Hello all! This weekend wasn't terribly exciting, but we did have some adventures of our own around Austria. We were supposed to go hiking to the most famous Marian shrine in Austria this Saturday, but because of the cold weather we have been experiencing, the mountain paths were blocked with snow so the school provided bus transportation to the shrine. The shrine is titled Mariazell. It began as a small Marian shrine where a Benedictine monk, after carrying this statue to Austria, received the miracle of a giant boulder cracking in two that had been blocking his path after he prayed for Mary's aid. In her honor, he erected a small cell to her - which is what the name Mariazell means in German : Mary's cell. As time went on the shrine and pilgrims to the shrine received more special graces so that it eventually was developed into a basilica, which is what stands there today. It is located in the highest region in Austria. The drive was very beautiful - Sister Joan Paul and Meghan Devine saw a couple harts on the drive. Josh saw them too - he was the one that knew they were harts. They are like small deer with faces like caribou, at least that's how Sister described them. Joey Walsh and I explored the basilica and then the town, since we were bus buddies. We wandered through the cemetery, then we went through a couple shops where it was warmer. That night we finished watching The Fellowship of the Ring, which we had started on Thursday when Nathan Mauer and Joey were teaching me how to play the Settlers of Khatan (sp?), a board game. During the movie we decided that the Kartause here in Gaming is like Rivendell, and that Dr. Asci is like Lord Elrond - they're both gentle but serious people, and Dr. Asci is the head of the academics here. There is one instance during the movie where, during the Council of Elrond, Gimli tries to destroy the ring with his axe and I couldn't help imagining Dr. Asci saying, "No no, doesn't work like that..." in his somber, deep tone.
Sunday afternoon we hiked Book Mountain - a mountain popularly titled such by the Franciscan students. Students from previous semesters placed a book at the top of the mountain and those who make it to the top write their names in it. It's a lovely view, and a glorious hike - not terribly difficult, although it has its strenuous moments. Joey, Tim Santos, Helen, myself, and a few others went up together. I found the place where I would want to build my house if I lived here in Austria. It would be perfect, and I would have a little Connemara pony from Ireland which I could ride down to get groceries at Spar! It took about an hour and a half to get up, and about an hour to get down. When we reached Gaming, Tim Santos treated a couple of us to ice cream. It was a good way to end the hike, and the glorious conclusion to Palm Sunday afternoon. I was also able to make some spiced sweet tea later!
Sunday evening we started watching The Two Towers - I don't know if we'll make it through the entire trilogy before the semester is over, but Joey, Helen, and I are certainly going to try! I think we are all simply excited about the latest news on The Hobbit and Peter Jackson's blog post recently posted on facebook. I have not been excited about a movie in a long time, so it's nice to return to some of the enthusiasm I had for the movies when they were first coming out. And they still manage to be such good films, getting better every time I watch them. I guess it goes to show their beauty and their excellence in regards to the story and the quality.
This afternoon I did my first creek jump of the semester! There is a creek that runs through Gaming that students have a tradition of jumping in at least once during the semester - some do it everyday. I did my first one today with my household sister Annie and two other girls, although they had done it multiple times. It was freezing cold, and when I first touched the water, my body froze up from the shock, but your body gets used to it and your able to swim to the shore. It felt good after you were out of the water though! Yay Austrian semester traditions! Book mountain and the creek jump accomplished!
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