The Four Day Weekend - PartIV Oberammergau and Mittenwald

What can I say about Oberammergau and Mittenwald?  Rick Steve calls Oberammergau the "Shirley Temple of Bavaria".  They are the cutest and quaintest little towns with a small town square that can be easily walked in 30 minutes and littered with shops and cafes.  One thing I have come to LOVE about Germany that although they are a "no-nonsense" people (and I have encountered that many times) they certainly know how to relax and enjoy life (at appropriate times).  The Germans (and perhaps even Europeans in general) don't rush thorough anything.  They are very thorough, even in their leisure time and meals.  Every city or town we have been in has countless number of outdoor cafes where people take time to sit, relax, and have a kafee or eis (ice cream is BIG here).  A meal is more of an experience than a means of nourishment.

Oberammergau is known for it's woodcarving (which was everywhere) , it's painted houses, (which other little towns much have copied b/c those are frequent in Bavaria as well), and the Passion Play.  When the Plague came through Bavaria, wiping out whole towns, the people of Oberammergau prayed that their town be spared.  It was!  They vowed to put on a Passion Play every 10 years in thanksgiving.  It is evidently a HUGE production.

Entering Oberammergau. That's me looking very overwhelmed, as I have been in all the cities we've visited.

Painted houses depicting the Passion are everywhere.  Absolutely beautiful.

Humpty Dumpty in lederhosen???  Great photo op  for the boys. 

Crucifix on the house.  They most definitely DO NOT have an ACLU here.

Cute little town.

 

Cemetery at the church.  Look at how they care for their gravesites.

Beautiful church in such a small town.  This is very common.  The church is usually huge and the tallest building in these small towns.  

 Finally, I just really liked this.  It is painted on the side of house.

Mittenwald - just as cute, if not cuter, than Oberammergau.  We ended a VERY long day with dinner in Mittenwald.  It was glorious.  I had spinach stuffed ravioli with a white cheese sauce, which was divine, the boys had the best schnitzel we've had in Germany, and Bruce had some meat concoction whick consisted of a steak, covered with bacon, covered in what looked to me like thin onion rings.  Anyway, he loved it.  We are all ready for our heart attacks.  Good thing we hiked up and mountain and down into a gorge that day.  We probably hiked 10 miles. 

What I absolutely LOVED about Bavaria is how Catholic it is and many, many of the buildings have paintings and plaques with Saints.  Here is a building in the middle of the square with plaques of 4 Saints.  The one in the bottom left is St. Joseph.