One day I'll return again... to my 4-days-holiday.
Note: All the pictures in this entry were taken by me during my weekend holiday from 14th to 17th of May. I also made a video, but I'll have to edit it before uploading.
The biggest mistake was that I came back to the normal world again. I still can't believe that I managed to go back to university life on Monday. I went back so smoothly, as if it had been just a normal weekend. I wished so much that I wouldn't need to go back to life. And I think that if my parents (both of them!!) hadn't come to pick me up in person, I would have stayed in the castle.
I didn't leave the premises of the castle during these 4 days and I never felt the desire to do so. The castle is amazing - so many passages and rooms to discover - I never found all of the secret doors. And the gardens! Such beautiful gardens! I never had the time to walk through the whole area. These four days were too short. I even cut my sleeping hours down to a minimum to have more time for exploring.
It was so nice to be away from the boring profane world - no news, no silly programmes, no foolish celebrities, no cars, no TVs, no computers... just the castle and its history and lovely people.
I'm so glad I got to go on these holidays!
this was written during my 4-days-holiday as a kind of diary:
Thursday, 14th of May 2009; 5 pm
My chauffeurs just left and I'm alone in my cell/chamber. And I feel like crying a little. Not because I'm sad to be left back alone. But because they left me in heaven. Heaven! This place is ancient and gorgeous. One thing is for sure: I'll spend the next 4 days in a museum! It's incredible!
My room is a cell. There's electricity, and central heating. Luxury! And the house is quite a labyrinth. I'm not sure I remember the way back to the portal or to the library.
Well, I'm off now to do some exploring!
...
Note to self: Don't go exploring after 9 pm - you don't know where the light switches are (or if there are
any). Bring a flashlight next time!
Friday, 15th of May 2009
5 am - getting up
5.30 am - in the garden (meditating; and I found the graveyard!)
7 am - morning prayer
7.30 am - early mass
8 am - breakfast
I met a Jesuit priest who looks like an underweight Jack Nicholson. For real! It's that cat-like grin... Cheshire Cat... yes.
Today I've been painting & talking with some other girls/women. There are 11 of us, I'm the youngest, but that's good. I couldn't take any childish chicks on my history adventure holiday.
We spent a lot of time singing together - two of the girls brought their guitars! There are pianos everywhere in the castle, but none of us knows how to play. XD
At night, Padre B. told me about the Totentanz (danse macabre = Dance of Death). Even though he KNEW I had to walk over to the garden wing all alone at night - I was scared! I wonder if any dead nuns or boarding school ladies are haunting the castle... or my cell. I also wonder who used to live in my cell... Counts and princes used to live in this building, then the nuns came and they ran a boarding school for young ladies. The cell in which I'm staying hasn't been changed since boarding school times. So it has no bathroom, but that's fine too.
We (Padre B.) and me also discussed Germany's inability of talking. "Germans are writers. Not talkers", is what Padre B. told me, and he also told me about P. Leppich, a Prussian Jesuit who was a very famous talker (famous? I had never heard about him before...).
Saturday, 16th of May 2009
Morning like Friday.
Today we were telling jokes and singing and painting together. We were even trying to dance, which ended in bouts of laughter and chaos.
Padre B. kidnapped me for a talk in private and we talked about my childhood and then he coaxed a secret out of me. He gave me some advice and his blessings. I've never been blessed like this before: he put his hands on my head and spoke his blessings. It was strange. I had told him about my True Wish. I never told a priest about my True Wish before. I can't believe I'm carrying such a secret around with me every day. Well, of course it doesn't concern anyone but me.
Sunday, 17th of May 2009
Today I slept a little longer. The battery of my camera died. I haven't brought my battery charger because I had thought to myself: "Well, I won't take that many photos anyway, so I don't need to take the charger with me."
After breakfast, we celebrated Sunday mass together. And me, who doesn't like to be hugged and kissed, didn't mind at all to be hugged and kissed and squeezed by these people, who were mere strangers to me a few days ago. Isn't it weird how we grew together?
Only now I start to understand how right I was in telling Padre B. Noone ever gave me such good advice. Very slowly I start to understand the importance of his words, his sensibility.
Saying goodbye was hard. All the girls wanted to stay there in the castle, together. I don't know how I managed not to cry but I managed. We had a wonderful celebration. In the evening my parents came to take me home.
The biggest mistake was that I came back to the normal world again. I still can't believe that I managed to go back to university life on Monday. I went back so smoothly, as if it had been just a normal weekend. I wished so much that I wouldn't need to go back to life. And I think that if my parents (both of them!!) hadn't come to pick me up in person, I would have stayed in the castle.
I didn't leave the premises of the castle during these 4 days and I never felt the desire to do so. The castle is amazing - so many passages and rooms to discover - I never found all of the secret doors. And the gardens! Such beautiful gardens! I never had the time to walk through the whole area. These four days were too short. I even cut my sleeping hours down to a minimum to have more time for exploring.
It was so nice to be away from the boring profane world - no news, no silly programmes, no foolish celebrities, no cars, no TVs, no computers... just the castle and its history and lovely people.
I'm so glad I got to go on these holidays!
this was written during my 4-days-holiday as a kind of diary:
Thursday, 14th of May 2009; 5 pm
My chauffeurs just left and I'm alone in my cell/chamber. And I feel like crying a little. Not because I'm sad to be left back alone. But because they left me in heaven. Heaven! This place is ancient and gorgeous. One thing is for sure: I'll spend the next 4 days in a museum! It's incredible!
My room is a cell. There's electricity, and central heating. Luxury! And the house is quite a labyrinth. I'm not sure I remember the way back to the portal or to the library.
Well, I'm off now to do some exploring!
...
Note to self: Don't go exploring after 9 pm - you don't know where the light switches are (or if there are
any). Bring a flashlight next time!
Friday, 15th of May 2009
5 am - getting up
5.30 am - in the garden (meditating; and I found the graveyard!)
7 am - morning prayer
7.30 am - early mass
8 am - breakfast
I met a Jesuit priest who looks like an underweight Jack Nicholson. For real! It's that cat-like grin... Cheshire Cat... yes.
Today I've been painting & talking with some other girls/women. There are 11 of us, I'm the youngest, but that's good. I couldn't take any childish chicks on my history adventure holiday.
We spent a lot of time singing together - two of the girls brought their guitars! There are pianos everywhere in the castle, but none of us knows how to play. XD
At night, Padre B. told me about the Totentanz (danse macabre = Dance of Death). Even though he KNEW I had to walk over to the garden wing all alone at night - I was scared! I wonder if any dead nuns or boarding school ladies are haunting the castle... or my cell. I also wonder who used to live in my cell... Counts and princes used to live in this building, then the nuns came and they ran a boarding school for young ladies. The cell in which I'm staying hasn't been changed since boarding school times. So it has no bathroom, but that's fine too.
We (Padre B.) and me also discussed Germany's inability of talking. "Germans are writers. Not talkers", is what Padre B. told me, and he also told me about P. Leppich, a Prussian Jesuit who was a very famous talker (famous? I had never heard about him before...).
Saturday, 16th of May 2009
Morning like Friday.
Today we were telling jokes and singing and painting together. We were even trying to dance, which ended in bouts of laughter and chaos.
Padre B. kidnapped me for a talk in private and we talked about my childhood and then he coaxed a secret out of me. He gave me some advice and his blessings. I've never been blessed like this before: he put his hands on my head and spoke his blessings. It was strange. I had told him about my True Wish. I never told a priest about my True Wish before. I can't believe I'm carrying such a secret around with me every day. Well, of course it doesn't concern anyone but me.
Sunday, 17th of May 2009
Today I slept a little longer. The battery of my camera died. I haven't brought my battery charger because I had thought to myself: "Well, I won't take that many photos anyway, so I don't need to take the charger with me."
After breakfast, we celebrated Sunday mass together. And me, who doesn't like to be hugged and kissed, didn't mind at all to be hugged and kissed and squeezed by these people, who were mere strangers to me a few days ago. Isn't it weird how we grew together?
Only now I start to understand how right I was in telling Padre B. Noone ever gave me such good advice. Very slowly I start to understand the importance of his words, his sensibility.
Saying goodbye was hard. All the girls wanted to stay there in the castle, together. I don't know how I managed not to cry but I managed. We had a wonderful celebration. In the evening my parents came to take me home.