Journey to the unknown Cross

"Why, then, do you fear to take up the Cross, which is the road to the Kingdom?

 In the Cross is salvation; 

in the Cross is life;

 in the Cross is protection against our enemies; 

in the Cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness; 

in the Cross is the strength of mind;

in the Cross is joy of spirit;

in the Cross is excellence of virtue; 

in the Cross is perfection of holiness. 

There is no salvation of soul, nor hope of eternal life, save in the Cross. 

Take up the Cross, therefore, and follow Jesus, and go forward into eternal life"

 (The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis).

This is an excerpt from my favorite chapter of my favorite book. It's called "On the Royal Road of the Holy Cross" and it truly inspires me. My household on campus is full of women who eagerly strive to carry our crosses in life, and who along with their own struggles help their sisters to carry the crosses they deal with as well. It's a beautiful testament to the suffering of Christ. 

So this weekend, I stayed back in Gaming to save a little money and to do something I have been dying to do since I got to the Kartause. Climb one of the bigger mountains and camp on it... by myself. Now I can already hear my mom hyperventilating and her scolding 'Taylor! That is dangerous' and although many thought I was crazy, I was determined. Plus I knew I'd be absolutely safe. I wasn't hiking when it got dark, I wasn't going too far, I brought plenty of food and water, and there is no way to get lost here (you just keep walking down hill till you get in the valley where the Kartause is)

So with my bag all packed, I started my journey by praying The Way of the Cross according to the method of St. Francis. It's my favorite meditation on the stations, and It was the perfect beginning to my day.

I began hiking the mountain directly behind the Kartause. It's one most people don't hike, as many students choose to climb the mountain with the water fall, or Book Mountain (where you get to sign your name in a book at the top). As I began the ascent, I tried to find an easy route that wouldn't lead my directly up a steep incline. 

Let me tell you, after about a half hour of trying to find an easy way up, I realized that this wasn't going to be easy. I turned and headed straight up the mountain. Now those of you who do not know the Yosemite Decimal System, let me explain. There are 5 classes of climbing.

Class 1: trail walking uphill. 

Class 2: still a bit of a trail, but there might thick brush or climbing over and around fallen trees, occasinal hand usage for balance.

Class 3: considered 'scrambling' basically, you look like a small and very drunk squirrel moving from tree to tree practically crawling up the side of a mountain.

Class 4: needs rope, but no need for extreme protection

Class 4: rope, and protection needed.

So guess what I was? That's right a mix between a drunken squirrel and debating whether or not I should be using rope. Okay, it wasn't that steep but it was quite the hike and I quickly adopted a large branch to be my walking stick. I always made fun of people you used walking sticks... I never will again. That little guy saved me from a nasty slip many times.

So I was enjoying the peace and quiet of nature, and also some Mumford and Sons. The walk was pretty tiring, since I was walking up hill the whole time and even when I stopped for water I had to hold myself in place in front of a tree. I walked for about 3 hours, hoping with every look back that I would have a great view. Finally the trees cleared and I could tell I was at the top. The Alps were HUGE and went on forever,  I tried to take pictures but they don't capture the feeling I had seeing them sprawled out.

I found a nice grassy place and set up my tent, although it wasn't very flat, it was the best I could do. I took out my dinner (Spar meat sticks and an orange) and St. Teresa of Avila's book The Interior Castle. I couldn't help but smile to myself about how awesome my tent looked out on the mountain!

I sat and read and stared out at the mountains. It was serene, and absolutely quiet. For a while I did this until I got chilly and I put on my sweat shirt and sweat pants and crawled into my sleeping bag. I couldn't wait for the sun to set so I could see the stars. However, one more adventure was needed. Just as it was getting dark, I decided to go explore. Since I hadn't yet peered over the other side of the mountain I had climbed, I figured I should, just to make sure I really was at the top. So after about 20 feet i could see more mountains. I was surrounded by mountains!! Just as I was about to turn back, I saw the Cross. My heart skipped a beat. All the way up here! A cross! I couldn't help but think of the line from my favorite chapter in The Imitation of Christ 

"The Cross always stands ready, and everywhere awaits you. You cannot escape it, wherever you flee; for wherever you go, you bear yourself, and always find yourself.

I immediately said the consecration prayer my household always says, ending my day at the foot of His Cross. The sun set and the sky was a light pink and I sat under the cross enjoying this last little surprise.

Camera's can never capture a starry night sky quite the way you would want. Believe me, though, the view from the top of a mountain of the stars is unbelievable. I've never seen that many. After gazing out for what seemed like forever, I attempted to fall asleep. My sleeping bag kept me very warm so I did not suffer from the cold (it was only 45) at all. I did not, however, get a good night sleep. Between slipping down hill, finding large lumps under the tent, and having my arm fall asleep, I was up most of the night. When I was asleep, I was having strange dreams of hunters shooting at me. Anyways, before I knew it it was 7am, and I packed up and prepared for my descent. 

Now one may think, "Oh, going down! Finally a break." However, it is not a break. It is worse than going up. I would choose scrambling up a mountain than scrambling down a mountain any day of my life. I have callouses from gripping my hiking stick, and I have many scratches from slipping down. I walked through a very dense area, only to discover I felt like Snow White being attacked by the forest. I desperately wanted to  see any sign that I was getting close. Finally, I could see through the trees a sign of the bottom!

The only upsetting thing was I didn't see the Kartause, and didn't recognize the town. I knew it had to be Gaming, but I was just longing to see the Church steeple rise above the trees. I caused a couple minor land slides, some with rocks, and some with me included in the rocks. After only 2 hours i finally hit a trail I recognized! As I walked down it, I could barely see through the trees the unmistakable orange and white of the Kartause. I have never been so happy to see that place!!

So with my hike complete, I took a much needed shower, and now I think I will take a much deserved nap.
It was a beautiful hike and I loved having some time to myself. It was a reminder to push myself daily and to carry my crosses no matter how steep they might seem.

" If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For who ever will save his life shall lose it: and who ever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."

 (Matthew 16:24-25)

Fun Facts in Europe

Europe is so different than America. There are little subtle differences, and then there are huge ones that make you think "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in America any more." I've decided, since I don't update this blog quite as often as you all would like. I'll post some interesting tid-bits here and there

First of all, windows here are ingenious!!! If you put the handle facing up, the window leans open so it is cracked on top. Allowing air flow, but no rain or wind to come in if it's chilly.

However, if you turn the handle sideways, it swings open completely! And in the downward position it is locked. I love these windows... a lot. 

Another interesting tid bit is of course the plugs. They look funny, and are quite inconvenient

 The light switched are also different. Nothing much to say here...

The weirdest things are the toilets. Or as they call bathrooms in Europe, the Wash Closet (WC). The hole is on the opposite end and there is a button you press to flush. It's a little strange using it.

 More fun facts will be added as I come across them! Enjoy these!

Venice has my heart!

On Friday it was the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. What a beautiful feast to do a pilgrimage on. We hiked 18 miles through the Austrian alps on a trail that ran alongside the river. Words and pictures cannot quite express the beauty of that hike. 

However, it was not just the external beauty that made the 18 miles worth it, but the internal prayer for all people carrying difficult crosses in life. We actually carried a cross with us as we hiked and took turns holding it up. I loved walking for the intentions of all my family and friends, and I carried in my heart special intentions for all those I love.

So after the hike, exhausted as we were, a small group of us decided to go to Venice for the remainder of the weekend. After a couple bus rides we picked up our tiny little European rental car and drove the 4 hours to Venice. Roads are CRAZY here. No one follows the speed limit. The signs are just suggestions. However, with my rosary hanging over our rear view mirror we made it safely to our hostel. Now, our hostel is another story.

We pulled off the high way and followed Miss Tomtom's voice to a dark alley… There, we could hear pounding loud music. We got out walked through a large gate, and there it was… Camp Jolly. Yes, that's the name of the hostel. There were cabins you could rent, but we went cheap and got tents instead! Don't worry, they locked! So the place had a nice bar, a pool and was a close bus ride to Venice. We crashed from exhaustion and woke up early to go to the island.

Venice was gorgeous. I am in love with that place! Perhaps it's because my Italian blood ran fast through my veins while there, or maybe I just really liked the gelato.  In any case, the winding streets, streets of water, smell of pizza and the music of accordions made my heart happy.

We wandered. A lot. We just walked in and out of shops, down random alleys, over a thousand bridges and stumbled upon some beautiful churches. We found one with the uncorrupted body of St. Lucy. We went into St. Mark's Basilica. It is stunning! I of course forgot to bring a scarf with me to wrap around my waist and because I was wearing shorts I had to pay a euro to buy a cover up. But it was worth it!

We then climbed Campanile.. or rather took the elevator up! The view was unbelievable. My mouth dropped open when I stepped off the elevator. Venice is so cramped, but it's surrounded by beautiful water and I loved seeing the city sprawled out.

After that we grabbed a water taxi, because everything in Venice is a water version (even the garbage trucks *boats*), to the island of Lido for some beach action. We hung out for a bit in the water, which is TEN TIMES more salty that in the states. And we built sandcastles and found some great sea shells.

Back on Venice we went to Mass at St. Mark's in Italian. It was great because I could almost follow along, thanks to my Spanish! Many times during the day I could kind of understand the Italian people!

We then what we had all been thinking about all day, a gondola ride!! We floated through the quiet canal and saw the peacefulness of Venice at night. For as crowded and busy it is during the day, it goes almost dead at night. It was such a peaceful ride and our Gondolier pointed out a few cool things like the Bridge of Sighs (connecting the Palace to the prison) and Vivaldi's house.

After our classic Italian experience, we headed to a restaurant that fit our budget (unfortunately the ones on St. Mark's were a liiiitle pricey). We grabbed some more gelato and made our way back to the bus.

It was a day well spent, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I can't wait to spend more time in Italy!

Sorry and Salzburg!

So I apologize for being so lazy with my blog but I claim busyness as my excuse!! I won't linger for long on that point though, because I've got a lot of catching up to do!
So my weekend to Salzburg and Munich was amazing. It was a school trip, so it was well planned and stress free! We left early in the morning on Friday and enjoyed the view of the alps on the drive there as our director pointed out some sights from the Sound of Music! When we got to Salzburg we had Mass at a Franciscan Church, which of course was extremely gorgeous. We then went on a quick tour of the city where more Sound of Music sights were pointed out! Salzburg was so interesting and full of history. The Prince-ArchBishop who took over ruling in Salzburg loved Italy, so he ended up making the city look very Italian.

After our brief walking tour we had lunch at the Stein Keller. All of the people who had food allergies had to sit at one table, which made us feel like lepers… but the food was well worth the ostracization. Then we were allowed to roam free, and we bee-lined it to the chocolate shop. It's a famous little shop which hand dips special 'Mozart' chocolate. It was delicious and well worth the 1 euro. Then we walked to the Cathedral and sat in the adoration chapel, enjoying the peace of yet another surprise visit with Jesus. Our next ambition was to climb all the way up to the fort. Now, Salzburg s a really cool city. It's all very flat and nestled between the mountains and the river. However, there is a huge fort which looms over the whole city and you can see it from anywhere. So, with our sights set on the fort we began the ascent. Only about 30 minutes later were we rewarded with a breathtaking view. We explored the fort, wandered through the rooms, and enjoyed the view.

Before we headed to dinner, we made a stop at the Abbey that was where Frauline Maria (Sound of Music) was preparing to make her vows. When we entered the church, the nuns were having choir practice so we were able to enjoy their beautiful heavenly voices. Leaving we got to see the gate from the movie, and immediately recognized it as the one the Vontrap children called for Maria. Then it was off to dinner at the Augustiner, a beer garden in the shade of tons of trees. We ate some meat and potatoes, enjoying our German style meal and I filled my beer stein full of water.

To make our trip to Salzburg a true visit to Mozart's home, we went to a concert in the Marble Palace. Not only was the room beautiful, but the music was perfect.

We finished our evening by club hopping and hit up some very interesting dance clubs with a few locals not dancing and TONS of Franciscan students dancing like crazy. We walked down by the rive dipped our feet in and made our way back to our hostel.

Munich began with Mass the GIANT Cathedral. If you stand at the very front of it, the entire place looks windowless. When in reLity the windows are the tallest ones i've ever seen!

After Mass we went off to see the Sophie Scholl Platz. Sophie worked against the Nazi regime and was caught and executed, we watched a movie about her on the way to Munich and I was so moved by the story. Unfortunately the university she attended was closed for construction :( So instead we went to see the Nazi Head quarters, or rather where they used to be. Munich was cool because so much history had happened there. It was weird to imagine Nazi power being concentrated right in the city I was standing in.

We wandered through the very busy city and came across a couple of markets, lots of markets actually. Seems like Munich was very active the day we came. We climbed up to the top of a church tower to get a better look at the city, it was 408 stairs all the way up!

We ended the day sittin glistening to live music at a street fair, ate some delicious food and went to the Hofbräuhaus (some for the pretzles, and me just for the experiecne)!

Daily Life in Gaming

Still the "oh wait I live here" thought crosses my mind everyday. I have had only two classes so far! Oh the joys of my schedule. Tomorrow I have a full day of classes, and I am very excited. My teachers are absolutely wonderful and every thing I am reading I fully enjoy! Oh and I got to class here:

Daily life here in the Kartause consitsts of me wakign up in my luxriously large room complete with it's own bathroom. We eat in the Mensa, which looks really cool! The food isn't even bad! It's very similar from day to day, they love left overs, but it's meat rice and vegetables everyday! Healthy and satisfying. They also keep a lactose free fridge, and offer gluten free meals!

My favorite experience thus far has been playing basketball with the locals. There is group of guys who hang around in the park next to the Kartause and for the past few days we have played some great pick up basketball games. These are the types of experiences in Europe I will always enjoy the most. Actually getting to know the people and learning that other than the language, they are just like us. We have some fun times understanding each other, and a lot of the game is filled with laughter.

Another great thing that is available for us here are the University bikes. Free to rent, and a joy to take out. We take many trips down to the local Spar to stock up on Milka (only the best chocolate ever). We also explore much of Gaming quicker and with less effort on these bikes. I have loved seeing the mountains and sitting by lakes and the river bed of the Danube.

Vienna waits for you

So I woke up very early to get on the bus (which DOES not wait for you) to Vienna. After a very dreary rainy drive to the city, we got to this little Church to have Mass. I swear, ever church I go into is just as beautiful as the last one. They get better and they are just over flowing with the Holy Spirit.

After a beautiful celebration, PACKED full of Franciscan students, we were off on a tour. My group was led by a Franciscan Alum from '03 who lives in Vienna now and works for the UN. He was very fun to have as a tour and knew a lot about the city. The best part, he tried to keep us out of the rain as much as possible! So as he was showing us various sights the city had to offer we all of a sudden hear this loud music! We hurried into this dome shaped covering and there was a marching band!! It was very cool, but scary. Scary because there was an angry Austrian man who was blowing a whistle loudly at us to move out of the way. Despite being terrified of the chance of being yelled at in German, we enjoy thoroughly the marching music as we kept dry.

Finally (and I mean finaaallyyy) we got to eat lunch! On the school's dime of course haha. We ate at this sweet place called the 12 Apostles. It was like in the basement, which sounds kind of creepy, but it was like a wine cellar and had great food!

We stopped by several other churches, the most magnificent of them was definitely Saint Stephen's Cathedral. They had 24 hour adoration of the exposed Blessed Sacrament that day, so I spent some time before Jesus and thanked him for the unbelievable gift this trip has been to me.

After that, we tried to get to the Open Market. After asking a lot of German people trying to communicate as best we could with many large hand gestures, we were pointed in the right direction. Well all of a sudden, a wild party truck parade appears!! So about 15 trucks drove by BLASTING some music. Filled with crazy people dancing. Enough explaining here's a video:

We got to the open market and experienced a wide array of... dried fruit. Sitting out in the open with bees all around. Haha and every stall keeper asking where we were from and upon the answer of U.S. a response of "ahhh ammerriicaaa! obaammmaa!!" Apparently they love him here, for some reason. Anyways, i bought a mango. It was HUGE and sweet and not like mangos here in the U.S. I also bought an adorable scarf :) :) let the scarf buying begin!!

After that we wandered to some Italian Cafe and sat outside and enjoyed the beauty of the city.

Summary on Vienna: I loved it. What an amazing city. It was full of gorgeous architectural, super old buildings, and FULL of history. I mean we actually saw the place where Hitler announced Nazi's control over Austria and where JPII made a proclamation of peace and love.