So there were some parts of Friday that weren’t depressing as heck. After Mathausen, we went to St. Florian Monastery. St. Florian is the Saint of Firefighters or something like that, and there were pictures and statues everywhere of him with a water bucket, ready to distinguish flames. It was a pretty neat place, but not much different than the other monasteries we’ve been to. (How different can you make a monastery?) There were a few things that set this one apart however. Firstly, I found my favorite room in the whole wide world. Imagine the library from Beauty& the Beast, take away the rolling staircase, add a few gorgeous antique tables, and a wicked cool ceiling painting. I could have stayed there forever. Well, maybe with a different collection of books. These were all research books but they were available to the public!! Secondly, the Florian Cathedral houses the Bruckner Organ. It was very very large and the most ornate and impressive organ I’ve ever seen. Which is saying a lot, because in the last few weeks I have seen my fair share of organs. Lastly, and one of the creepiest places I’ve ever been: the crypt. Bruckner wanted to be buried directly underneath his organ, so he was. But in the process of digging to bury him, they found that where they were digging was a previous burial site for lots of other people. So, skulls and bones surround his casket. SO CREEPY!!! On the way into the hallway that let to the crypt was a casket that was partially open. Jenna, Kerrie and I booked it out of there as soon as we could.
Next we went to Hallstead. Hallstead is the picture after the Austrian flag if you Google ‘Austria’. (PS- found out in German class that ‘Google’ was added to the German dictionary as a verb. Try conjugating that. No fun.) Anyways, Hallstead is GORGEOUS! It’s a lakeside village that directly faces the Alps, and it’s just breathtaking looking at the mountains, and the lake, and the adorable houses all at the same time. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, most shops were closed so we couldn’t poke around, and it was FREEZING. Pretty sure I was wearing 5 or 6 layers. One of the places Konrad took us in Hallstad was the ‘Bone House’. We were thinking it was some kind of restaurant or museum…no. It was a little shack…filled with skulls. The town is super tiny, and when people died, they ran out of room in the graveyard, so they built a little house, and people can say they want their skulls to go in there. Family members can paint the skulls, usually flowers since none can be put at a nonexistent gravesite, and the skull is put on a shelf with a bunch of others. Again, SO CREEPY!!! But a good idea for a place that has absolutely no room for further development. After that we wandered around, Kerrie, Jenna, Jesse& I found the quintessential Austrian bakery to warm up in, and then we got back on the bus for the 2 hour ride home.
That night, I went to my first Red Bulls hockey game. Everyone else had already been a few times, but the games are on Dinestage (Tuesday), and that’s when I have band practice. It was so much fun!! We got standing room tickets, which are right next to the ice, so you’re on the players lever which is cool. We could bang on the glass, and yell, and be generally distracting, loud, and obnoxious. It was a fun time. And an unfortunately late night. Jenna’s boyfriend Colin was here for a few days, and somehow they convinced me it would be a good idea to go skiing the next day. That required me to get up at 4:45am. More on that in my next post. Overall, Friday was an emotionally exhausting, but completely rewarding day. The things I saw, especially at Mauthausen will stick with me for the rest of my life, which isn’t a bad thing necessarily, but will definitely keep me thankful for the people in my life, and the incredible opportunities I have been presented.
I miss all of you, and hopefully will get a chance to catch up with some of you I haven’t had a chance to lately, soon.
Lovelovelove
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