Weekend getaway-day 2: flea market, monastery, gorge

Wow, doesn’t that title sound odd?  TO start us off, let’s have a look at a couple of photos of Mr. HH in front of our hotel.  Pretty, huh? That’s the Alpspitz and the Zugspitz in the background.

                      

After a day of merry making at Oktoberfest, we opted for a low key morning.  TOM’s Wife found out about a flea market in Oberammergau (home of a Passion Play first held in the 1600 and is held once every 10 years-next year is it) so we decided to go.  I’m always up for a flea market.  We piled into her car (she can seat 7) and headed up the mountain.  Seriously, up. Oberammergau is about 15 miles from G-P, but most of it is up a twisty, curvy, hairpin turn-y mountain road.   Oberammergau has an elevation of 2746 feet.  The flea market was pretty interesting.  It was far less cosmopolitan than the ones I’ve been to before (of course, I usually go to ones in cities) and had some really different stuff.  Lots of homemade dirndls, local wood carvings (they’re known for this), WWII stuff and old US military uniforms (the NATO school has been located there since 1953).  We didn’t find anything, but it was still cool to look around and to see that Bavarian’s actually do dress in Lederhosen and Dirndls for everyday wear.  

 

After the flea market, we drove to the town of Ettal home of the famous Ettal Abbey, founded in 1330.  Today there is a huge baroque church there and they are incredibly famous for their beer, wine and liquor.  That’s right, the monks brew and sell beer, wine and liquor.  And it is good.  Goooooooooood.

 

After lunch at a cafe just outside the abbey, we headed back down to G-P and to the Olympic Stadium before walking through the Partenach Gorge.  Check out the ski jump!

 

From here we walked about 1/2-3/4 of a mile to the entrance of the gorge.  I had no idea it would be quite so amazing.

   

Can you believe that?  When we got to the end of the gorge, there is a bit of a beach along the river and we decided to go dip our feet in the water.  This is a glacial river, people.  Brrrrrr!  

   

We planned on catching the bus back to our hotel, but someone (Mr. HH) made us miss said bus by about a minute and a half and since it was Sunday, there wasn’t another one for over an hour.  Mr. HH thought it would be a good idea to walk to at least the bahnhof.  About 2 miles away, after we’d already done all the walking in the gorge (approximately 2.5 miles).  Indy and I were not too pleased (especially me with my stupid heel spur), but we trudged on and made it to the bahnhof just in time to catch a different bus.  We went to the same little Irish pub as the night before (mostly because it was right next to the bus stop) and Indy and I nearly fell asleep on the table.  It was a fun, but exhausting day. 

Get your act together and stop the schlump

Yesterday I had a doctor’s appointment (everything’s fine, don’t worry). I got up and put myself together. Nothing fancy, jeans, cute top (not trendy or expensive, just cute), with a scarf (it’s very European to wear a scarf all the time) and slipped on a pair of super cute high heeled slide sandals (seriously, they’re ridiculously cute). I did my hair and spent about 6 minutes slapping on some moisturizer, face powder, lipstick and mascara. I did not put a lot of effort into getting myself together, but I put some effort.

I sat in the waiting room and looked around at all the other people waiting I wondered why the lack of effort. I mean we were in a waiting room of the doctor’s office and it’s possible that some of these people were indeed sick (though no one really looked like swine flu sick or sick at all to be honest), but even sick, I can brush my hair and put on something other than grubby sweats, a holey t-shirt and flip flops.

I have to say it makes me sad that people (specifically women) take so little pride in themselves and their personal appearance. It doesn’t take much time, effort or even money to look good. Nice clothes can be found at yard sales, thrift stores and second hand shops for very little. Just washing your face, brushing your hair and putting on decent clothes goes a long way though. I just don’t understand why people don’t care about the way they look. I’m not saying I look I look great all the time (believe me, I don’t), but unless I’m half dead I make an effort.

Are you guilty of this? Do you just not care what you look like when you go out? I’m not saying looks are everything, and you should judge people by outward appearances (but let’s be honest here, we all do, even though we know we shouldn’t), but think about the image you put out there. Does it project who you are? Are you a schlump? Are you a woman who puts all her effort into everything but herself? Be proud of yourself! Even if you think you’re overweight or out of shape or you’re tired (believe me, I’m there every day) or you have a million other things to do, take a few minutes for yourself and make an effort. Not only will you look better, you’ll feel better.

And now I’m getting off my soapbox. On which I wore kick ass shoes.

EDIT: Let me climb back up on my box (not as easy as you'd think in these shoes). After reading the comments, I would like to clarify that I'm not saying you should wear makeup every day to look good. Some people are allergic, and while that makes me a little sad for you, it's completely understandable. If you don't wear makeup, that's okay. Even if you don't wear makeup though, you can brush your hair and wear clean, non grubby clothes. Looking decent doesn't mean looking like a fashion plate. It just means you take some pride in your personal appearance. Now, could someone please help me down?

It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful

My favorite blog, Nesting Place is having the first ever It Doesn't Have to Be Perfect to be Beautiful link-a-thon.

Isn't this pretty? Doesn't it look romantic? Can you imagine yourself curled up with your dh on the sofa with the glow of the candle light making you look years younger? I love candles.

Here's what it really looks like on any given day:

Not quite as romantic. In addition to the HUGE bottle of water and glass, there is a pair of sunglasses, a box of brass fasteners, a can of chalkboard spray paint and a cell phone. Oh, and Lightening McQueen of course. Can't have a day without Lightening McQueen. Underneath is a camcorder and a dog toy. On the sofa behind sits my computer Keiko (yes, I name my stuff), the cord to the camera, 2 remotes, a work file and the yearly alum magazine/update/plea for money from my high school. Ah, every day.

Here are my favorite imperfect pictures:

This was the first day of C's new job. He now has to feed the dogs. He takes it seriously. He heaps the bowls, occassionally to overflowing. The dogs LOVE him.