Matthias, one of the seventy-two disciples of Jesus, was chosen as Apostle in the place of Judas. St. Matthias preached the Gospel for more than thirty years in Judea, Cappadocia, Egypt, and Ethiopia. He was stoned by the Jews in 80.
Today was the most beautiful day so far this spring. I guess it's getting repetitive, each day being more gorgeous than the day before, but it's true. It's a little odd to us that spring is starting while it's still February, but we're certainly not complaining, in fact, we're enjoying every minute of it. When Maria and I arrived in the fall, it was rainy, and it continued to rain on and off for the rest of fall and into winter. Now is the first time we can really appreciate Gaming in all its glory. For the past few days we've been taking trails that lead us off the road, and up the Alpine foothills surrounding us on all sides. Today we took a trail on a mountain behind the Gaming Parish Church. We had hiked one of the trails soon after we got here, but it simply took us around the base of the mountain. We didn't have any expectations of where we would end up today, but we decided to take another trail. As always, we added a link to the compete album on the sidebar, or you can just follow the link here. Below you can see the mountain we climbed.
The mountain side was completely covered with beautiful flowers!
At one fork in the trail, there was a sign which read "Kirchsteinkreuz" (Church-Rock-Cross). We didn't know exactly what this meant, although there are huge rocks jutting out the side of the mountain, so we thought that might have something to do with it. We decided to go that way, as it went up instead of down, and we wanted to reach the top. You can see below what we found!
We have heard from many world travelers that Austria is the most beautiful country in the world. We are beginning to see what they mean, and every time we take a walk we have to pinch ourselves to believe that this beautiful view is right in our backyard!
When we traveled to Salzburg we were amazed by the beauty of the Alps. Although our mountains are mere hills in comparison, we think that they are the perfect height, because we can decide, spur of the moment, to take a few hours in the afternoon and climb one, and we actually reach the top within an hour or so (less if we leave Maria with someone else). We still have so many to climb, I hope you don't get tired of pictures from the tops.
5 comments:
If you continue up the trail on that mountain there's a book at the top which you can sign. If my memory is correct, it's about an hour hike to the top. I'm happy to hear about the good weather. Hopefully it will remain good for at least another month or so.
Tire of this beautiful scenery? Never! We are not yet experiencing spring in Michigan...more snow is falling at this very moment. Looking forward to seeing all of you soon!
1-2-3 Mom
With a wedding tentatively scheduled for January 3 next year, Grandma is wondering if a visit later than this Christmas might be indicated. Is the weather you're experiencing now usual for Austria in February?
John-
Did you find your way up to the waterfall yet? This is a site worth seeing...I recall that you go from Kartause to the road the parish Church is on, then hang a right, then down a gravel road south up into the mountains, following the signs towards the Wasserfall. You still have to experience the Kartausehole as well.
If you want to see the most beautiful thing ever, go out at night (around midnight) up behind the Turkish wall by the traintracks and look over the hills and town of Gaming on a clear night when the moon is full.
Thanks for the tip on the Wasserfall, we'll look for it. Where is this Kartausehole?
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