Danube River Valley (17/1/11)

 

What a day! Already a few days in, and I've seen so much! I am using the itinerary to help me remember what happened on Monday; it already feels so long ago! :-)

I have 80 pictures. I'm not sure if I'll be able to show them all. I might end up putting them on Facebook, or making more of the Tumblr slideshows.

First, I had some breakfast. I don't remember everything I had, but I definitely had strawberry yogurt... European style. It tasted very bland, but it was cool to taste the difference, and I didn't mind it (it's probably a lot healthier!).

So far, the basic breakfast staples offered have been: fruits and vegetables, granola, puffed rice cereal with milk, the yogurt (plain and strawberry), and fancy flower-shaped bread with ham and cheese to go along with it.

We then heard a talk by Professor Franz Schneider, who is a local Austrian. He told us about the history of Gaming, and its current attitudes, which are interesting.

Some cool facts: Austria, all in all, is about the size of Maine. It has a population of about 8 million people. It came into existence after World War II, and is officially a neutral zone. Austrians are very environmental, believe very strongly in organic food (and are strongly opposed to genetic engineering), and are against nuclear power.

Their environmental focus plays a direct part in our lives at the Kartause. We have to sort our trash into specific bins for glass, paper, plastic, metal, and even bio-degradable materials! Everything without a specific bin is put in Restmüll (the rest of the garbage). This trash sorting is so important that people have been fined for trash violations!

After the talk by Prof. Schneider, we took our first official trip to the Danube River Valley. Our trip took us two different places: a pilgrimage church, Maria Taferl, and a Benedictine monastery, Melk.

There is a lot of history involved with my journey to Austria, it seems- so much, that I tend to forget the specifics, so I apologize in advance...

At the site was a stone which was used by pagans for rituals. Catholics who came to the area put a cross there to cancel out whatever evil might still be around. One time, a woodcutter was seriously wounded in the area. He asked for Mary's intercession, and his fatal wounds stopped bleeding. He made a statue of Mary in thanksgiving, and it replaced the cross at the site. Many pilgrims come to Maria Taferl.

I spent a lot of my time there trying to figure out where the statue was. At first, I thought it was this one:

Then, I saw this one:

But it turns out I had caught the statue earlier without knowing it!. It was a lot smaller than I thought! It was on the altar in the church there:

Update:  Apparently, the statue is NOT there… so I have no clue where it was!  Oh well.

I got a good opportunity to take pictures with some friends here.

There was also a large, spiraling tower that had pictures upon pictures of Mary, Jesus, and other holy figures.

We went to lunch at the Hotel Rose, which was nearby. The food was excellent! First, we had some soup which a friend described as “pancake strips in beef broth”.  I later found out that this is “crêpe soup”.

We then had the main course: beef in gravy with potato wedges.

For dessert, they had something interesting; the best thing I can think of is “small sponge cakes”. It was actually pretty good! Admittedly, it was a little bland, but it was still good, especially with the cherry garnish, and was probably healthier than what is in the states!

Funny note: I am remembering peoples' names better than I usually do! I sat with John Paul, Joshua, Anna, and Elizabeth... and a Slovak in the Language and Catechetical Institute (LCI) program here. I don't remember his name very well, unfortunately. :-(

Having been fed, we headed out to the Melk monastery. Near a staircase on the way there, we suffered from AMOC syndrome. (Awesome Monastery... OOH! CAT!)

After we took a million photos of the stray, we headed into the monastery for Mass. The monastery is amazing! The main section alone is stunning with its artwork. (There was a lot of Baroque influence going on, from what I understand.) After the Mass, we were taken on a guided tour, where we saw items such as relic containers, an awesome library, a chamber hall for guests, old copies of the Rule of St. Benedict, and a very complicated treasure chest!

After Melk, we headed back to Gaming and the Kartause. On the way, we were shown some sad monuments; in every town in Austria, there is a monument which, in the Austrian equivalent, is named “Our Heroes”. Unfortunately, I couldn’t catch any good pictures, it was too dark. These monuments depict local people who were killed during World War II. It is sad, and a little frightening, to know that the war wasn't that long ago, and I sincerely hope that we never have to see any wars in our lifetime.

So… I posted 30 of my 80 pictures!  If you want me to post more, let me know.  I will post all or most of my photos on Facebook.