-Monastery at Admont

Today we went to the monastery at Admont. It took four big (nice) buses to get there. As we were about to take off the driver stood up, turned on the microphone, and said something in German. I think he all expected us to understand, but we just got quiet and stared back with blank faces. Our group leader saw our reaction and then translated for us. It was a funny moment.



The trip there was beautiful. We drove between the mountains, and it was very windy. They warned us that even those that do not get motion sickness had a high chance of getting it then. So if we wanted they provided travel gum with special stuff in it or Dramamine.

We toured the monastery, sort of. The highlight was the library that held at least 200,000 books. This monastery is very old, so naturally, the books are old. The ceiling of the library was very tall and had a gallery/balcony with books all along the high wall. From the floor, you cannot figure out how to get there, for there are no visible stairs. The tour guide brought us to one of the five hidden doors. Here was a mock shelf with mock books and with a special key it was opened. Very nifty.

After that we went through a museum. It was an animal, insects, and fruit museum. It had like every kind of insect, I never knew that some got that big and so scary looking. There were beetles the size of mice. There was a section with probably every kind of apple. One girl said, "Don't you wish you had a kitchen that held every kind of apple?" while a boy student made a funny sarcastic comment how boring and uneventful the apple section was. I liked the drastic views on the room. My view was more like the girl's view, but I don't enjoy eating apples, so they would just rot in my kitchen.

Mass was wonderful, especially attending with my entire Gaming (about 160 students) school. The Church was beautiful, especially because our Lord was present with us.

I'm still experiencing what we call jetlag. I'm not a fan, but I'll get over it. I did recieve my luggage today, praise God.