Oberammergau, Germany

Charles had a work trip to Oberammergau. For years, whenever he has had a work trip planned he asks if I want to go. In the past, I had work or some other commitments that prevented me from tagging along. But this time nothing held me back! 

He had been to Oberammergau once before, but in the winter, and raved about it. I was excited to visit this time of year. Germany is beautiful in September and October. 

We stayed at Hotel Garni Fux and had a spacious suite. This was our view! Oberammergau is a small town and everything is walkable, so I don't think you can go wrong choosing any hotel in town for the walkable convenience. Hotel Fux was no different, but the place was great! Our stay included breakfast which was the perfect way to start my day. 

Hotel Fux was dog-friendly which suited Suzie perfectly. She spend a lot of time snoozing the day away in comfort.

Everywhere you look in Oberammergau there are beautiful flowers! 

I explored the church and churchyard while in town. 

Oberammergau has a long history of woodworking. The Oberammergau Museum had great displays showcasing the talent. We purchased the combined ticket and visited the Passion Play Theater afterward. Save 1 Euro on the ticket if you're staying in Oberammergau, BTW. 

The Passion Play has been performed every ten years (with some exceptions throughout the long history) in Oberammergau since 1634. It started off as a promise to God during the plague. The most recent play was performed in 2022 (postponed due to COVID) and will be back on schedule again in 2030. 

We ate really well while staying in Oberammergau. On our first night in town we enjoyed dinner at Dumpling and Sushi. The avocado bowl was so delicious! I kind of wish we had gone back and tried other items from their menu. It all sounded so good.

We found this place while walking around town on the first evening and returned later in the week. They specialize in burgers and they were worth the wait! I had the Hipster burger which had a habanero-blueberry sauce. It was very messy, but very tasty! The crispy sweet potato fries were an excellent compliment; one order was enough for the two of us to share.

On a previous trip to Garmisch, we had visited the Ettal Abbey but decided to visit again while in Oberammergau. The inside is very ornate which seems at odds with it being a home to monks. Make sure to pick up some beer or liquor while visiting. 

Lastly, on our way home we stopped to see the Neuschwanstein Castle. It is one of those places you kind of have to see at least once while visiting or living in Germany and this seemed like the best time to cross it off our list. Even though I did a bit of research in advance, I did not realize the uphill hike it would take to get to the bridge for this viewpoint. Well, now that's done!

 

A Tour of Nuremberg

The next stop on the itinerary for my friends' visit was to Nuremberg. I booked a walking tour through Airbnb that was one of my favorite tours in Europe so far. It was billed as a four-hour tour with a break for lunch, but ended up being around six hours. During the first half of the tour, we walked around the interior of Nuremberg and visited St. Lorenz. 

We huffed up the hill to see castle for some fantastic views of the city.

A little plug for something unrelated to Europe... I recently made my first purchase from ThredUp and was so impressed. The top I wore in Nuremberg (pictured here) was part of that purchase. 

After our lunch in the Altstadt (we all enjoyed Nuremberg sausages...yum!), our group hopped on the train and rode out to the rally grounds. We walked along the lake with stops to hear our guide share history and his perspective about Nazi Germany. It was very insightful and thought provoking. 

Faroe Islands

Have you ever heard of the Faroe Islands? Until about a year ago, I had never heard of this small country situated between Scotland and Iceland. My husband revealed that it had been on his travel wish list from before we even met. It struck me as funny that it took about 17 years before he let me in on this long held desire. 

We visited in September which is at the end of the ideal travel season. I was anticipating dreary, rainy days. Upon arrival, it was a little misty and grey. But we lucked out with some amazingly beautiful days, too!

Fishing accounts for about 97% of exports for the Faroe Islands. Needless to say, boats are plentiful around the islands. 

The Nix, represented here as a horse, is a fascinating tale from Faroese legend. It lives in the lakes of the Faroe Islands lures people to him and then drags them into the water to meet their end. But if you shout his name, he loses his power and you will live. 

If you know me at all, you probably know that I love church pictures. Charles and I jokingly said that we should create a book of all the churches on the Faroe Islands. We tried to capture as many as we could, but we definitely missed several. 

I also love ruins. These were beautiful!

One of our days was spent with a guide hiking up to a tiny little light house. The area around the light house was used in the filming of the most recent James Bond movie. Charles and I are not James Bond fans, so that part didn't really matter to us. But it was beautiful! 

The seal woman statue represents another legend from the Faroe Islands. I cannot do the story justice, so please go read it for yourself. The more I travel around Europe and hear local folklore, the more I wonder why Hollywood keeps making the same movies over and over. These legends would make really great films.

This church was in the town where our Airbnb was located. It was sunny in this part most of the time we stayed.

Our Airbnb! This place was fantastic! The views alone were worth staying here and the house was cozy and well stocked with everything we needed for our stay. 

The Airbnb was located on a sheep farm and we were allowed to wander around the fields. We made friends with several sheep. 

Hanging out with the sheep was one of my favorite parts of the trip!

The art museum in the capital was really neat! 

And because I can, a couple more churches to end our trip! 

The Faroe Islands were beautiful and peaceful. I am so glad that Charles made it a priority to visit. If you have a chance, please go! You will not regret it. 

Barcelona's Sagrada Familia

The best part of the trip to Barcelona was visiting Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's cathedral. It is a very modern building and still under construction (although promised to be completed by 2026). 

We booked a guided tour and a visit to the Nativity Tower. If you visit, you HAVE to do a guided tour. Seeing it before the tour started was cool, but knowing the design inspiration behind everything made me appreciate the place so much more! 

Throughout my travels, I am ever disappointed that I cannot completely capture the beauty I see in real-life in a picture. This church was beautiful, but you have to see it in person to experience the full depth of its beauty. 

The trip to the tower was interesting. You ride in an elevator almost to the top and then go up a little bit on a narrow staircase to the viewing platform. A small viewing platform... I thought there would be another, larger area to see the city view but there is just the one so take full advantage of it. 

O the return to the bottom after your tower visit, you have the pleasure of descending down the narrow, ever winding staircase. I am afraid of heights and normally avoid tower visits. Going down was not fun, but since it was so narrow I felt a little better. I could easily brace myself against both sides, if need be. It was slow going down, though, because the people in front of us were older or stopped to take pictures along the way. 

Charles took this picture because there was no way in heck that I would take a look down the tower.

If you're visiting Barcelona and for some reason do not have this on your itinerary, do whatever you need to do to add it in! 

Christmas Traditions

The holidays are full of traditions. I thought I would share a few of mine...

- Decorate... I don't know if this really counts as a tradition since most people do it. But you cannot have the Christmas holiday without decorations. Some of my favorite decorations are my two German houses. I grew up with these types of houses from when we lived in Germany. My mom's collection seemed to grow each time my Dad went to Germany on a business trip. Then a couple years ago when my brother-in-law lived in Germany, he gave me one of the houses. It was the best ever!

- Christmas breakfast... growing up it was either sticky buns or coffee cake. And then at some point we added quiche. When Charles and I got married, our Christmas breakfast tradition became chocolate french toast. Yum, yum, yum! And when we visit my in-laws, we enjoy waffles!

- Christmas pajamas... I don't remember when this started, but it was one year when I was a kid. We begged my parents every year to let us open a present on Christmas Eve. Thus the Christmas pajamas started. The nice thing about that is you have new pajamas to wear on Christmas morning.

My 2012 Christmas pajamas...I love the sheep!

- Christmas Eve service... I love the Christmas Eve service at my parents' church. The church is large and they have the traditional choir and orchestra. Normally that is not my cup of tea at church, but on Christmas Eve nothing is better. They always pass out candles that we light towards the end of the service. The lights in the sanctuary are turned down and everything is illuminated by the individual candles. It is kind of magical.

- Watching movies... we would usually get a movie for Christmas. After all the presents were opened and the wrapping paper mounds disposed of we sit around and watch one of the new movies we received. It's a nice way to spend time together on Christmas and enjoy your new presents.

I just love Christmas! There are so many fun traditions that families can have this time of year.