It's Official

It's official, summer school has started. I left for school early, and thank goodness I did. A lot of the students had showed up late.
Class was fun, but there was a lot of information that we covered about the History of Vienna. It was a lecture about how Ancient Rome was a part of Vienna's history, like the fact that they had a Roman military outpost in Vindobona. Marcus Aurelius had even died here in Vienna. We learned about the fall of the Roman Empire in 46 AD and how it lead to the Dark Ages. Then there were numerous invasions from other neighboring states, such as Hungary. These invasions led to Otto I installing a set of rulers called the Babenberger, who founded a monastery near Vienna, which is known for their wine gardens. I guess I will have to try the wine out sometime, because it is well known around here. In the Dark Ages, St. Stephen's was being built, which became a busy founding monastery. Later on in Viennese History, the Hofburg family comes into play. Political figures such as Rudolf I, became important figures and was eventually elected as the German King in 1273. After class, we went on a short tour walk with the professor. It was very nice and fast. We saw the memorial site dedicated to those who were victims of Fascism and Nazism. The story is very interesting and I will write more about it later. Looking at it makes the war seem more real. Afterwards we went to the Heldenplatz, where the Hofburg Palace is. I was able to see the balcony where Hitler had made one of his many speeches. It is weird to think that Hitler had walked the streets of Vienna. After the short tour the class broke up and we went our separate ways to go eat for lunch. I had Austrian Pizza, which had about 1/2 inch layer of cheese. It was delicious. Afterwards, some friends and I walked back the way we came to take pictures. We saw the Ancient Roman Ruins that led all the way back to 1st and 5th century. Around Vienna there are a lot of sculptures that commemorate many of their important political figures. In America, we seem to only have two. Mt. Rushmore and the Lincoln Memorial. I guess that the rest of the our political figures weren't as important. I don't see a Clinton or Bush sculpture anywhere (thank goodness...it would look a bit tacky). I guess we honor our political figures by creating presidential libraries. We then walked around Vienna for a bit. We went into a couple of old churches, in which one of them had the oldest organ in Austria. At one church we got to hear one of the organs play. After walking around a bit, we headed towards St. Stephen's Cathedral. The only part I have seen is a fraction of the tiled roof and the South Tower form a distance. When I came upon it, I was in for a shock. I have seen photographs of churches like these in my textbooks, but the pictures don't do justice. The Cathedral was huge. I was in complete awe. I just stood there clicking my camera away. We decided to take the all inclusive tour, in which we had an audio guided tour of the cathedral, a guided tour of the catacombs, and entrance to the South Tower. As I was standing in line to buy my ticket, it made me sad to see what they have done with the church. There were so many modern modifications in it, turning the Cathedral into an attraction, drawing the real meaning away from it all. It didn't really seem like a place where worship could be held. I was able to see where Mozart and his wife were married, as well as where some of his children were baptized. The audio guide tour was really nice. It was like a MP3 player. At one point it played a concerto, which was played by the organ. I turned up the volume and closed my eyes, listening to the organ. It sounded like it was the real thing. The catacomb tour was so much fun. It was right up my alley, I guess you can say. We were not allowed to take pictures or record down in the catacombs...let's just say that sometimes it's okay to break a rule or two. As we walked into the entrance of the catacomb, some of the tourist started a monk chant, creating a more realistic atmosphere. There were piles of skeletons and bones from the people that had died from the plague. There were so many coffins and urns that held mummified organ parts. One of them even had been leaking! Of course it was taken care of for now, except that there was a piece of paper towel underneath it to catch the leaking alcohol. There were the coffins of Rudolf IV (founder of the Viennese Diony) and Catherine. These coffins are 700 years old. Can't you imagine the bodies inside? Afterwards, we climbed so many stairs to get to the top of the South Tower. You won't believe what was at the top. Besides the spectacular, breath-taking view....there was a gift shop! I can't say what the best part was...the gift shop or the view. Just kidding! It was kinda of hilarious to see that gift shop there. It's all about selling junk in order to keep the Cathedral running. I guess it's better than selling indulgences. After walking around a bit more, we headed back to our dorms, where we had a nice dinner and enjoyed a game of pairs. Afterwards, we decided to see a bit of Vienna at night. At the city hall, they were playing an opera movie on this big screen. It was a nice place to sit and relax and enjoy the show. Well...it's off to get some sleep and prepare for a big day. I can't wait to go to Kunsthistorisches Museum, where there is a big Egyptian, Greek and Roman collection as well as work by Raphael, Druer, Rubens, Rembrandt, Caravaggio....I can keep going, but nonetheless I can't wait. I have a free museum pass there for the whole month so I will be going at least 2x a week!! Vienna has so much history to offer, no one can refuse such a thing.