the saga of monks, alps and a slide out my window
The monk business continues...
From Vienna I went to Graz and got a map at the tourist info, trying to decide whether I liked the feel of the town. I saw Franziskanerkloster on the map, a St Francis monestery, and I find him to be an interesting saint so I headed straight for the monastery...
Another Vesper (evening prayer) and I met a 23 year old monk, or monk to be (2 years left until he has to make a final decision) who got the job of taking care of me when the older guys decided I got stay there for the night.
Conversation between me and monk Maceo (correct me if my spelling of this name is way off!!!):
E: Teach me this handwaving thing...?
M: Handwaving thing?
E: Yeah this (gesturing)
M: Oh, the cross-sign! What is there to learn?
E: Well, how exactly do you do it, because it looks like everone has different ideas about it? We don't do the cross-sign in the Church I come from.
M: You don't do the cross-sign...?
E: No.
M: Well, what do you do?
Yeah, sometimes we wonder, don't we...
I liked this monestery a lot. It has the feeling of God's presence, as if he smiles when he watches it. Even though my understanding of German is limited (getting better!) I really felt like these people mean what they pray and preach. Maceo instantly felt like a good friend. He got to answer many of my quetsions about catholisism and monk life. The red light by the altar shows that there is bread there which symbolizes the presence of Jesus, and indicates that one should kneel, and monks don't do sports in monk clothes, they change in to sport wear...
I like the kneeling. It feels like physically bending my will to God's. Maceo said it's like saying with your body: You are big, I am small. I like the cross-sign too, but I still tend to call it the hand-waving thing.
I walked around Graz doing the typical female processing, which usually means having the same thought run twentyfive times through my mind... But it was needed.
I looked at a fountain. If you zoom in on the place where the water in motion hits the still surface, the spray looks like chaos. But if you look at the whole picture you see 16 perfect arches of water through the air, forming a circle. If something looks like chaos, remember there is a bigger picture. Water in motion is important. Oxygen...
Tried my theory of sleeping on a train, but picked an evening when the trains weren't working and the replacement buses were late. At 2 am. I finally jumped on a train to Zurich and slept until 10:00 am. Lindau?Bergenz is beautiful seen out of train window.
A guy on the train recommended Grindenwald, but interrail didn't get me all the way there, so I went to Brienz. Yeah, I was a bit scaredat first, going to the Alps not knowing where I was going. But Brienz, with its houses by th turqoise water and its surrounding mountains is too beautiful to be able to house any fears! I called Dad from teh dock and then went off exploring. I found the perfect place to sleep...
A single room in a wooden house, with a set of high stairs to climb up and a view of the lake. Completely for free, definitly air conditioned, and with my own slide rigt out my front window! And the best of all: the slightly.. undefined... walls gave me proper use for all the winter clothes I have been carrying around!
After a good nights sleep, waking with the sunrise, I went for a 15 km hike from Brienz to Meiringen. Beautiful, beautiful Switzerland! I love this country. I passed through a museum of old farms, buildings and the Swiss life in old times. My trail happened to go through it -I didn't sneak in for free on purpose!
I actually wlaked on the Jakobsweg for awhile, but I think I was going away from Compostella de Santiago at the time...
Am now in Luzern, about to make a new plan. Have eaten food! Yeey for bread and cheese, I was starting to get hungry after 24 hours on only two apples...
From Vienna I went to Graz and got a map at the tourist info, trying to decide whether I liked the feel of the town. I saw Franziskanerkloster on the map, a St Francis monestery, and I find him to be an interesting saint so I headed straight for the monastery...
Another Vesper (evening prayer) and I met a 23 year old monk, or monk to be (2 years left until he has to make a final decision) who got the job of taking care of me when the older guys decided I got stay there for the night.
Conversation between me and monk Maceo (correct me if my spelling of this name is way off!!!):
E: Teach me this handwaving thing...?
M: Handwaving thing?
E: Yeah this (gesturing)
M: Oh, the cross-sign! What is there to learn?
E: Well, how exactly do you do it, because it looks like everone has different ideas about it? We don't do the cross-sign in the Church I come from.
M: You don't do the cross-sign...?
E: No.
M: Well, what do you do?
Yeah, sometimes we wonder, don't we...
I liked this monestery a lot. It has the feeling of God's presence, as if he smiles when he watches it. Even though my understanding of German is limited (getting better!) I really felt like these people mean what they pray and preach. Maceo instantly felt like a good friend. He got to answer many of my quetsions about catholisism and monk life. The red light by the altar shows that there is bread there which symbolizes the presence of Jesus, and indicates that one should kneel, and monks don't do sports in monk clothes, they change in to sport wear...
I like the kneeling. It feels like physically bending my will to God's. Maceo said it's like saying with your body: You are big, I am small. I like the cross-sign too, but I still tend to call it the hand-waving thing.
I walked around Graz doing the typical female processing, which usually means having the same thought run twentyfive times through my mind... But it was needed.
I looked at a fountain. If you zoom in on the place where the water in motion hits the still surface, the spray looks like chaos. But if you look at the whole picture you see 16 perfect arches of water through the air, forming a circle. If something looks like chaos, remember there is a bigger picture. Water in motion is important. Oxygen...
Tried my theory of sleeping on a train, but picked an evening when the trains weren't working and the replacement buses were late. At 2 am. I finally jumped on a train to Zurich and slept until 10:00 am. Lindau?Bergenz is beautiful seen out of train window.
A guy on the train recommended Grindenwald, but interrail didn't get me all the way there, so I went to Brienz. Yeah, I was a bit scaredat first, going to the Alps not knowing where I was going. But Brienz, with its houses by th turqoise water and its surrounding mountains is too beautiful to be able to house any fears! I called Dad from teh dock and then went off exploring. I found the perfect place to sleep...
A single room in a wooden house, with a set of high stairs to climb up and a view of the lake. Completely for free, definitly air conditioned, and with my own slide rigt out my front window! And the best of all: the slightly.. undefined... walls gave me proper use for all the winter clothes I have been carrying around!
After a good nights sleep, waking with the sunrise, I went for a 15 km hike from Brienz to Meiringen. Beautiful, beautiful Switzerland! I love this country. I passed through a museum of old farms, buildings and the Swiss life in old times. My trail happened to go through it -I didn't sneak in for free on purpose!
I actually wlaked on the Jakobsweg for awhile, but I think I was going away from Compostella de Santiago at the time...
Am now in Luzern, about to make a new plan. Have eaten food! Yeey for bread and cheese, I was starting to get hungry after 24 hours on only two apples...
posted by wild rose pilgrim at 7:39 AM
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