This day was a pretty cool day, overall. As students living and studying in the Kartause, there are places we are allowed to go… and many places we are not allowed to go. On Tuesday, we got to see some of these “restricted” areas.
First, we had breakfast. I made sure to take a picture this time. Note the awesome flower-like shape of the bread.
It seems the Austrians (maybe Europeans in general?) always have meat, bread, and cheese handy for any time of day. I think it is pretty cool (especially when the cheese turns out to be Swiss!). I also had a piece of fruity bread with orange marmalade on top, some European yogurt (supplemented with granola and raisins), and a cucumber (which I have at almost every meal. :-) )
We had an Orientation meeting and a basic tour of the living area of the Kartause, and then lunch!
Yes, I know… you want to see the tour. Be patient! ;-)
They served us spaghetti! They usually have one or two American-ish items at the buffet line. Some kind of meat… chicken, I think? A doughball… made of dough… which was interesting, though bland… And, the cucumbers! :-)
And finally, the tour! We started out at the church.
I took this opportunity to take pictures. The church is very beautifully done. Apparently, an Austrian emperor created the Kartause as a home for himself, as well as a holy place for the Carthusians, a very silent order of monks (and, in fact, the only order that never needed reform). Over time, as the last of these monks died, the property fell into private hands. The Kartause fell into disrepair. During World War II, it was occupied by the Russians.
It was then that a man named
Walter Hildebrand (finally found the name!), who still lives here, renovated the Kartause. The renovated roof you see in the photos is much lower down than the actual roof of the church… we’ll get to see it soon… :-)
First on the list was an area of the Kartause where the monks had their library.
See the flags? The President and the Pope come to visit the Kartause now and then… I think annually.
Even in their solitude and silence, the Carthusian monks kept focused on their studies, advancing their minds for the greater glory of God.
I don’t know if I have mentioned this before… but Austrians, and the Carthusians, have a certain focus on death. These paintings in the two courtyards of the Kartause emphasize that focus: the “sun dial” in the first courtyard depicts two skeletons counting down man’s hours, while there is a “moon dial” in the other courtyard, in contrast to the light of day.
The next part of the tour put the “adventure” in “Austrian Adventures”! We ascended a dark and spiraling staircase in the church to reach the old roof, and the outside of the church’s dome (which is built inside the Kartause!). Here, Russian graffiti can be seen on the walls; it is an interesting and sad desecration.
We then ascended the tower even further to walk above even the old roof. Here, in the darkness, was the bell tower of the church.
I may eventually post a video on the blog, but that would require a YouTube account (or for the video to be fully public), and I’m not sure I want either yet…
And… the way back down! Going back down is much harder than going up, especially in a dark bell tower. Thank heavens for the camera- its orange light led the way! (I also caught a beautiful picture of bat dung for you all. :-) )
Next up was the Byzantine chapel. A student at the Kartause recently built the chapel so that those of Eastern Catholicism could pray and worship there. When writing the icons, though, he depicted prominent saints of both Western and Eastern rites, which is pretty cool. It is very ornate and cool, especially all of the symbolism.
(For instance, did you know that in the Eastern rite, red symbolizes divinity and blue represents humanity? This is why you always see Mary in blue with a red cloak, since she is human but overshadowed by divinity, and why Jesus is always in red with blue outer garments, since he is divine but clothed in humanity.)
I wish I would have taken more pictures of the chapel! But I didn’t know whether it was time to take pictures, or time to be reverent… that is a tricky thing, sometimes. But it is on campus, so I will take more pictures and post them soon.
The final leg of the tour was the “museum” part of the Kartause, containing some older artifacts, paintings, and information on the building, the Carthusians, the Austrian Empire and more.
And no, that is not a real guy… it’s just a model. :-)
What an awesome tour! I have seen SO MUCH on this trip so far!
Dinner:
I ate some beef, pork and gravy for dinner tonight, with some plain noodles and circular, swirly potato fries on the side. European ketchup, by the way, is awesome, if I haven’t mentioned that already. It seems to have less sugar and more flavor.
One rule about eating at the Mensa: usually, if you arrive first, you get items that they don’t plan on replacing for everyone else. The dessert above was no exception. If I recall correctly, it was a cream-filled roll that tastes bland on its own, but good with the chocolate sauce! There was also a white sauce provided that, surprisingly enough, was tutty-fruity flavored. But I preferred the chocolate. :-)
So that’s it- wait, what? Where’s the cucumber, you ask? Well, sometimes I forget. That’s life. :-)
