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Published: September 16th 2008
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Mausoleum
Inside the Mausoleum looking towards the front doors, which you can't go through anymore. Due to technical difficulties with the website, I couldn't upload this yesterday, but hopefully it works now. Also, Regina and Nanny & Grampi have been having problems seeing my pictures. Hopefully, it was just the website and the problem's resolved, but if anybody else is, let me know!
Today I woke up and it was raining, so I caught the bus to Roseggerhaus and then walked up to school. From Roseggerhaus it's still about a half-hour walk, but I didn't mind.
Class was class. We had our first test today, which wasn't too too bad. Hopefully I did alright. I was the first one done, so I'm still holding my reputation up from UVM, I guess
. We then went over the stuff on the final exam, which is very odd 'cause it feels like we just started--which we did--and already class is almost over. Almost kind of sad!
After class, I went with my friends Elizabeth and Meghan on a little adventure. On Saturday, they had gone all over the city with the aid of Elizabeth's Lonely Planet High Altar
The High Altar of the Mausoleum. Compare the size to Meghan and Elizabeth. book, doing a little tour, and they wanted to finish today with the Dom , Mausoleum, Burg , and then the Hofbaeckerei, the bakery that served the Habsburgs. Being the nerd that I am, when we got to the cathedral, I took over for the guide book. We haven't studied the cathedral in my art history classes, but I've read a little about it so I knew a lot about it, and I walked around telling them details about the architecture and whatnot. I discovered a bunch of little cool artistic aspects to it I hadn't before, so that was neat. The one thing I've found about Graz is that once you think you know it, that you've seen it, another face presents itself. The history and changes that have taken place here is astounding, not bad for a relatively unheard of city!
After the Dom, we went into the Mausoleum. The interesting thing about this mausoleum is that it actually houses members of the Habsburg family, who ruled Austria for more than 600 years, up 'til World War I. It looks like a big building from the outside, but small in comparison to the
Side Altar
The side altar. Notice how white the walls are compared to the marble. Compare with Elizabeth and Meghan, again. Dom. On the inside, though, it's absolutely mind-boggling just how massive it is. You walk in , and you're in a wide-open area with two places to kneel and pray, obviously for the Habsburg family back in the day. From there, you go into a side chamber, which housed a statue of Jesus and a wide marble circle in the ground, which looked from the outside almost like a well. When you looked down the well, you were actually staring at the floor below you, which held the sarcophagus of Ferdinand II's parents.
The amazing thing about this upper level, though, was how plain everything was...sort of. The walls were very very bright white, and it was fairly empty, except for the areas to pray at and whatnot. However, when you looked up at the ceiling, it was baffling, the paintings that were up there. The marble used everywhere, too, was multi-colored. It was incredible to see. I feel like I'm letting "my readers" down by constantly saying to just look at the pictures, but it's so hard to explain it without being able to show you!
We then went downstairs to the crypt, where
Side Chamber
Room to the side with the "well" that looks down at the sarcophagus. we could get pretty close to the sarcophagus, which was cool. After that, we climbed many many stories up to the bell tower. There were signs everywhere-ACHTUNG ACHTUNG-saying that the bells rang every 15 minutes and to proceed at your own risk/caution. It was 1:48. We were risking it. We went up to the bell tower which had breath-taking views of the city. I'm sure you're getting bored seeing my constant pictures of the rooftops and whatnot, but it gets me every time. It's so cool!
Elizabeth wanted to wait for the bells, which were close enough overhead to reach out and touch, and Meghan and I were hesitant. Before we could decide....BOOOOOOOOOOONG. BOOOOOOOOOOONG. All I can say is thank God it was only two o'clock and not eleven or twelve.
As we went back down the stairs and attempted to regain hearing, we decided to go to the Hofbaeckerei and sample some of the food of our new very dead friends from the Mausoleum. It wasn't too bad at all, I'm not gonna lie. It's very very cold and rainy here now , but inside the bakery was
Sarcophagus
The sarcophagus through the "well" which holds the body of the mother of Frederick II. warm and relaxing and smelt awesome. In class today, Eva told us about a traditional Austrian food called Necke, and I happened to spy a "Schokoladnecke," which is sort of like a cinnamon roll dunked in chocolate, but not as sweet. It was really good, couldn't complain at all. Think I found my new breakfast place on my way to school.
After that I went to the "Austrian DMV" to buy a 6-month pass for the bus. I've been dropping way too much money getting the daily pass , so now I'm 160euro poorer, but it was worth it.
The big adventure of the day began when I got home: I made myself dinner! I had stopped at the grocery store, my daily routine, and said NO MORE SANDWICHES. I grabbed a box of spaghetti, some sauce, and bought it before I could give it a second thought. After checking with Mom how to do it, I successfully made myself my first batch of spaghetti ever. I had to use a knife to stir everything, and I put the spaghetti in a little early [before the water had
Sarcophagus
The sarcophagus from inside the crypt. started to boil], but all I tasted when it was done was the sweet flavor of awesomeness. I didn't have a fork to eat with--nobody in my apartment does the dishes, and I subsequently bought all plastic utensils. I didn't think I'd be making myself a real dinner 'til October when I start with my mealplan, but I gave up on that idea, so I instead had to eat my spaghetti with a knife and a spoon. It wasn't actually that hard once you got used to it.
That's about it, though, FOR NOW. I've been scouring the internet trying to find the cheapest way to make it to France. I'm done with DeutschIntensiv next Wednesday and then have a week until I start classes on Wednesday, Oktober 1st, so I want to try to go to France and see everyone. I've alerted them all and they're very excited. There's talk of renting a beachhouse in Croatia for the week with my friends from here, and my friend Kathryn from home just gave me a potential location, but we'll see. As for now, the next trip on the horizon is...VIENNA! My friends and I just decided a little while
Skull & Bones
Over the door inside the crypt. that we're going to Wien for the weekend!
Bis bald!
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Mom
non-member comment
Next mashed potatos
You are ahead of Kristy at the same age in the cooking department! Maybe she can pass on how to make mashed potatos to you!! LOL!!!!!!