Monday, January 31, 2011

Munich

The school took us to Munich Germany for the second day of our weekend trip.  Of the cities that we have visited so far, it was definitely my favorite.  Our first destination in Munich was the Frauenkirche.  The Frauenkirche was the cathedral where Pope Benedict XVI used to be stationed when he was the archbishop of Munich.  We had Mass, and then departed for a short walking tour of the city.  After that we had an awful lot of free-time which involved finding food, exploring, and hunting down a table at the Hofbrauhaus.  

To start, some pictures of the Frauenkirche...

The Crucifix is suspended from the ceiling a few feet in front of the altar, or at least it seemed that way.  It was a little unusual, but I liked how it was more central than most of the Crucifixes that I have seen in the churches here.  

The altar in the Frauenkirche.  

A statue of Jesus in the Frauenkirche.  

"The devil's footprint" So, story-time.  Basically, there is a legend that the builder of the Frauenkirche made a deal with the devil.  In this deal, the devil agreed to leave the builder alone while he was building the church, on the condition that he build it without windows.  The builder agreed, but then went against the deal.  When the devil entered the church, and saw that the builder had broken the deal he stomped his foot in rage, leaving the clear footprint that you see above.  

Apparently the devil wears a 10 1/2 size boot, because my foot was a perfect match.  

This was some sort of structure, quite possibly a crypt.  I just thought it was interesting looking, even though I got no explanation of what it was.

Now for some pictures of the walking tour...
Munich's Rathaus.  It also contained a relatively interesting Glockenspiel. 

This was also on the Rathaus, just an interesting piece of dragon-related architecture.  

Fussgangerzone.  A pedestrian only zone.  The gold in the middle is a statue of Mary.

St. Michael's Church.  
A statue of the Crucifixion in St. Michael's.

Another statue in St. Michael's.

St. Peter's Church, which was the last stop on our walking tour.  The statues along the pillars depict the twelve apostles holding the things that killed them (except for St. John the Evangelist, who was the only one to die of natural causes).

After our tour, we had free time for the rest of the day.  It was definitely fun to just roam around Munich with no plan, and good friends.  There were quite a few interesting happenings throughout the day, ranging from an alcoholic doughnut to a sock store, but for now let's just say it was an adventure.

A less than flattering picture of me eating a pizza semmel with my awesome girlfriend.  The pizza semmels tasted like cheez-its.  

The Asam Kirche.  It was "oozing" rococo style art.  

Some more of the Asam Kirche.  This sculpture reminded me of Harry Potter, mostly because the screaming guy on the ground (presumably the devil) looked a lot like Voldemort.

Another sculpture in the Asam Kirche.  

A statue in front of The Munich Residenz.  

This is a a protest out in front of St. Cajetan's Church.  We assumed that it was a group of Bavarians protesting for their independence from Germany.

The altar area in St. Cajetan's.  This is my favorite church so far.  I found it to be significantly more elegant than any of the other churches that we visited, and on top of that it was very clean.  

The front door to St. Cajetan's.

Here is a closer view of St. Cajetan's from the outside.  

The gazebo in the Court Garden behind The Munich Residenz.

We assumed that this is the Bavarian equivalent of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  We figured out that it is at least a memorial to the Bavarian who were killed during the World Wars.  

After all of the walking around we went to the Hofbrauhaus and struggled to find a table for a good long time. We eventually succeeded, and ordered our food, and most of us (including myself) tried some of their world-famous beer.  It was definitely a good experience, but I don't think it is one that I will repeat (I am just not a beer drinker).  Some time after dinner we ended up roaming around the shop district.  Window-shopping was  entertaining, but unfortunately most stores close by six o'clock so I couldn't get an 80% cacao chocolate bar that I caught sight of and wanted more than almost anything... By seven o'clock we were getting on the buses to head back to the hostel in Salzburg.  I really wanted to stay in Munich for the night so I could see the Olympic stadium the next day, but it is okay I may still get to see one.

Well, that is all for now, thanks for reading!  I will try to get info posted about the last stop on my trip tomorrow before the internet gets shut down, but I can't make any promises.  




Sunday, January 30, 2011

Salzburg

I am finally back at the Kartause after a full weekend of traveling.  Overall it was pretty good.  The school took us to three cities: Salzburg, Munich, and Mondsee.  We stayed at a hostel in Salzburg that was pretty awesome if you ask me.  Unfortunately I hear that most hostels are nowhere near as nice as the one that we stayed in.  To give you an idea of how classy this place was, here are a few pictures of my room.

The room was a little nicer than my room at the Kartause.

I got to sleep on the fold-out bunk.  It was one of the most comfortable beds that I have ever slept in.

We also had a tiny HD TV on the wall.  The only thing in English was CNN, so basically all Chris and I heard about was the Egypt situation.  

Anyway, after checking out the hostel, I got to wander around town with my friends.  It was definitely a nice town, everything seemed to be pretty clean and conveniently within walking distance.  We visited a few churches, the open-air market (the same one from The Sound of Music), and Salzburg's castle.  After that, we pretty much just walked around.  Here are some pictures.

Festung Hohensalzburg AKA the castle.  For the record, it sits on top of one very steep hill. 

A picture I took on our walking tour.  No real significance, it is just Salzburg.

The birthplace of Mozart, unfortunately we didn't get to go inside.  


An interesting piece of modern art.

This sculpture is supposed to be some sort of symbol of peace for the area, I thought it looked more like a ring-wraith.  

This is a view from one of the castle's terraces.  There were a lot of people taking pictures of the sunset that night.  


One of my friends and I both "kissed" the dragon on the end of the handle for the gate closing mechanism in the castle.  

The castle's chapel.

Here is Salzburg from another terrace in the castle.  

This was the castle, as seen from a bridge down in town later that night.  

Well, that is all for now.  I will try to post some stuff about Munich tomorrow, and I will try to get all of my photos up on facebook soon.  Thanks for reading.  

Friday, January 28, 2011

Sorry for the Pause

So, it has been a very busy week.  I've had lots of work from classes, and work.  In addition to that, I have been preparing for the first overnight trip that I will be taking.  Most of the school is going on a mostly paid for trip to Salzburg and Munich.  We leave tomorrow morning (a few hours actually).  I have just about finished packing, and I am getting ready for bed.  I just figured I would update and let people know that I am just fine.

It probably goes without saying, but I will most likely be offline for at least three days after this.  When I get back, I am sure that I will have a ton of pictures and stories which will be posted immediately.

For the record, as of last night I have officially seen The Sound of Music.  I thought it was pretty good, and I can't think of a better way to prepare for Salzburg.

Well, that is all that I have to report for now.  I will be back in a few days, please pray for my classmates and I, for a good and safe trip.

Monday, January 24, 2011

A Long and Lazy Day

I haven't been up to much today.  Yesterday was my first day here that I didn't take any pictures, and today is shaping up much in the same way.  I went to class and work, and I finished all of my homework for tomorrow.  That is about all...

On the bright side, this weekend is the Salzburg and Munich trip.  I am looking forward to it, especially considering that it will be our first multiple day trip.  That should be awesome.  I am looking forward to leaving Austria for a bit, even if it is just for part of the weekend.  Don't get me wrong, Austria is great, I just want to see the sights around Europe.  Munich will be the first step (considering that Salzburg is still in Austria).

In other news, I may or may not have my first quiz tomorrow.  I guess time will tell, since nothing is official.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Vienna for a Day

As you probably know, I spent the vast majority of yesterday in Vienna.  It was a big city with a lot of sights to take in.  I guess it is just best for me to show the pictures and try my best to explain them for now.

This was a statue outside of the Kapuzinerkloster where we started the day off with Mass.

I don't remember who this guy was exactly, but I am pretty sure he is the guy who actually shut down the Kartause as a monastery.  

I think this is the inside of the Augustiner Kirche.  Basically it is the church where the hearts of the Hapsburg family members are kept.  A little disturbing, but it is tradition.

This is a carving inside that same church.  

This was the cafe where the book Bambi was written.  I ended up eating dinner there later that evening, it is a classy place.  

This is a carving of St. Michael that resided above the entrance to St. Michael's Church. 

The town hall from some distance.  Unfortunately I didn't get to pay it a real visit.  

This is the Heldenplatz, or "Heroes' Square"

This is a closeup of the balcony in the Heldenplatz.  Hitler and Pope John Paul II both gave speeches from this platform, which I find interesting considering the large differences in character between the two.  On top of that, Franciscan University's very own Father Denny apparently led some sort of praise and worship thing here too...

St. Stephen's Cathedral.  The areas where it is damaged have been covered with scaffolding and painted to demonstrate what the building would look like if it were still intact.  

One of the most talented men I have ever seen.  

The sword of Karl der Große AKA Charlemagne. This picture was taken in the Schatzkammer museum in the Hofburg Palace.  The museum was incredible, and I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Vienna, especially if you are interested in seeing historical Catholic objects.  

This is one emerald.  It is about the size of a softball.  

According to tradition and lots of records, this is one of the nails from the cross of Christ.  

This is a portrait of St. Anthony of Padua, it may also contain a relic, but I couldn't figure that out for sure.  

Relics of six of the Twelve Apostles.  

Relics of the other six.  

This is a fragment of Veronica's robe (the one that has the image of Jesus' face on it, because he used it to wipe his face while he was carrying the cross).  You can still see the face, but probably not through the picture, it was very faint even in person.  I believe that there are three more fragments of this robe around here somewhere, I think at least one if not both of them reside in the Vatican.  

The spearhead on the left is a reconstruction of the spear of St. Longinus.  He was the one who stabbed the side of Jesus to make sure that he was dead.  The small cross on the right contains a piece of wood from the cross that Jesus was crucified on.  

This was the most awesome sword that I have ever seen, unfortunately I didn't get enough time to figure out what its significance was.  

The Heldenplatz after dark.  

Town hall after dark.