Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Our Own Pilgrimage to Holy Hill

Spring has arrived! And boy am I happy ☺. However, it is now even harder to focus on school when all I want to do is walk around outside! I am trying my hardest to be very productive this week because I will be away from Olomouc for 8 days… I’m off to Vienna and then Croatia this weekend! I can’t believe it’s already time for our trip. I am so excited to go on a vacation and be away from school and work for a whole week. It has been since high school since I’ve been able to do that!

This past weekend, however, was well spent in Olomouc. I did quite a bit of schoolwork – mostly researching and settling on topics for a few of my papers. Friday night a few of my girlfriends and I had a “pajamas” party! We made a lot of crepes, ate too many sweets, and watched “Love Actually”. It was a great night in with my best friends here! We also planned our walk to the Basilica Svatý Kopeček that turned out to be one of my favorite places I’ve been to in the Czech Republic.


Svatý Kopeček, also known at Holy Hill, is a famous landmark in Olomouc because it was visited by Pope John Paul II in 1995 and has been a destination for pilgrimages. The Olomouc zoo is also really near the Basilica, and there is a fantastic view of the city from the top. It is a beautiful site to see from far away and up close. We decided to walk to it because the weather was really quite nice, except for the wind! But we were strong and just focused on how great the sunshine was. The Basilica is about 8 kilometers from the main train station in Olomouc, so we decided to take the bus to the next little city and then walk the rest of the way, which ended up being around 4 kilometers.

That walk took us about an hour, and seeing the Basilica up close was a great reward after the steep hill we climbed! When we got to the top, we took a group picture – I should have mentioned! My roommate, two friends of ours, and I organized the group and we had 22 people come all together! We were a bit nervous about having to be “in charge” of that many people, but we got there just fine!



We all brought something to eat for a picnic, so we sat and ate and talked for around an hour. Again, it was so nice to be out in the sun! The wind made it quite chilly though, so I was pretty cold while we were there. After eating we walked into the Basilica… and it was absolutely breathtaking. The inside of the church is so detailed it was incredible.

I could have stood look up to the ceiling for an hour and still missed some things. The colors were so wonderful for me – light blues and purples. And the thought of how important this building has been since the 1600s added to the feeling of being in an amazing place. I really think it is my favorite place I’ve been in the Czech Republic so far, and I am so happy I was able to see it was good friends.

Like I said, I’ve been trying to be productive this week since I will be away for all of next week. Most of my classes have what they call a “reading week” without any classes so students can study for exams. It is also the week before Easter, so it seems like a natural time to have a break from school. Even though it is for studying, I think most students treat the reading week as a vacation – and all of my professors recommended that we travel! I am also really looking forward to this next week because I will see my friend Bernardo! He is from Brazil, and we were exchange students together in Finland four years ago. I saw him when my high school choir traveled to Brazil three years ago, but we didn’t have the chance to spend much time together, so I am very excited to see him here. He will be at an international law simulation in Vienna… it is kind of like Model UN but for international law I think. We always thought it was more likely that we would see each other in Europe than any other place, and it actually happened!

I guess I am signing off now until I return from Croatia Easter weekend… I can’t wait to tell you all about my vacation!
ALSO! I was just notified that I was accepted to be a Peer Assistant for the Office of Study Abroad! I GOT THE JOB! I'm so excited to work for them :-D

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