Czech? ...check!

Cesky Krumlov is a cutie patootie little town on town on the Czech-Austrian border, just a 2.5 hour drive from Gaming. So yesterday we did a day trip! Because we all have Philosophy papers and are supposed to be doing them this weekend...so naturally, it's best to leave them to Sunday.

We arrived after only one near-death experience in the car. It's not enough that the roads are 2 inches wide...they're also two lanes.

Here's the town...if you haven't learned by now, I'm not good at taking meaningful pictures, so this is about the extent of the architectural documentation.

Other notable things from the day:

1. Eating a medieval Bavarian feast for lunch. By feast I mean feast. That carried me over from lunch yesterday to lunch today.

2. Eating rabbit. Ok, so it was included in the feast, but it was so good it deserved its own number. I feel the Czech experience is complete after that, even without having bought a Praha drinking team shirt.

3. Creeping on funny actors in moonboots on their lunch breaks. I wish I had a picture that better portrayed the awkwardness of it all. That there is a man in a skirt and leggings...and moonboots.

4. Did I mention we went to Czech in a big white Mary's Meals van? That might have explained the near death experience on the way back, too...as...

5. We foraged through a national park, aka the side of a mountain, in said van. (Did I mention 2-inch-wide roads?)

6. There was also a beautiful lake involved. If I remember the name, I might edit this post at some point. Probably not though.

Well, you know, that's all for now. Off to Philosophize.

How cool would it be to eat Gouda in Gouda?

Update on 10-day post

We're live with pictures. And I fixed all the grammar mistakes (thanks madre) because I know they were bugging you.

10-day, diary style

I resurrected my 5th grade diary days...those days of M.A.S.H. and cootie catchers and watching Full House with Jess after school...for the sake of 10-day. Guess what? I still can make a darn good cootie catcher. I guess I haven't changed much.

9 October 2010
Dear Diary,

We arrived yesterday in Fussen, which is in Bavaria. It’s known for its commercial lute industry.

Today we walked to Schwangau (about 5k from Fussen) and hiked to Neuschwanstein. It was magical, except for the part where I fell into a lake. I’d be willing to bet I was the only one who toured the castle today smelling like fish….and the only one who tried to dry my jeans under the bathroom hand drier. Life’s awkward sometimes.

10 October 2010

Dear Diary,

Mass at St. Mang's Abbey this morning. St. Magnus makes a nice addition to my dragon-slaying saints club with St. George. Sometimes I wish dragons still existed so I could slay one too. But they’re gone so it seems God has other plans for my life.

Hiked to Hohenschwangau, Ludwig II’s childhood home that inspired him to grow up and build lots of fairytale castles. That Ludwig is an interesting fellow. Clinically insane is the phrase I believe the doctors used. Found a cache by the castle....

...Hiked up Pöllatschlucht, which has this incredible waterfall and rocks (limestone and dolomite) that date back to the Middle Triassic period...there are also fossilized corals sponges and limealgaes. It appears all this time I’ve had this hidden an affinity for old minerals. It was great.

11October 2010

Dear Diary,

Spontaneous trip to Augsburg, the beginning of Bavaria’s “Romantic Road.” We got to stroll through an enormous open air market, the cathedral of St. Afra, and the oldest social housing community in the world, which was incredible. Augsburg has some really awesome history. It's definitely a modern city, too though. H &M anyone? Mango? United Colors of Benetton? Not like I've seen those in every single other big city I've been to. Had we more time and if I were solo, I would have gone and explored the backstreets and the little shops. Given the circumstances, though, 'twasn't possible. Good trip though. Good trip.

12 October 2010
Dear Diary,

Stopped in St. Gallen, Switzerland on our way to Italy.

Stiftsbibliothek St Gallen was incredible. We can't take pictures but if you click the link you can see it. There aren’t tours, but I slipped into a group of rowdy French women who seemed to know what was up. I didn’t really fit in because I was not wearing a fanny pack or leather pants, but I can warm up to people quickly. My favorite part with them was by the exhibit of botany books. “Ahh!! La fleur est si jolie! J'aime la fleur! Belle! Belle! J'aime de fumée à la bouche!” one of them exclaimed over and over at a picture of a flower that made you “smoke at the mouth.” She proceeded to rave about smoking at the mouth. Had to be there maybe? Anyway, I’m happy two semesters of French finally came in handy.

Oh, and yes! We wore slippers. Note to self: abbey library in slippers beats sock sliding at Costco any day.

Missed our connecting train to Italy. Got to sleep in a train station. Helped a lady from Peru find her way around Sestri Levente train station (talk about blind leading the blind). Happy five years of Spanish finally came in handy. Holey moley. That’s two in one day.

13 October 2010

Dear Diary,

Stepped off the train in Riomaggiore at 6:30 this morning to the smell of roses. Does life get any better? Actually, it does. We made our way up winding staircases to a walk overlooking the Mediterranean where we sat and watched the sunrise next to a lemon tree. Explored the town by day, made pasta and slept by night. Only here would graffiti consist of JADOR. Only here.

14 October 2010

Dear Diary, Italian Men,

Please keep your clothes on, especially while fishing in public. Gracie...

Dear Diary,

Hiked up a mountain from which you can see all five towns that make up Cinque Terre.

Made our way down and walked through their cemetery. Swam in the Mediterranean. Slept by the Mediterranean. Made dinner. Pasta, pasta, pasta.

15 October 2010

Dear Diary,

We hiked along Cinque Terre! All the way!

Rio to Manarola: walked along “Via dell'amore” It’s about as beautiful as it sounds, the perfect place for honeymooners to profess their love to each other with the sweet sound of Mediterranean waves crashing in the background. There are thousands of locks along the trail with things like “Giovanni and Maria forever” scribbled in permanent marker. I wonder….If you profess your undying love for someone on a lock stuck to a fishnet in Cinque Terre, would you go take it down if you ever broke up? Would you even remember the combination? Or where you put the key?

Manarola to Corniglia: Trail was closed due to landslide. Tried to forge our own via vineyards along the mountainsides. One hour later...dang that's a lot of pricker bushes...oh, and what's this? A cliff? So we just sat and ate some food in someone’s backyard. Then made our way down the cliff and took the train to Corniglia.

Corniglia to Monterosso: Ten trillion, or maybe just 4 hours worth of uneven stairs along the mountains + a bee sting to the face later, we made it. Ah, sweet, sweet Monterosso! Making it there, the view, the smell, the ocean, oh, everything was just fabulous.

It was definitely a long day, but it was a good day. Maybe moreso in hindsight than while we were climbing stairs....I could go without seeing stairs for a while.

16 October 2010

Dear Diary,

Apparently “a while” means less than 8 hours. We went to the church on the hill again this morning to watch the sunrise on our last day in Cinque Terre. If I thought stairs along the trail yesterday were bad, at least I could see them. Uneven stairs in the dark are kind of what I imagine walking through Rome's cobblestone in heels to be like. Man, were we trippin...

At the moment, I’m sitting on the beach in Levanto…

…watching a nun walk along the boardwalk with her veil flowing in the breeze.

17 October 2010

Dear Diary,

Five trains + 17 hours + countless characters we met along the way + reciting the prologue of Romeo and Juliet on the platform in fair Verona...

...+ the Italian woman in our sleeper car to Munich who really ought to have kept her shoes on for the sake of everyone’s respiratory health= we’re back in Gaming!

What a nice trip. And this time I really can say it was a nice trip. And I really did see Gaming in the fall. Hah! Finally, that pun is simultaneously literal...

The End of One Crazy Week and the Beginning of Another

Disclaimer: This is my fifth draft! My head is just spinning with so many thoughts at the moment that I can’t seem to make any into real sense. So let me try to just calm down and say what’s up.

Alrighty, first things first: midterms are over! Praise God! I think that for the most part they went very well, considering I’ve never really gotten to take midterms before. Reflecting on the course of events this past week, I think I would be happy with never taking them ever again. If there’s anything I learned from meeting Alice Von Hildebrand, though, it is that it would be an atrocity not to learn from our life experiences. So, note to self: have chocolate handy for the next potential midterm week.

Next order of business: 10-day itinerary…as I understand it.

Tonight: pack haha, good one

Friday morning: Wake up when it’s dark out. Bake some delicious chocolate nut muffins. Walk down to the train station.

Friday on the train: Read every single word of the Mental Floss that my beautiful madre just sent across the ocean. Oh, I really can’t wait. You try studying about procreation for a Christian Marriage midterm when there’s a Mental Floss in front of you containing an articles on Moptop Mania and Ken Jennings connecting Chai Tea and Tai Chi in six degrees.

Friday - Monday: Bavaria! Activities include hiking, frolicking, mountain luging, visiting many castles, going to mass in German, and exploring the beauty of southern Germany. And geocaching. Lots and lots of geocaching.

Tuesday: St Gallen, Switzerland. Visit Cathedral St. Gallen/ Abbey Library. This is exciting for many reasons:

• The cathedral is Baroque…praise God, I think I’ve seen enough Gothic.
• The library houses 140,000+ documents, some hand-written and some over a thousand years old.
• The library website promises “richly decorated Irish manuscripts.” How elegant.
• When you walk in the library, you have to wear fuzzy slippers so as to protect the floor.
• Picture-taking is prohibited in the library, but I will do everything in my power to snap a candid of the fuzzies.

Wednesday-Saturday: Cinque Terre. Activities include melting at the sight of Italy’s exquisite beauty, etc. Hopefully more geocaching. There may or may not be cliff diving, since James Kerin did it, and one of my life goals is to be just like James.

Sunday: Arrive back in Gaming. Sleep.

And that is all for now. God bless and I'll see you in a week or so. A Hail Mary for me would be so perfect if you have 30 seconds to spare. You know, for my safety or something. Cliff diving can be hazardous.

Happy Feast of St. Francis! etc

I've never seen the friars here so happy as they are today on the feast of their patron. It's really just darling how they just walk around smiling all the time. Like Buddy the Elf in a TOR habit.

In other news, midterms are going well. Starting Friday we have our first of two 10-day breaks. Plans aren't finalized yet, but it looks like I'll be going with a few other girls to Bavaria for a few days, followed by a stop in Switzerland for cathedrals and a chocolate factory, then on down to northern Italy.

Not much other news, besides my recent induction to the Austrian chapter of Sherpas. Thank you, thank you, yes, it's very exciting. Here are some snapshots from last weekend's mountain run..."Keep running, there ain't gonna be no Yelnats the fifth!"

...oh, nevermind.

Off to study!

God bless,
Mary