September 30th: Vienna Castle and Monastery

Schloss Hof palace outside of Vienna, Austria

Today was a great but long day of sights in Austria.  We first went to visit Schloss Hof which is one of the largest palaces in all of Austria.  It was very impressive and we took a tour of the Palace and walked around the grounds for a few hours.  It is so amazing that one family owned all of the land and such a large palace back in the medieval era of time.  There is so much history here to learn and experience which makes me love Europe and Austria so much more.  There was a lot of art from the Baroque era and the attention to detail is very impressive.  It was right on the border of Slovakia so we could see from the palace balcony a small village that is actually in Slovakia just across the fields.  After wandering around a bit on the grounds and taking tons of pictures we headed off back to Heliegenkreuz to visit the Stift there.  It was about a 45 minute drive through the country and Vienna back to Heliegenkreuz, which I feel asleep for most of the ride.  I think I am still not used to the time change and thought my body would handle it much better.  I guess the last time I experienced the jet lag was 5 years ago, not saying I am getting older but I must be a little.  The Stift of Heiligenkreuz is the oldest and longest running Abbey in all of Europe.  I believe the tour guide said there were about 65 monks currently at the Abbey.  There was some very interesting things we learned and  we even saw some of the old tombstones of past monks, some family crests of nobel families which were so called “sponsors” of the Abbey, and some original stained glass dating back 900 years to when the Abbey was founded in 1133 by Leopold III.  There is nothing like these buildings back in the the States which makes this so impressive to be able to experience.  It was a great day of sights in Europe and was able to get a postcard to send to my Grandma in Oregon since she would appreciate the Abbey very much.  When we returned we had a nice communion and worship service to pray for the incoming students which will be arriving tomorrow and our work week begins.  It is always great to be able to refocus on why I am really here and I look forward to meeting the students and serving.  It will be such a rewarding experience and I pray that God does some great work not only in the students but myself as I place this whole trip in his hands and look to give my heart back to him and refocus on the Lord.  It has been a great trip so far and is only just beginning and I know that it will rush by and in no time be back on the plane headed back to the States.

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” - 1 Timothy 4:12