When Salzburg Stole My Heart...

Last weekend, the school sponsored a three-day, weekend trip to Salzburg & Munich. For those who do not know, The Sound of Music is set in Salzburg; thus, we had a pre-departure watching of the movie on Thursday night. I must say that watching The Sound of Music in such a large group (that has been provided with a warm, alcoholic drink, nonetheless!) is quite entertaining, with all the girls singing along at the top of their lungs and the men making awkward comments during the love scenes...it was a memorable experience!

I'm not sure if the hills are truly alive with the sound of music or not, but something about the town of Salzburg captured my heart! I have to say that I definitely preferred Salzburg to Munich. So here's how the weekend went-down:

Friday
*Morning arrival at the youth hostel, followed by a stroll through town, in which strange things such as a giant chess game and a large golden ball with a man statue on top were seen, ending at the Francizkaner Kirche for English Mass. *Lunch at Sternbraü, ordered a Kaiser Bier & didn't like it, enjoyed a dessert that had some kind of odd fruit on it - maybe plumbs - talked with people at the table about going to the Sound of Music Dinner Theatre later on, found out it was too expensive! *Broke into a small group for a walking tour of Salzburg led by Katie Hess, one of my R.D.s - saw such things as St. Peter's Church, what was once the smallest house in Salzburg, and the birthplace of Mozart. *Sampled a chocolate-covered pretzel & enjoyed a cinnamon pretzel (Salzburg is known for pretzels). *Successfully climbed all the way to a castle on the cliff at the top of the city carrying my beastly, bulging backpack! *Said a prayer because I literally thought I might drop dead from the killer workout - my heart has never beat that hard in my life! (I'm pretty sure that I will either have amazing muscles when I return home, or will just become a hunchback later in life.) *Explored the castle (it's like its own village!) & allowed the amazing views to take my breath away. *Walked back to the youth hostel & dropped off the beastly backpack. *Explored Salzburg with my friends Mary & Erica: went window-shopping & bought edelweiss seeds, ordered coffee & split dessert at a cute café, crossed the river & explored side streets, remembered that the smells & the bells are a joy of being Catholic when we sniffed the door of a locked Church that smelled like incense, ran into our friend Andrew outside of the Shamrock and became a group of four, did more window-shopping. *Ate dinner at an Italian place called Spaghetti & Co., ordered Bavarian Potato Soup, Bruschetta, & Pinot Grigio wine!!! mmm. *Almost died as I traversed icy paths on a night tour of the ledge above the city led by Professor Seifert, but enjoyed some good laughs from the near-death experience. *Went back to the youth hostel & didn't discover until it was too late that the men's bathroom was located on the women's floor and the women's bathroom on the men's floor - ergo, had an awkward moment with a pre-theologate student (a future priest, basically) in the men's bathroom, went back to my room & recounted the hilarity of the incident for my roomates, discovered I left the lid to my makeup remover in the men's bathroom, skulked back to the men's bathroom where I had to be humble and ask another guy to look for the lid. ~Woke up really early in the morning ( or late at night, however you want to look at it) & thought it was time to get up...then discovered it was not time to get up & realized that rooming with 8 people is not a joy when the roomates come back from the bar in the middle of the night & wake you up.

Saturday

*Woke up really excited to go to Munich, Germany. *Was disappointed to realize that Munich felt like just another big city. *Had Mass at the Cathedral where Pope Benedict was Arch-Bishop. *Walked to Mariaplaz & waited in anticipation to see the Glockenspiel do its thing...was disappointed to find that it was not all it was hyped up to be. (I don't know why, but I have a huge obsession with Austrian/German cuckoo clocks...I guess i was expecting the Glockenspiel to be like a giant version of one, but instead it was just awkward statues moving to creepy clown music) *Had lunch in the open market in Munich (so much fun), consisting of smoked ham, cheesy bread, a pretzel, brie cheese, dried fruit, turkish delight, & warm honey wine! It was a great lunch. *Shopped in Munich, but didn't buy anything. It was very expensive! *Went to Starbucks, ordered a caramel machiatto, almost scalded my hand because they don't believe in cardboard cup holders in Europe...ouch! *Heard that there was an anti-Israel rally going on in the mariaplaz, wanted to go see it for myself but my friends said no, which is probably a good thing because i would have wanted to give them a piece of my mind, and probably would have been beaten. Good thing I have good friends! :) *Went to Hofbraühaus for supper with Mary & Erica, was hit on relentlessly by the thirty-something waiter (very amusing), had a bratwurst and a liter of dark raddler (half beer, half sprite). Split the raddler with Erica & still did not finish it off! *Bought my first souvenirs/gifts at HB. *Realized at the end of the day that I should have taken a 10 minute train to see Dachau...oh well, another weekend will hopefully be devoted to World War II sites. *Boarded bus to go back to Salzburg.

Sunday

*Slept in a little bit. *Went to German Mass at the Cathedral, lit a candle for a friend's conversion, accidentally extinguished someone else's candle in the process, initially couldn't find matches but with the help of another franciscan student was able to relight the candle from a teeny tiny end of a match that was under the candlestand...whew!, went to sit with Mary & Erica for Mass & made friends with the old lady at the end of our pew, felt cool because I had my German prayer card in my pocket & could pray the Our Father, didn't have a clue what the readings were because I forgot my Magnificat back in Gaming, almost fell asleep during the homily because I didn't understand a word, was really confused during communion because there was no order & it was a mad dash to the front, became further confused when they gave the final blessing as we were still walking back to our seats after communion. It was definately a new experience! *Went to McDonald's and ordered french-fries...it was a golden-slice of home that has never tasted so good! *Had lunch at Sternbraü again...this time the dessert was an amazing, strawberry creme puff...mmm. *Walked around Salzburg somemore & then boarded the buses. *Stopped at Mondsee on the way back to Gaming, saw the Church where the wedding scene was filmed in the Sound of Music, saw a beautiful lake that is the largest freshwater body of water in western europe and is privately owned...beautiful! *Bought a dessert at a bakery in Mondsee and ate it on the bus...some kind of lemony thing, similar to cheesecake. *Arrived back in Gaming completely exhausted!

It was a GREAT weekend. God is soo good!

Check out the following links for pictures of the weekend (don't worry, anybody can see these even if they don't have facebook)

From the photo album "Salzburg":
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=212130&l=d31a4&id=657825440

From the photo album "When Salzburg Stole My Heart":

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=212162&l=82563&id=657825440

From the photo album "Munich & Mondsee":

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=212187&l=bb2b7&id=657825440

~Saturday in Vienna~

Vienna is a mere, two hour bus trek from where I live. Crazy.

The drive into the city was a bit of a culture shock, with billboards of naked women and rows of streets filled with various clubs, of which kind I'm sure you can imagine. We all missed the conservatism of the United States! Thankfully, we quickly rode into a much more pleasant part of Vienna, where history and beauty awaited us. After the bus dropped us off, we walked a short distance to an old Franciscan Church...so old that Franciscans were present there before the death of St. Francis! Joseph II, who closed the Kartause, also gave the Franciscans the boot from this Church. After that, it has been the parish church for the Italian community of Vienna. They allowed our friars that travelled with us to say Holy Mass for us there, something they try to do on every school sponsored trip. After Mass, we broke into groups for walking tours around Vienna. We saw the building which serves as the residence of the Austrian President and the National Library. Hitler spoke from the balcony of this building when he announced to the Austrian people that he was taking over their country. Later, Pope John Paul II spoke also spoke from this balcony, which represented the triumph of good over evil, in a way. On our tour, we saw various historical sights of the Hapsburg Dyasty, as well as the remains of the Hapsburgs spread out throughout various Churches. I thought it was pretty funny that one Church's claim to fame was that they had the Hapsburg's intestines! The Church in which the Hapsburg weddings occured held the hearts of the Hapsburgs. This was really neat, as the Hapsburgs gained their power through love and marriage instead of war. One of the Churches we saw was dedicated to St. Michael, and though it was the servants' Church, it was absolutely beautiful. A tour of Vienna would not be complete, of course, without seeing St. Stephen's Cathedral! Words cannot express how awesome this Church was, inside and out.

My freinds and I went back to St. Stephen's during our free time because we wanted to climb up the large tower and look out on the city, but unfortunaley the tower had just closed when we got there. :( We spent the rest of our free time exploring the city. Vienna is known for it's coffehouses. We stopped at the cafe where Bambi was written, but it was full and looked a little pricey so we kept walking, or should I say cafe-hunting. We never did get to drink Vienna coffee, though. We ate supper at WienerWald and decided we would hit a cafe after that. Since it took FOREVER to get our waitress to bring the bill, we ended up running out of time to hit a cafe. We just walked back and waited for the bus! Nonetheless, I had a great time in Vienna. My favorite thing that I did was stumble upon Eucharistic Adoration in a small, parish Church (Kirsche St. Anna) in a little side street in Vienna. At the start of our free time, my friends and I prayed for the Lord to direct us where He willed us to go...and he brought us to Himself in Adoration...i love it! It was a beautiful CHurch, but we didn't get any pictures because the nosy, Austrian women who were praying the Rosary kept turning around and staring at us! We decided to just pray and leave. :)

I just got back from Salzburg and Munich but had to finish up this Vienna post before I could blog about that. So check back again soon for a post on my most recent adventures! :)

God bless.

The Kartause (pronounced: kart-owe-zah)

Before I go on blogging about my adventures, I wanted to share a little bit about the place I'm calling home for the next few months. I am blessed to be living in The Kartause Maria Thron, which was a Carthusian Monastery built in 1332 by Albrecht II, one of the rulers of the Hapsburg dynasty. Albrecht is actually buried beneath the chapel of Maria Thron, along with his wife Johanna. This was the largest Carthusian monastery in the world by the 15th century and it withstood attack three times by Muslim Turks. The monks were banished from the monastery in 1782, however, when Josef II closed down over 700 monasteries. (When we went to Vienna and learned the history of the Hapsburg dynasty, they told us to "boo" whenever we heard Josef's name!) As the monastery was falling into disrepair, Napolean used the chapel as a stable for his horses and many works of art were hidden here from the Nazis. The Kartause also served as military barracks for the Soviets, as well as storage for local pig farmers.

THANKFULLY, the Kartause was bought by an architect in 1983 who has renovated it to now serve as housing for Franciscan University, the Language & Catechetical Institute & the International Theological Institute. Now, I am blessed to live here, not just because it was a royal palace and wars were fought here, but because of the holiness of the Carthusians who lived and prayed here!

On Sunday, we received a tour of the Kartause that was really exciting. We saw the museum and courtyard, and several views of the Kartause I hadn't even seen before...this place is really big! We also were able to go up into the secret chapel...every Gothic Church has stacked side chapels, so if you go into the side chapel, there will be winding stairs up to another chapel on top! My favorite part of the tour was of the upper church. Maria Thron, originally built in a Gothic style, was renovated during the baroque period...so basically, they put in a false ceiling beneath the gothic ceiling. After a very long climb up winding stairs, we were able to walk on top of the ceiling that is actually in use now and look through windows down into the sanctuary. Here are some pictures!

This is me, standing on the ceiling in use right now...you can see the arches of the original Gothic ceiling.

I don't have a very good picture of it, but there is graffitti on the walls from the 1800s! Very cool. :)

View down into the sanctuary...from way up high!

Sundial on the wall of the Kartause that was used by the Carthusians.

The First Few Days: Arrival & Adjustment

I have finally arrived in Gaming, Austria. It's my second night living in the Kartause, and though its 11:15 PM here, it's only 4:12 PM back in Iowa. Needless to say, i'm still trying to get over the jet lag/sleepiness. :)

While I've been exploring Austria, my luggage has been taking an adventure of its own. It never quite made it to Vienna (along with about twenty other people's luggage). I did hear that it arrived in Vienna this morning, so hopefully it will arrive sometime tommorrow at the Kartause(thursday). Though I packed one extra outfit in my carry on, I feel like an international hobo!

Here are the intriguing things I've discovered so far...

*The Austrians are overly concerned about the environment; thus, you must pay to get a plastic bag at the grocery store and, even worse, there is a very complex trash/recycling system. We must sort metal, clear glass, colored glass, white glass, paper, plastic/packaging materials, problem trash (hazardous), biodegradable, & then everything else goes in the category restmull. We have to have a cliff notes sheet by the garbage cans to avoid fines! haha

*While at a meal, it is inpolite to drink your beverage before everyone else at the table has theirs. Then, you must make eye contact and "prost," which is like the Austrian version of "cheers". It is a VERY, VERY BAD thing to not make eye contact during a prost--basically, you are considered to be a shifty & untrustworthy person.

*Restrooms are called water closets...and the WC's on charter busses are not private!! They are just in the middle of the bus, with little square walls around them. haha

*Old churches and monasteries (such as the one i'm living in) are extremely cold and drafty.

*the water is AMAZINGLY pure...no need for bottled water here!

*the mensa (cafeteria) at the kartause in Gaming serves dry cereal in the afternoon & evening. There's no milk because it's not fresh (at least that's what is sounded like the German lady said...?).

*There is a secret chapel somewhere around the kartause...i'm still working on finding it.

*The Austrians have 13 Catholic holdiays that double as national holidays...they really like vacation time!

*And here's an obvious one: the scenary is BEAUTIFUL! The alps, cute Austrian houses & villages, running streams, frozen waterfalls....the beauty just never ends!

Today, we took a school trip to Admont and had Mass at the Benedictine Monastery there. We also explored the amazing library on the Monastery grounds, which was just like the one from Beauty & the Beast.

Sorry there are not more pictures, but photography wasn't allowed in the library. I only got one picture snapped before the tour guide made us stop!

Tomorrow will not be as exciting, as we are in Orientation meetings all day...bummer.

We start classes on Thursday and travel to Vienna this weekend.

Check back next week for updates. I'll also post some pictures then of the Kartause and tell some of its awesome history...I haven't had a chance to get good pictures yet, due to this crazy orientation schedule they have us on. God bless! :)

Through Mary,

Tessa <3

Kiss Me & Smile For Me...Cause I'm Leavin' on a Jet Plane!

It was orientation week of my freshman year of college - I eagerly placed my deposit to participate in Franciscan University's Austrian Study Abroad Program. My deposit would hold my place for the Spring 2009 semester.

~ fastforward 17.5 months ~

With only 3 1/2 days until I leave behind the United States, I can't help but wonder where the time went! I've also been figuring out that moving around the world entails a lot of pre-departure preparation:

Passport - check
Austrian Visa - check
Eurail Pass - check
comfy & cute shoes - check
hidden money belt - check
5-language translator - check
exchange some US cash for euros - check
get a credit card - check
hassle w/ the insurance co. to get 4 month supply of prescriptions - check
pack bags - (not checked!) :)

Though all the preperation can be quite stressful at times, there is a peace that comes with knowing that great blessings are in store for me over the next few months. I'm trying to remember to keep prayer on my list of things "to do." The next four months will primarily be a time of spiritual retreat and pilgrimage, and I pray for the Lord to open my heart for whatever He has planned for me. God is the ultimate travel agent!

Please pray for the safe travels of all 160+ students departing for Austria on Sunday, January 11th (though some are leaving early). Also, if you could remember us in your prayers from time to time, that we are open to what the Lord wishes to show us & that we remember to study occassionaly, it would be greatly appreciated!

Through Mary,
Tessa <3