Mediterranean Cruise: Spain (Montserrat)

On our fourth day of the cruise, after stopping in Sicily and Malta and a day at sea, we docked in Barcelona.

We were excited to spend this day in Spain on an excursion to Montserrat because we had previously been to Barcelona.

Montserrat is a famous mountain, sanctuary, monastery, ad spiritual community located about one hour from Barcelona.  Since the 12th century thousands of pilgrims have journeyed here.  Today, nearly a million pilgrims travel to Montserrat each year.

In the 11th century the abbot-bishop Oliba founded a little monastery at the bottom of the mountain.  (Principally made of limestone, Montserrat is shaped unlike any other mountain).  Because of the many miracles that occurred through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a statue of the Madonna and Christ Child was made.  Venerated through the ages, the little 12th-century "Black Madonna' statues earned fame as numerous miracles were attributed to Our Lady of Montserrat's intercession.

We were able to hear one of the oldest and most renowned boys' choirs in Europe, Escolania, sing Salve Regina and Virolai (hymn of Montserrat) in the basilica during their daily performance at 1pm. 

And we were able to pray before the Black Madonna.

Numerous saints and popes have visited the sanctuary over the years, including St. Ignatius.

St. Ignatius went through a huge conversion at Montserrat.  It is said, he went from "external things" to "internal things" here - and that he wanted to express his desire for conversion in a very concrete way.  He visited Montserrat after a stint as soldier and it was here that he left his sword and dagger in the church at the altar of Our Lady, as an ex-votos of his old life.  His new weapons would be prayer, the sacraments, meditation, good works, seeking God's will, and the absolute abandonment in the hands of the Father in Heaven.

After several hours on the mountaintop we returned to Barcelona by bus.

Then we were off to France.

Mediterranean Cruise: Italy & Malta

Our family was very fortunate to be able to take a cruise on the Mediterranean Sea last week. 

It was comforting to read the Psalm for Mass the day we embarked -- Psalm 29: "The voice of the Lord is over the waters, the Lord, over vast waters.  The voice of the Lord is mighty; the voice of the Lord is majestic."

We flew from Vienna to Rome, and began our trip from the port outside of Rome (Civitavecchia).  The ship traveled to each location over night - except from Malta to Spain, which was a day at sea.  The boat was docked at each city from about 9am - 6pm, at which time we were on our own to explore!

Our first stop was in Palermo, Sicily (the island just off the "toe" of Italy's "boot").

We visited the Capuchin Catacombs - where skeletons hang on the wall.

We visited the Palatine Chapel in the Royal Palace of Palermo.

We visited the Palermo Cathedral.

Our next stop was Valletta, Malta.  Malta is the site of the shipwreck of Saint Paul, recorded in the Acts of the Apostles Ch. 27: 1-44.  The Bible explains how he spent three months on the island.

We had a beautiful view of the Grand Harbour from the Upper Barrakka Gardens.  (Underneath the Gardens are the Lascaris War Rooms, which during WWII were the headquarters for the British and Allies.  Eisenhower commanded from here).

We watched them fire a cannon over the harbor.

We visited the Collegiate parish Church of Saint Paul's Shipwreck.  We saw the relic of St. Paul's wrist bone.

And we saw the pillar on which St. Paul was beheaded in Rome.

We also visited the stunning St. John Co-Cathedral (16th century).  Inside is the famous picture of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist by Caravaggio.  This is the only one of his paintings to which he signed his name.  His painting of St. Jerome Writing is also housed in the cathedral.  (sorry, no pictures of Caravaggio's paintings allowed).

We took a 2 hour hop-on/hop-off bus tour around Malta and got to see the the coast on the other side of the island.  Strolling around the streets of Valletta had great sites as well!

We then returned to our ship!

The following day was spent at Sea, and then we continued on to Spain. 

Skiing & Snow!!

We finally have snow, a lot of it, in Gaming!

It snowed most days this week; there's about a foot of snow in our backyard.  It's supposed to continue snowing all next week too.  Overall, it feels much warmer than winters in the States (Iowa, Ohio) because there's not much windchill in the foothills.  I'd say the average temperatures lately have been 32 F for the high and 25 F for the low.  Yesterday and today the high has only been in the teens, which makes us extra excited about our upcoming trip to the Mediterranean (our final BIG trip planned before the arrival of our next baby - because how one travels to various countries with 3 car seats, I'm not yet sure)!

So before I start posting *hopefully* pictures of us in warmth....here's a bunch of the snow!!!

Ellie's first time skiing

Brian coaching Ellie, teaching her to keep her hands on her knees as she goes down the mountain

"Hey guys, did you forget about me?"

"Anyone want to pull me on this sled?"

Ellie & Brian riding up the 'carpet' ski lift in Lunz am See

Attempting to ski/sled in Lunz a few days later

No one else was on the slope (there's no cost for the bunny area, aka, it's not up and running when the snow is pouring down!)

"I love the ski obstacle animals!" - said Francis, right before he gave him a hug

"I'm not moving"

Pretty snow-covered trees on our drive home

Entering the town of Gaming -- Kartause on the left

View of the Kartause from our backyard

Playing in our backyard -- bowl on the table collecting snow for homemade ice cream!

Ellie sledding from our backyard to our neighbor's (even though she told me she was never going sledding again, only skiing)

Francis' favorite hiding spot -- found you!!

Ringing in 2017!

Happy New Year!

We ended 2016 - and started 2017 - at home in snowy Austria!

We spent a wonderful New Year's Eve with our next-door neighbors, eating delicious food and chatting while the younger kids played.  Such a great evening!  And bonus: living next door means you just bring the kids home and put them to bed when they're tired and then continue on partying!  (Thanks to thin walls and strong baby monitors :)  By midnight both of our kids were asleep - and Brian and I were awake!!

As the Kartause church bells rang out 12 times at the strike of midnight, we stood in the snowy field in front of our home watching the fireworks light up the ski.  A blessed and beautiful start to 2017!

There's only a light snow-covering in Gaming right now - but the forecast shows it's supposed to snow all week!  However, if you drive 10 minutes up the mountain you're surrounded by lots and lots of snow (we got rained on for a few days, but they got snow).

Brian and I took to the slopes for a date a couple of days ago.  We didn't ski (due to baby boy in utero), but we enjoyed walking around among the skiers, drinking hot chocolate, and eating lunch sans the kids!

We do have a new skier in the family though!  Ellie spent January 1, 2017 on the ski slopes!  

She's 3 years old, which is the age (if not younger) most Austrian children learn to ski.  We didn't have her skis fitted quite right when she started out today, so she only made it down twice - but she had a great time and is already asking when she gets to ski again!

She was a pro at sledding down the mountain though :)  

The hill is in the neighboring town, Lunz am See.  There are a couple of small runs there.  Their bunny slope area, where you can use the "carpet" ski lift to pull you to the top to either sled or ski down, is perfect for Ellie!

The two times Ellie went sledding/skiing this week were during Francis' afternoon nap - so he and I missed out on the snowy fun.  But we always 'have a ball' (or two) playing in the warm indoors :)

Wishing you many blessings in this year ahead!  God bless!