The Glockenspiel

When I came to Europe the first time as a teenager, I wanted to see the gigantic Cuckoo Clock in Rothenburg. It is extremely touristy, but I didn’t care. Fifteen or so years later, I couldn’t wait to see the Glockenspiel in the heart of Munich! Also extremely touristy, the clock goes off at 11am and 12pm (as well as 5pm during the summertime).

We arrived in the Marienplatz just in time to hear the bells. As we came out of the S-bahn, the clock had just started the show. It is kind of hard to miss because there are probably a hundred other tourists looking up! Follow their direction, and you see the beautiful clock. The top part of the clock is a knight’s tournament in which the Bavarian knight wins. The lower part of the clock signifies a dance that was done in the street to announce that it was safe to come after the plague.

Oberammergau–Passion Play and Wood Carvings

In the few short hours that we spent in Oberammergau, it was obvious that this is a must see. We first heard of this little town from one of our classmates in our German language class. She and her husband are planning a trip to Oberammergau for the Passion Play in 2010. The Passion Play was first performed in the 1600′s. The town vowed to act out the play if the lives of the villagers were spared from the plague. Unbelievably, the villagers were spared from the plague so they kept their promise and have been performing the play every ten years. Thousands of people come to see this play that is put on by the townspeople.

We spent the beginning of the day in Oberammergau at a little sledding hill. After visiting Schloss Neuschwanstein, we drove past this little hill on the way home. Children just our kids’ ages were sledding all over it. It was just the right size! We returned to this hill a couple days later so the kids could sled. Sera was not thrilled about sledding and spent most of the day in the van with me. Seth, however, had a blast!

After sledding, we did a little shopping in the wood carving stores. Oberammergau is well known for its wood carvings. A lot of it is hand carved and one of a kind. The stores are filled with beautiful nativities, ornaments and jewelry. My favorite store had the most beautiful nativity in it…unfortunately it was waaaaay out of my price range so I settled for a small carving of Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus.

Wood carvings stacked all over the store

Photo Friday

This week’s Photo Friday theme at Delicious Baby is warm weather! Because we are still traveling, I am going to share photos that were taken in the cold (brrrr….really cold) but remind me of the warmth!

While wandering around Salzburg, we decided to take a different route to the car rather than follow the same one back. Boy, was I surprised when I turned the corner and saw this amazing street market. There were fruits and vegetables, flowers, chickens, turkeys, candy, bread, and brats everywhere. The sights and smells were amazing. Everywhere you looked, you saw something different.

Ich habe Schwein gehabt!

For the past couple of days we have seen these marzipan pigs everywhere…in bakeries, in street markets, and even in the grocery stores. This morning I decided to look up the meaning and I found that you were considered fortunate during hard times if you had a pig to feed to your family. In Germany and Austria, pigs are a symbol of good luck in the New Year.