Tag: Europe
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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 of…
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Photo du Jour: Hello, Sunshine! – Udine, Italy
“Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.” Victor Hugo A shimmering sun greets passersby from the clock tower of the Loggia di San Giovanni. The graceful, 16th-century structure commands a prime spot on the Piazza della Libertà, in Udine, Italy.
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Dizzied by a Dazzling Array of Dirndls in Bavaria
Whenever I see Bavarians dressed in traditional German attire, I can’t help but recall a playful prank that my former American colleagues routinely played on friends and family who would come to visit them in Germany. The husband and wife would get laced up in their finest Trachten-wear (German traditional dress consisting of men’s Lederhosen…
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Twisting Tongues in Bavaria
German words have a reputation for being exceedingly long. Sometimes they’re also rather descriptive. The German language’s penchant for precision is perhaps best described in Mark Twain’s humorous essay, The Awful German Language, which you can read here. Twain penned The Awful German Language in an attempt to describe the frustration he felt while learning German. Twain’s essay…
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Photo du Jour: Coffee Crybaby – Oberammergau, Germany
An image of a grumpy baby adorns the wall of a bakery in Oberammergau, Germany, enticing customers with the establishment’s promise of a tasty cup of joe. The poster reads: “Still tired? Here, you’ll find really good coffee.”
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Oberammergau, Germany: Snowy Vignettes from an Alpine Paradise
Having “escaped” winter by spending five wonderful, but scorching months in Southeast Asia and India last year, I must admit—it’s been a bit of a shock wintering in the German 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…
