Orientation: Take 2 (pictures!)

(I'm working on resizing the pictures, but for now just click on each image to get the full view and full appreciation of them).

I'm amused that Blogger continues to have its entire main page in German for me.  At least I figured out what "anmelden" means now.  ^_^

Picking up where I left off...

Friday morning we had more orientation lectures, followed by our written German placement tests.  An essay, a dialogue, and reading comprehension.  Not too hard.  Later that afternoon we met in small groups with the coordinator to discuss our training and determine that we were in the right level.  Elementary II for me!

During the break that afternoon, I walked with Beth to town.  We didn't really know where we were going, but that made it more exciting.  We passed many typical Alpine homes, an old abandoned tavern, and more.  Near town, we found this cemetery: 

So beautiful.  Mariazell is a religious site and pilgrimage destination, so we saw countless shrines along the way.  After almost getting lost multiple times, we located the spires of the Basilica again in the distance and successfully made our way to the main streets of Mariazell. 

The inside of the basilica was even more lovely than the outside, and covered with intricate designs, golden altars, and huge brightly colored ceilings depicting scenes from the Bible and Austrian history.  The basilica was finished in the 1300s, but it recently underwent major renovations for the pope's visit last spring, to commemorate 850 years of Mariazell.  Afterwards, we wandered the shops nearby and met up with fellow students to take a tour of the schnapps factory.  Mariazell most famous for its miracle, but also for its gingerbread and schanpps (that fed and warmed the pilgrims after their long travels).  Unlike schnapps in the United States, authentic schapps are not sweeted with artificial flavors, but are made from herbs and intended for medicinal purposes (such as a stomachache after a big meal).  We only sampled small portions, but that's some pretty powerful stuff!

One last view of Mariazell (the basilika):

Saturday morning began with the stress of the housing lottery.  I lucked out that one of my friends was number 10, so my group got housed early on.  Our apartment is huge and in an excellent location.  Most people seem very happy with their housing, but I feel like we got the best of the best.

That afternoon, a group of us decided to go hiking.  There was a chapel high up on a hill right above the hostel, so we hiked up the old trails to it.  The chapel itself seemed locked up for the winter season, but its grounds provided an excellent view of the entire valley.  

After standing in awe and staring out across the vast landscapes for quite a while (and taking pictures of course!), we set off again to continue our hike on a nearby trail we had found.  This trail provided to wind along through the valley along the river.  The path was scattered with occasional shrines and tiny mountain streams from freshly melting snow.  Absolutely gorgeous.

I will leave you with this photo, from the view of the chapel: