Austria in Five Parts (of which this is the first)

The past five trips I’ve taken have all been within Austria. I know. I should travel further and wah wah wah. Yeah. I know. I’m getting there. It’s just nice to not have to be on overnight trains and have to hassle with sleeping in train stations to wait for the next train, but wait. It turns out they close. Getting kicked out. Then following these police attired men to a back room, where it turns out they lock you in a cell for the night. I’ve seen Taken. I know how this ends. (Also, check out that story on Savannah’s blog. She’s hilarious. It actually happened.) Baby steps, baby steps! (What About Bob, anyone?) So, as you can see, this will be a five part post!

This all dates back to when we first arrived in Austria. It was the 24th of August. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping. I stepped off the plane looking deranged, sleep-deprived, and like I got hit by the ugly truck (the result of deciding to sleep in the airport overnight). Ain’t no cute Austrian boys checking dat out. Don’t worry, Dad. I fended them off with my unwashed, unslept look.

Skipping ahead a bit, the next day still did not see me with enough sleep. A constant week of traveling beforehand will do that to you. We all load onto the buses for a school sponsored trip to Melk Abbey at an un-heavenly hour. In reality, it was probably already 8:30 in the morning. But it felt like being

So here we are, in varying degrees of jetlagged and sleep deprived, all piled onto buses in an effort to get everyone adjusted to the time change. And then they start the Rosary. If you didn’t know, I’m Catholic. I also go to a Catholic university. So, this shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Well, we get about a decade and a half in before half the bus starts doing that head banging that happens in the beginning stages of sleep. I may or may not have been one of them. Rosary completed (I did manage to make it through without passing out completely), we go about our merry way.

We finally get to Melk Abbey, which is conveniently located in Melk. Go figure. Our first taste of Austria is this gorgeous, old Benedictine abbey placed up against rolling green hills. It is so beautiful. We head towards the church where we will have Mass. AHH. This church is so ornate (it’s Baroque) and beautiful.

After Mass, all 200 of us are herded like a bunch of buffalo towards the guided tour entrance. The tour is fine and dandy, if not all that memorable. The two things I love about this place are the view, which is incredible, and the bibliothek. AH. This library is perfect. It makes me feel like Belle in Beauty and the Beast. And of course, this is the one place you can’t take pictures. Even if there’s no flash. Boo. My solution: buy a postcard with a picture of the bibliothek on it. I fell into the tourist trap. I have no regrets.

The next two hours see us walking around and eating lunch. You know, the kinds of things you do when you’re walking through a 925-year-old monastery. It’s casual.

This introduction to Austria went pretty well.(Although, my retelling is a bit spastic.) Even if the lack of sleep had me feeling like death. Sometimes, you just gotta push through. Push through that feeling that you’re going to keel over at any moment. It’s worth it.

P.S. These Austria posts are coming in installments alongside regularly scheduled posts in my attempt to keep from drowning in this mess of a blog.