wintry Visit to Oberammergau’s Cemetery

Perhaps it is a bit macabre, but I find cemeteries – particularly those in foreign locales – to be fascinating and fitting spots to reflect upon a place’s culture and history, and upon life itself. When my husband and I last visited Paris, we spent several hours strolling through the city’s famous Père Lachaise Cemetery, passing headstones ofContinue reading “Angels, Busts, and Saints Dressed in Snow: A Wintry Visit to Oberammergau’s Cemetery”

Snowy Vignettes from an Alpine Paradise

Having “escaped” winter by spending five wonderful, but scorching months in Asia last year, I must admit — it’s been a bit of a shock wintering in the Alps these past months. Fortunately, there are the visual elements that make sidewalk slips, shoveling, and shivering so worthwhile: chalets peeking out from under snow blankets, MotherContinue reading “Snowy Vignettes from an Alpine Paradise”

A Nibbling Donkey in Oberammergau, Germany

The sign declared, Bitte Esel nicht füttern. And since I was in Germany, a land famously known for its rules, I was even more sure to obey. Even though visitors to the Christmas Market in Oberammergau, Germany were asked not to feed the photogenic donkeys (to keep the live Christmas props from developing upset stomachs), rubbing ofContinue reading “A Nibbling Donkey in Oberammergau, Germany”

Oberammergau, Germany: Woodcarvings, Bavarian Attire, and the Passion Play

For the next few months, we’ll be hanging our warmest hats in Oberammergau, a town located in Germany’s Alps. Oberammergau is most celebrated for its Holzschnitzer (woodcarvers), colorful frescoes (Lüftlmalerei), and Passion Play. This theatrical production is held every ten years. Some residents in Oberammergau still occasionally wear feather-adorned, green wool hats; custom-tailored Lederhosen; or DirndlsContinue reading “Oberammergau, Germany: Woodcarvings, Bavarian Attire, and the Passion Play”