Bressanone, Italy, Mittenwald & Oberammergau, Germany

Thursday morning we woke up and began our drive to Germany. Although we had seen many cannolis in Italy, we hadn't eaten any. I know...pretty shocking! Our desserts in Italy consisted of gelato, more gelato and occasionally some tiramisu. Natalie was insistent on eating a cannoli before heading to Germany, so we made one more stop in Italy close to the Austrian border. We stopped in the town of Bressanone. Since the town borders Austria (and soon after, Germany) the German influence was strong. Already, the architecture was not typical Italian style and the food was different. We stopped in a few bakeries and no one knew what a cannoli was. When we tried to describe it, they all suggested a pretzel covered in cheese!

After Bressanone we passed into Austria. We got off of the highway in Innsbruck but the kids wanted to push on to Germany, so I didn't take any photos. It wasn't too far to our first German stop. Mittenwald, Germany was recommended by my Dad. He loves all things German and even lived in Germany with my mom and brothers when he was in the army. He fell in love with Mittenwald on one of his many trips to Germany. The town is most famous for its violin making and is described as a "picture book" town.

I was immediately struck with how different the weather was. Just a few short hours away in Italy everyone was wearing bikinis and swimming but in Germany it felt 20 degrees cooler. The weather was beautiful and very fall-like.

A different look than Italy but still very beautiful! The Karwendel Mountains are in the background.

Our first Biergarten. I was excited!

There was a playground for the kids which kept them busy.

Pork knuckle with potato dumpling and gravy. It was great! And the kids liked it too!

Beer, German sausages (basically really good hot dogs) and German potato salad.

Pork, roasted red cabbage and bread dumpling with gravy. Hillary loved the cabbage and I loved the bread dumpling.

Meat goulash

The gelato is cheaper here...but still as delicious!

The Parish Church of St. Peter and Paul. Built in the early 1700s.

Apple streusel with ice cream and whipped cream.

more espresso

After Mittenwald, we drove to our hotel in Oberammergau in the province of Bavaria. Rosalie immediately found the hotel cat and was chasing it around.

This photo was blurry but I love it. She loves cats!

Her new friend she was calling "Baby".

view from our balcony

Oberammergau is famous for their wood carvings. They have been carvings for hundreds of years here. We mostly window shopped because the carvings are very expensive and I was afraid the kids would break something!

It's hard to make out but the tip of the mountain has a crucifix on it. Thanks to Mallory's eye we spotted it.

The town is also famous for their Passion Play Theater. Here, the Passion Play has been performed every ten years since 1634. People from all over the world come to Oberammergau to see it.

We ended the night at the Wolf Hotel on the patio with some live German music.

There were pretzels, of course!

And dancing!

I forget the name of this dish but it was described by the waitress as a "sweet entree". It was similar to a pancake with raisins and applesauce. It was very good!

huge geraniums

Late night "Baby" spotting.