Friday, June 11, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Roman History
hmmmm..... right... as if one blog could even begin to cover the basic history of a city known as "The Eternal City"!
The Colosseum/Il Colosseo:
The Colosseum is a great amphitheater in Rome that is very well known throughout the world. It was first commissioned in AD 72 by Emperor Vespasian. It is believed that get its name not only from is massive size but from an enormous statue, the Colossus of Nero, that used to stand nearby. It is the largest theater ever built in the roman empire and considered one of the greatest works of roman architecture. The theater has 80 entrances which allows easy access to the 55,000 spectators that it can hold. Inside this very structure is where the gladiators used to fight to death. The colosseum also played host to many other types of shows, one of them being wild animal fights. The 4 rows of the outside walls are each built with different styles. The bottom 3 are arched, one with Doric columns, one with Ionic and the last with Corinthian. The top level used to support a huge awning to shade spectators.
St. Angelo's Castle/Castel Sant' Angelo:
This castle gets its name from Pope Gregory the Great's vision of Michael the Archangel in the 6th century as he led a procession across the bridge, praying for the end of the plague. In AD 139, the castle began as Emperor Hadrian's mausoleum. Since then it has served for many other purposes, such as being a bridgehead in the Emperor Aurelian's city wall, a medieval citadel and prison, and a place for safety for popes during times of war or political unrest.
This piazza follows the shape of a 1st century AD stadium, built by Domitian and used for athletic contests, chariot races and other sports. The foundations of the surrounding buildings come from the ruined stadium and traces can still be seen. The church of Sant' Agnese is named after the virgin martyr St. Agnes, whose hair, when forced to strip naked to renounce her face, grew miraculously long hiding her body. The fountain in the middle of the piazza, Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi portrays four gods personifying the world's greates know rivers at the time - the Nile, the Plate, the Ganges, and the Danube. (I dipped my foot in this fountain... definitely not something your supposed to do :) and got my butt soaked from it...)
The Pantheon is the Roman temple of all the gods, and is the 'best preserved' ancient building in Rome. The first building on the site is believed to have been built by Agrippa between 27 and 25 BC. But the present structure was built and maybe even designed by Emperor Hadrian in AD 118. In the 7th century, Christians claimed that as they walked by they were being plagued by demons, so permission was given to turn the Pantheon into a church. Today it is lined with tombs holding the bodies of many Italian monarchs.
The Palatine is a the hill where the Roman aristocracy lived and emperors built their palaces, and is considered the city's most pleasant and relaxing of the ancient sites. The area is dominated by the grand ruins of the Domus Augustana and Domus Flavia, which were two parts of domitias huge palace in the 1st Century AD. Other remains here include The House of Ausgustus and the House of Livia, where the Emperor Augustus lived with his wife Livia; the Cryptoporticus, a long underground gallery built by Nero; and the Huts of Romulus which are iron age huts from 10th century BC that provide archaeoogical support for teh areas's legendary links the the founding of Rome. According to legend, Romulus and Remus grew up on this hill in the 8th century BC.
By standards of the Eternal City, the Trevi Fountain is pretty recent. It was only completed in 1762 by Nicola Salvi and is Rome's largest and most famous fountain. The central figure is of Neptune, flanked by two Tritons, one struggling with an ill-tempered seahorse and the other leading a more relaxed animal. These symbolize the two contrasting moods of the sea. Originally the site was the terminal of the Aqua Virgo Aqueduct (19 BC).
Being catholicism's most sacred shrine, this vast, beautiful building attracts people from all over the world. The shrine was built on the site of St. Peter's tomb in the 2nd century and the first basilica was commissioned by Constantine and completed around AD 349. It began falling down in the 15th century, so in 1506, Pope Julius II laid the first stone of new church. The present basilica took more than a century to build and all the great architects of the Roman Renaissance and Baroque helped with its design.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Roma, Italia
As we were flying into Rome on the evening of Friday June 4th preparing for landing, I could hardly stand it. I had my face pressed against the window trying to take in as much of the city from the air as I could. Luckily, I was able to catch a glimpse of the beautiful Vatican and also the stunningly huge Colosseum! When our plane touched down in Roman town it was all I could do to contain myself. I could already feel the wonderful warm air and beautiful Italian atmosphere. After getting off the plane, our first task was to locate the shuttle bus that would take us to the city center. As we began our journey from the airport on the outskirts to the main part of the city, I had already fallen head over heals in love with Rome. Around every single corner you can find history dating back thousands of years, amazing architectural ruins, and the whole city is just blanketed with a warm, friendly, engaging, elegant, amazing (and the list goes on..) aura. Even on the outskirts you can see many ancient ruins, and old city walls out in the middle of fields.
After about 40 minutes of enjoying the city through the windows of a bus we were finally at the city center and were in for another long journey to find our hostel. Before beginning we decided that we had to get some gelato first, and boy are we glad we did. That stuff sends me straight to heaven every time! We then proceeded to attempt yet another city's public transportation. (I can't even express how excited I am that I get to drive a car in 2 weeks!!) It seemed pretty easy since there were only two metro lines and we had detailed directions and information on which bus to take. The metro part really was extremely easy, but once it came time to transfer to a bus, it got a bit more difficult. We couldn't find the stop for our bus number anywhere and just kept wandering back and forth around the area with no luck. There were two other small groups of people about our age, and after a while of ignoring each other we all turned to each other for a little help. As it happens we were all american and all looking for the exact same bus to go to the exact same hostel. So with increased power due to our increased numbers and the help of a very old, very friendly Italian man we finally located our bus... just in time. From there we had about a 30 minute bus ride (though we didn't know it until the 30 minutes had already passed).
Upon first climbing onto the bus, I went to sit down with Ana in a couple of available seats. But as I was squeezing into the tight fit, my butt hit something really sharp on the side of the seat. It hurt so bad that I sprung back up into the isle really quick and then once the initial pain wore off attempted to sit back down. It wasn't till I had been comfortably seated for a minute or two that it dawned on me to check if my pants had ripped. I didn't think they would have but it never hurts to check right? As I reached down to feel if they were still in tact, my hand felt something it shouldn't have... skin!! Sure enough, that sharp thing I had hit, ripped clean through my pants and my underwear and even made perfect 90 degree angles in them. Nice huh. The best part was when I remembered that I had stood back up in the isle for a minute giving everyone behind me a nice view.
Since by this time it was getting pretty late, when we had reached our stop at last after a long, bare-butted bus ride, we were looking so forward to getting to our room and crashing!! With my jacket tied around my waist like a nerd to cover the rip, we trekked up to our hostel, which actually turned out to be more of a campground. At first I wasn't so thrilled at that idea but then I saw our 'room'. We were able to get our own little mobile home/camper thing complete with two beds, a fridge, and our own bathroom for two people for two nights for only a total of 40 euros! Talk about a sweet deal. ;)
The next day we woke up fairly early ready to really begin our roman experience! I really was so excited that I'm sure Ana felt like she was walking around with a hyper puppy. But then again, she was just as thrilled. The very first thing we saw was none other than archeological wonder that I've been dreaming of seeing fovever... THE Colosseum! Its abrupt massiveness practically slapped us in the face immediately after stepping out of the metro station. Ana and I walked around it for a while in awe-filled wonder and took tons of pictures! As we were walking around with bent necks and dropped jaws we almost didn't notice the random men that were dressed as roman gladiators trying to get people to take pictures with them. After a while of staring and picture taking we decided to go in. Thank heavens we were smart enough to buy the Roma Pass ( card that got us 3 days of public transportation use, 2 archeological sites or museums free, and discounts on everything else) previously because it meant we got to skip the ticket line. Had he waited in the line, we probably would have been there for hours!!! But lucky us, we got to trot right past all the other poor suckers and go right in! Inside it was unbelievably amazing! I couldn't comprehend (and still can't) that I was actually standing in an almost 2000 year old arena where gladiators used to fight to the death. The vastness and history of this place is incredible.
The rest of the morning and afternoon we spent just wandering around the city seeing whatever sites we happen to run into, which was a lot, and eating lots of pizza, lasagna and of course gelato. After buying a couple sweet t-shirts at a cute little souvenir shop, I dropped my camera while I was waiting for Ana to complete her purchase. I didn't give much thought to my clumsiness at the time and my camera seemed to be ok. However, after a 20 minute journey up to the vatican, and many failed attempts to take a picture I noticed that my batteries and memory card had fallen out. Normally I would be ok with just getting a new memory card, but I had already taken some amazing, irreplaceable photos that day. So back to that same souvenir shop it was. When we got back, I immediately started looking. At first I had no luck and I'm sure people thought I was crazy for crawling around on the floor. But after a few prayers and some diligent searching we finally found the little card and even the batteries tucked away underneath a rack of purses. Once a very grateful prayer was said, we began our journey again to the catholic headquarters.
When we arrived at the Vatican, memory cards and all, we had no idea what to really expect. I knew it would be beautiful, but St. Peter's Cathedral blew all expectations out of the water and is beyond description. This building is considered the most sacred to the catholics (obviously), so upon entering, people must go through a security check and are only allowed to wear pants that cover the knees and shirts that cover the shoulders. The first thing we did after we passed security, was went down underneath the building to see the tombs of the past popes. As I'm sure you can imagine, being underground, with a bunch dead popes was extremely creepy and I was looking forward to getting out of there the second I got in. Toward the end of the hall tourists are urged to be move quickly but silently, due to the fact that people still come there to pray and worship (or whatever it is they do) to the most recently dead pope. It was quite an odd thing to see. I know this is an irreverent thought, but the only thing I was thinking at the time was, "And they think mormons are the weird ones? ... seriously?" Immediately after that tomb, you can turn a corner to see the supposed tomb of St. Peter himself. It's not just a normal tomb though, its a huge, beautiful room that is glassed off. I wish I could describe it, but I honestly can't do it justice and we weren't allowed to take pictures. A few minutes later we were able to get back upstairs into the light and go into the main part of the cathedral. Again, I wish I could describe it but there are simply no words. I've had the opportunity to see a lot of beautiful and historic architecture, but St. Peter's vastness and beauty far surpass anything I've ever seen (with the exception of mormon temples of course ;) haha)
The rest of the evening spent doing some more wandering and random sight-seeing. The Trevi Fountain would have been one of my favorite things to see had it not been so insanely crowded. It was as if everyone in the city went to see it at the same time. But I can't say I blame everyone for wanting to go there and see peaceful water fall down from gorgeous marble statues and land gracefully in a beautiful pool. Plus, the fountain has a legend, that if you throw a coin in, it will insure that you'll return to Rome one day. Although I've also heard that you can make whatever wish you want. So its no wonder it was packed with tourists.
It was starting to get late so after the Trevi fountain we began our journey back to the hostel for the night. The next day we spent the morning wandering a little bit more and even visited a museum (which just happened to be the most boring one on the planet). When it came time to go to the airport to fly home, I did not want to go. Normally when I go somewhere else for a weekend I'm always glad to get back home to Vienna. However, this time was different. In just one weekend I had completely fallen in love the roman charm, beautiful and historical architecture, and italian food. It took everything I had to force myself to get back on the plane to leave it. A week later I still wish I was there, and am praying that I'll be able to go back one day. Rome is one place I could visit over and over and over and over and over and over......
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Small Pre-Roman Adventure
Last weekend I took a much anticipated trip to Rome with my friend Ana. But on our way to Rome we had a little pre-adventure..
Ana and I were both able to get the day off 'work' on Friday so we could get an early start on our last big adventure together. We left Vienna early and headed over to Bratislava, which is where our plane was flying out from. Bratislava is only about an hour away from here and our plane to Rome didn't leave until evening, so we had most of the morning and early afternoon to explore the capital city of Slovakia. We thought it would work out perfectly since we've talked about going to Bratislava for months. Our first item of business after we arrived at the train station was to find out how to get into the station from the platform. As we exited the train we started to walk towards the building, but this wasn't the main station and the building was quite odd so we had some difficulties finding the main entrance, or any entrance for that matter. We started walking in a direction that looked promising and just kept walking until we'd reached a point where there was definitely no entrance. As we turned around to walk back and try again, we were startled to see a very large group directly behind us. Looking at the group of people, I recognized them all from the train and realized that they all looked quite lost themselves. An awkward moment passed by and then all of the sudden it hit us all at the same time... everyone had been following us, the clueless foreigners, simply because we were in the front. A little embarrassed that we were leading a bunch of people to no where, and seeing that they were all embarrassed that they had been following us like bunch of dumb sheep, we just all busted up laughing together. After a few minutes of laughter with our new Austrian/Slovakian friends we finally found a way into the slight pathetic station. Our next item of business was to acquire a map of the city so we could find our a way around and try and figure out the public transportation system. Normally, finding a city map is no problem because there are always information spots at ever train station. However, like I said, this station was slightly pathetic and the only thing inside was a dysfunctional vending machine and a very cranky station attendant who didn't speak german or english. Outside of the train station, there was absolutely nothing... we were definitely on the outskirts of town. And, of course, neither of us speak Slovak so trying to read signs was out of the question. Finally we were able to find some one spoke german to direct us to a small store to buy a map. I'm pretty decent with maps, so now that we had one I figured getting around would be a piece of cake. But much to my dismay, looking at the map was like reading a foreign language... oh wait, it was exactly like reading a foreign language. Nothing made any sense whatsoever, and all the bus lines were connecting and intersecting and all printed in the same color, making it incredibly hard to figure out how to get anywhere. But after a while, we were able to get some sort of clue and just started jumping on buses and hoping we ended up where we wanted.
Once we made it into the main part of town we discovered that its just as boring, lame, and confusing as the outskirts we started in. In less than two hours we had seen all the main sites of the town which consisted of a total of... about... one. The Bratislava Castle is really the only thing worth seeing there, and even that is pretty sad. It looks pretty cool, but it also looks brand new, which lowers the cool factor... A LOT. After that we decided that we didn't want to deal with the crumby city anymore mixed with rain and really cold wind so we just decided to attempt to find our way to the airport and wait for our take-off to Rome Italy! It took us quite a while to get to the airport, but once we were finally there, it felt great. Its a very liberating feeling to conquer the public transportation system of a confusing/boring city. We had to wait a long time at the airport, but once we had checked-in, gone through security, and boarded the plane I was overwhelmed with a realization that I was ACTUALLY on my way to ROME... a city that I knew wouldn't be boring or confusing, but a city that would in fact fulfill a dream of mine to see!!!
a cool view of the city from the castle... but don't be deceived... once you're down there its pretty depressing
I dare you to try and decipher this
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Birthday Weekend
The weekend after my birthday I had the opportunity to spend the whole weekend with my best friend here in Austria, Ana. Friday night we just had a typical girly sleepover party that included lots of pizza, ice cream, laughing etc.. The next day we went into the city to meet the sister Missionaries for lunch. Sister Chun and Sister Achiu have been like substitute grandmas for Ana and me during our time here away from our families. :) After our delicious chinese meal, Ana surprised me with a birthday cake so we took it back to the empty institute center where we had a mini birthday party complete with cake, pictures, and card games. :) After a couple of fun-filled hours of getting our butts kicked in every game by Sister Achiu, Ana and I went on to do something we've wanted to do since we got here... ride the famous Prater Ferris Wheel! Prater is a huge tourist attraction and from the top you can look out and see a breathtaking view of the entire city of Vienna. Then a little later we headed to another part of the city to visit the Schoenbrunn gardens. Shoenbrunn was the first major thing that I saw when I came to Vienna, but I didn't remember it very well because I was super tired the first time. So it was good to finally go back and really enjoy the beauty of it... just before my 1-year anniversary with the city. :) Then for a good ending to the weekend, we went back to Ana's for more junk-food and laughs that kept us up for most of the night.
Built in 1775, it stands up on a hill behind the Schoenbrunn palace as a focal point and lookout point for the gardens. Franz Joseph I used it as a dining hall, festival hall, and breakfast room. Today the dining area is a cafe. In the 2nd world war, the Gloriette was destroyed but was completely restored by 1947.
Schönbrunn palace and a very small portion of the gardens...all of the gardens together are like a big beautiful forest thats probably bigger than the whole town of Hamilton.
Schönbrunn: "beautiful spring"
The palace is a former imperial summer residence and is one of Vienna's most important cultural monuments. In its early history, the area was used as a hunting lodge but after being destroyed by the turks, Leopold I asked Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach to design a grand Baroque residence in 1965 but was only completed after Maria Theresa hired Nikolaus Pacassi to finish the project. Within the gardens there are fountains, an orangery, a public swimming pool, and even a zoo... among many other things.
Sister Achiu
Zwanzigsten Geburtstag
Recently I was able to celebrate a day that I have been looking forward to since the day I turned thirTEEN and that seemed like it would never come after I turned nineTEEN... As of the twentieth of May 2010, I -Nicole Lynn Gwynn- am OFFICIALLY no longer a lousy, no-good, lazy, boring TEENAGER!!!! (I know that technically you become an adult at age eighteen... but who are we kidding... if you're age still has the word 'teen' in it, then you're still a teen!)
I knew that my 20th birthday would be a good one not only because I would no longer be a teenager, but also because I'm a 'numbers' girl. Meaning, that I pay very close attention to numbers and I like it when they are nice and even and round.... To demonstrate... I had my 20th birthday on the 20th day of the month in the year 2010... nice, round, even numbers. :) And as an added bonus, May is the 5th month, and as it happens 5 divides evenly into those numbers. Nerdy? Dorky? Slightly pathetic? Yes, I know... but I am what I am. ;)
My day actually started with a smidgeon of dread due to the fact that I just wasn't completely sure what the day was going to be like with THIS family, and without MY family. But it quickly wore off when I remembered how excited the kids had been for months! It seems like for the last 6 months the kids have asked me the same two questions at least once a week. Question #1: Wen is yous birfdy? and Question #2: Will you bee stil miff us? After answering they would get so excited that they were going to be able to celebrate my birthday with me. They spent the entire week before my birthday preparing and making all sorts of presents for me. Every time I walked into a room, I would hear Fanny shout, "NO NEECOL YOU DON'T CAN LOOK!! CLOSE YOU EYES FAST!" So when the day finally came they could hardly stand it. When Isabelle picked the kids up from kindergarten, they barely made it home before Fanny started shouting my name and sprinting towards my room to inform me that it was my birthday. (she was a very proud messenger, who by the way, fully expected me to be surprised to hear that it was my birthday) Originally we were going to wait until after lunch for them to give their presents to me, but the second Flora and Timon stepped through the door after school, they ambushed me. They all huddled around me, each with their own presents, fighting over who got to give theirs first and squirming and wiggling with excitement (which tends to make me nervous because in a house with little kids, 9 out of 10 times, squirming and wiggling means its time to sprint to the toilet). Fanny and Christoph presented theirs together in a very large bag. Inside I found tons of paper crafts including, drawings (or in Christoph's case, scribblings), heart cut-outs, 30 or so perler-bead crafts, and about a 100 other things that I honestly don't know how to describe. After sifting through it all for what seemed like 30 minutes, Fanny informed me that it was 'mostly' from her... she's not one for sibling rivalry or anything... Shortly after, Flora presented her gift which was basically the same thing, just slightly less over kill and much better crafted. Having gotten to know these kids very well, I had expected all the crafts, but what I wasn't expecting, was that the rest of the family had gotten me two puzzles and a 150 euros extra for the week!! I know most people are focusing on the extra cash, but since we've already established that I'm a nerdy dork I'll just say it, I LOVE the puzzles!! One of them is a 1000 pc. puzzle with pictures of major sites in Vienna. Which was perfect because I've started to collect puzzles... one of every city or place I go to. The other was also perfect because it is a 2000 pc. puzzle of a world map, and we all know how much I love geography. :)
The rest of the day went on like any other day except for two things I guess. One being that Fanny had made me a crown, and Flora had decorated a hair clip with paper flowers, both of with I HAD to wear the WHOLE day. :) The other being the cake... Isabelle made me a delicious yellow cake from scratch with amazing chocolate mousse frosting. She put one of those candles on it that just shoots like a small firework until it burns out (which never fails to freak poor little Christoph out) while most of them sang 'Happy Birthday to you', and Christoph sang his own version of 'Happeeee toooo yooouuu!'
all the paper crafts piled on my floor :)
by the way... I am aware of all the typos... I spell it the way the kids say it
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Prague
The city of Prague is so beautiful and is filled with history. The history of the city really begins with the castle which was founded by Prince Borivoj way back in the 9th century. Under Charles IV, in the middle ages, Prague was considered the crossroads of Europe which helped it to grow into a magnificent city, bigger than Paris or London at the time. Many of the Baroque palaces and gardens throughout the city were built after the Austrian Habsburgs took over in the 16th century.
Prague is situated right on the Vltava River in central Bohemia (a historical region in Central Europe). For over 1100 years, Prague has been the political, cultural, and economic capital of the Czech state. During the gothic and renaissance eras, it was the permanent seat of two holy roman emperors and was therefore the capital of the Holy Roman Empire.
Presently there are about 1.3 million people living within the city. Since 1992, when Prague became a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it has been one of the most popular cities to visit in Europe. About 4.1 million international visitors come to Prague every year.
At about 570 meters long, and an average 130 meters wide, it is one of the biggest castles in the world. Despite periodic fires and invasions, the castle has retained many churches, chapels, halls and towers from every period of its history. It's history first began in the 9th century around 870 when it was founded by Prince Borivoj. Two of the major sites within the castle, Basilica of Saint George, and basilica of St. Vitus were founded in the first part of the 10th century. The Kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman Emperors and presidents of Czechoslovakia have all had their offices here at Prague Castle. Today the President of the Czech Republic still has his office here.
St. Vitus Cathedral:
Located within Prague Castle, this cathedral is Roman Catholic and is the seat of the Archbishop of Prague. The church was founded by Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia in 925 who named it St. Vitus because he had acquired a holy relic, the arm of St. Vitus, from Emperor Henry I. The church has undergone a few reconstructions over the centuries but the gothic cathedral that you see today was founded on the 21st of November in 1344 when the Prague bishopric was raised to an archbishopric
Charles Bridge:
Charles Bridge (Karluv Most) is one of the most popular sites in Prague and stretches across the Vltava River to connect the Old Town the the Little Quarter. The bridge was commissioned by Charles IV in 1357 after the Judith Bridge was ruined by floods. At one time the bridge took 4 carriages side by side but now it is completely pedestrianized. Originally the bridge was only decorated by a simple wooden cross. But the first of many statues, the statue of St. John Nepomuk was added in 1683. And now each side of the bridge is lined with many Baroque statues. Having displeased the king, a vicar general by the name of Jan Nepomucky was arrested in 1393 by Wenceslas IV, killed under torture and then thrown into the water from this very bridge. At the Little Quarter end of the bridge there are two Bridge towers. The shorter of the two is what remains of the original Judith Bridge.
Prague Castle in the background
Charles Bridge
Monday, May 10, 2010
Czechin out Prague
So far, of all the quick trips I've taken, this was the most relaxing of them all. We didn't have to be on a train all night like we did in Venice, we didn't almost get kicked off the train like we did in Budapest, and we found our hostel much easier than I did in Munich! So basically it's a pretty boring story to tell. ;) But I'll tell it anyway...
I have wanted to go to Prague for SOOO long and it has been on the top of my to-do list since I got here. And this weekend... I was finally able to czech it out! Our adventure started on Friday night when we got on the 18:33 train to Prague. We were super excited that the train wasn't full so we could have our own compartment. But sure enough, as always, after the first stop our space was invaded. Two young guys, speaking a language I didn't understand, came in making our compartment much smaller. Between running into two people from Powell in Venice and seeing my cousin Chris in Germany, I've been hogging all the 'small-world' experiences and apparently it was my friend Ana's turn to have one. The two guys were speaking her mother language and came from her home country... Mexico. They were super nice and really fun to talk to. They even helped us out when we got to Prague a little after 23:00, by buying our public transportation tickets for us because we didn't have change and nothing was open. After that we said good-bye so that we could search for our hostel and they could search for the place they were staying. They are a part of some thing Troy told me about once called "couch surfing." Which basically is this program where they go online to this website and say "hey I'm coming to Prague! anybody have a couch I can sleep on?" and then wait for someone to respond and offer you a bed for a couple nights. Sounds pretty risky to me but apparently it's been working for them for almost a month! Anyways, our hostel was really easy to find and when we got there I discovered that it was probably the nicest hostel I've ever stayed at. I dare say it was even a bit nicer than some hotels I've stayed in! I loved it!! After a wonderful nights sleep in our clean and comfortable hostel we woke up the next morning ready to begin our trek through the beautiful city of Prague, Czech Republic. Our hostel was kind of on the outskirts of the city so it took us a while to walk to the main part of the city where all the major sites are. (Just so we're clear and everyone knows... I am a map-reading fool! and on top of that I definitely have part of dad's sense of direction... I have yet to get lost and have been able to find my way splendidly around every city! ... knock on wood) The first big thing that we saw was Prague Castle. It sits up on a hill so it can be seen from anywhere in the city. It was absolutely marvelous! Another awesome site that I've always wanted to see and actually have a picture of on my wall at home, was Charles Bridge. It was so cool! But as always I'll give details about each site in the other post.
Other than the fact that we were in PRAGUE... nothing too exciting happened. We just spent the day wandering the city and enjoying a little Czech atmosphere and culture. Although I must say I did not enjoy the language. We always complain about german being such an ugly language but I actually miss german anytime I go somewhere else (besides Italy). But maybe that's just because I understand it. :) Oh yeah and we did bump into our mexican friends from the train once too so that was pretty fun. After walking about 15,000 steps (according to a step counter thingy) it was time to go back to Vienna. After every trip, no matter how amazing the place was, I'm always so excited to get back to Vienna. Vienna has really become my (temporary) home this last year and I just love it!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Hundertwasser
The Hundertwasser Haus is a pretty big tourist attraction here in Vienna. So naturally I figured I should go see it at some point. I tried to go see it months ago, but it is located in a really random spot and my patience usually ran out before I found it. Then a couple months ago, my friend Kar and I finally found it, but unfortunately it was dark by the time we got there so we weren't able to get a decent picture. Finally, a couple weeks ago, I stopped being lazy and decided to go find my way back in the daylight. And here it is... the very famous Hundertwasser Haus...
The house was built by a famous Austrian artist by the name of Friedensreich Hundertwasser. It was built between the years of 1983 and 1986. Hundertwasser's wish was to protest against what he thought to be soulless modern architecture. The house was built with almost no straight lines making it an architectural wonder. The floors are uneven, the roof is toped with dirt and grass, and there are large trees growing from inside the rooms with limbs extending out the windows. There are a total of 250 trees and bushes inside. Within the whole house, there are 52 apartments, 4 offices, 16 private terraces and 3 communal terraces. Friedensreich Hundertwasser refused to take payment for the design, stating that it was worth it to prevent something ugly from going up in its place. (I'd really hate to see what his definition of 'ugly' is!!)
Oh yeah... and people actually live there...
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Paris
Musee du Louvre-
The Louvre Museum has a history that goes all the way back to medieval times. It was first built in 1190 by King Phillipe-Ausguste as a fortress. Following King Phillipe-Auguste, the building was lived in, improved, and enlarged by four centuries of Kings. in 1692 King Louis XIV moved to the Palace of Versailles, leaving the Louvre as place to display the royal collection. It was opened up as a museum in 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings. Due to structural problems it was closed from 1796 until 1801. Under Napolean the size of the collection was greatly increased and therefore named Musee Napolean. Since then it has obviously been renamed the Louvre. As of 2008 the vast collection has been divided into eight different departments.
The world-famous Mona Lisa is a 16th century oil painting painted by Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo began work on the painting in 1503 during the Italian Renaissance but lingered over it for years. He brought it with him from Italy to France in 1516 when King Francois I invited him to come and work near his palace. He finally completed it right before he died in 1519. The king bought the painting for 4,000 ecus from the heirs of Leonardo's assistant and kept it at Chateau Fontainebleau. Since then the Mona Lisa has been moved to many different locations. Louis XIV moved the painting to the Palace of Vesailles but was moved again after the French Revolution to the Louvre. Napolean had it moved to his bedroom at Tuileries Palace for a short time, before it was returned to the Louvre where it remains today... obviously.
This building embodies perfectly the history of Paris, more so than any other building. It stands right on an island in the Seine river called Ile de la Cite (City Island). Built on the site of a Roman temple, the first stone was laid in 1163 which marked the start of two centuries of toil by armies of medieval architects. It was not completed until the mid 1240s. This building has seen many significant events including: - 1239, the Crown of Thorns is placed in the cathedral by St. Louis - 1804, coronation ceremony for Napolean I - state funeral of Charles de Gaulle
This building was originally built on the City Island as a royal palace. Phillippe le Bel chose this beautiful place to build it in the 14th century as way to show his wealth and stature. In the middle ages, the palace was considered one of the finest in the world. Later, when Charles V chose to move to the Louvre, the building was given to Parliament to be used as the kingdoms's administrative offices. In 1931, the palace had been converted into a prison. Wealthy prisoners were given good accommodations but the petty thieves were left to sleep in dark rooms infested with rodents where they often caught diseases and even died of the plague. It is now open to the public as a national historic monument.
Built to commemorate the centennial of the revolution, the 1,063 ft tower was originally only supposed to be temporary. It was designed by Gustave Eiffel (hence the name) and was the world's tallest building until the Empire State Building was built in 1931. Numerous stunts have been pulled here, one of which included a local man who launched himself from the tower using a cape as wings... needless to say it didn't end well.
fun facts: - there are 1,665 steps from top to bottom - the tower is held together by 2.5 million rivets - it never sways more than 7 cm (2.5 in.) - it weighs 10,100 tons - 50 tons of paint are used every seven years.
Located directly at the end of the world famous *Champs-Elysees Avenue, the Arc de Triomphe stands tall at 164 feet. Building of this arc began in 1806, approximately a year after Napolean's greatest victory at the Battle of Austerlitz. After the battle he promised his med that they would "go home beneath triumphal arches." Although the first stone of what was to be the worlds most famous triumphal arch was laid in 1806, it's completion was delayed until 1836 due to distruptions with the Architects plans combined with the demise of Napoleonic power. Decorating the arc are many shields and sculptures depicting military scenes such as the Napoleonic battles of Austerlitz and Aboukir. In 1921 the body of the Unknown Soldier was put beneath the arch to commemorate the dead of WWI.
*Champs-Elysees- This world famous avenue began to become well-known around 1667. It has been know as the triumphal way ever since the homecoming of Napoeon's body from St. Helena in 1840. It became the most fashionable boulevard in Paris in the 19th century when cafes and restaurants were added.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
