St. Polten, Gottweig, & the Danube Valley

I'm not sure if I spelled the first name right, but yesterday we took a bus to St. Polten for Mass, celebrated by the bishop of this diocese (I don't know the name of it). Afterwards, we drove to a monastery in Gottweig which was absolutely GORGEOUS! Both the scenery and the monastery itself were breathtaking. I'm in the computer lab right now so I don't have pictures loaded, but I will soon!

We also lunch at a really nice restaurant connected to the monastery and the red wine was the best that I've ever tasted (though I haven't tasted much). Unfortunately, I have no idea what it is called because the language barrier was somewhat difficult with the waiter...

After a lunch and a tour of the monastery (which is 925 years old), we went to the Danube River. The scenery here was beautiful as well, and we had a couple of hours for free time. My friends hiked up the mountain to the ruins of the Durnstein castle which was attacked by the Swedes. It was a hard but beautiful hike through the Durnstein and up the mountain. Once we got to the top you could see hill after hill and just neverending greenness! I also took pictures at the top on this castle, so I will post that as well (my computer is charging right now).

We got back to Gaming around 6pm and then had and orientation meeting which wasn't fun at all. I was exhausted! But when we got back to the room, my household sisters and I finally unpacked, hung out, prayed, and sang some praise and worship before bed. It's a good thing I brought my guitar! I had no problems on the flights over, so it was a good idea to bring it. In fact, right now I'm going to leave because I'm going to try out for the music ministry at 7:15! I don't what time it is at home, but I'm pretty sure you're all just starting school and work. I will tell you if I make it onto the music team!

And by the way, this weekend we tour Vienna! I need to bone up on my German with my "German for Dummies" book. I already bought stuff at the local grocery store and only knew how to say "Thank you!" at the cash register.

The Kartause

KAR-TOW-ZUH

The Kartause is one of the oldest standing monasteries in Europe. It was built in 1332 and the building we will be living in is 675 years old.

It was built by Albrecht II of the Hapsburg dynasty, serving as his palace and the Carthusian monastery. Albrecht and his wife Johanna are buried in the chapel.

By the 15th century the Kartause was the largest Carthusian monastery in the world and had one of the largest libraries in Christendom. It had so many frescoes and paintings that it became known as the "Sistine Chapel of the North." It held over 20,000 books.

Muslim Turks attacked the Kartause three times in the 16th century. It withstood all of them and the remains of one of the walls of defense is visible behind the hill. The Kartause was closed in 1782 by Josef II, influenced by the Enlightenment and anti-Catholic sentiments. All of the books and treasures were shipped to parishes and galleries around the empire, and the monks were disbanded.

Napoleon used the chapel at the Kartause as a stable for his horses, and many precious works of art were hidden there by the Viennese government during World War II. Soviet troops used the monastery as a military barracks during their 10 year occupancy of Austria from 1945 to 1955.

In 1983, architect Walter Hildebrand bought the monastery and renovated it to its present state to house Franciscan University, LCI (Language and Catechetical Institute) and ITI (International Theology Institute).

This will be my home for the next semester!

Austria!

In 3 days, I will leave for AUSTRIA! I am having a hard time even comprehending it...I will be there for four months!

More specifically, I leave AUG 24 around 3am, arrive in Austria sometime on Monday, start school on Tuesday, and return to the US in the first or second week of DEC.

I'm really not sure what to expect from this. People tell me I will have an awesome time, and then proceed to describe how. I've heard everything from great traveling experiences to incredible faith experiences, and I am wondering how my trip will be unique from everyone else's.

That is essentially the purpose of this blog - to keep everyone at home and at school somewhat updated on what I'm doing, where I'm going, and what I'm experiencing.

I will be taking trips around Europe on the weekends and during our 10 day break in October. I'm hoping to put up lots of pictures and stories to share this with you all :).