Halloween at the Vatican

CNN just played the scariest story I’ve ever seen. I’ll probably mess something up through here, but I’ll try it to sort it out. If the electoral college tied (a possibility), and the popular vote was so close that it caused major legal conflict in various states than the Presidential vote would go to the House (which is a 1 to 1 state ratio). The Senate would vote in the VP, so Bush could end up w/Edwards (The Good-Ole-Boys of DC?). Even more frightening, there’s some loophole, probably connected to the legal conflicts, that could actually put the VP in as Acting Commander and Chief.
I think the most frightening thing was that this was an editorial on a news station.
I’m watching a story on Istambul’s Rammadan traditions now. This global channel has a lot of neat stories like that. I’m jealous.
You’re probably more interested in today, and what a day it’s been. I’m trying to kill time and wait for mom to call, but I’m not sure she’s going to get through, so I’ll try and push through it.
At 5AM we got up and were off to the Vatican to stand in line for the museums. We stood there from 7:30 until 10:30, wrapping from the north most museum entrance all the way down to the Via di Porta Angelica. It’s been unseasonably hot, and rose from about 65 to 75 degrees during the few hours we were out there.
This is my second time in Rome, I think I’ve told you that before, so I’ve tried to look at things through a slightly different lens. Our hotel, with it’s blue-print floor, satellite TV, and American plug in the bathroom is about as close to the US as you can get in Italy (except maybe the Embassy). Our neighborhood is probably the opposite, and with Mary here it’s pretty easy to see the contrast. She talks to everyone in friendly English, and gets everything from friendly responses to frustration or even frightened glares. It doesn’t seem to phase her, though. She makes a good tourist.
She amused herself by talking to a few of the people around us, but the Japanese group behind us didn’t speak English or didn’t want to, and the Spaniards in front of us offered the frightened look I mentioned earlier. So I kept us busy by filling in the finer points of Catholicism and church history to her from what I’ve read over the past summer or two. Tiff’s started calling me the most Catholic non-Catholic she knows. I’m still trying to decide how to take that one. At the time I think I muttered something about historical significance or some such nonsense.
We did not take the short way to the Sistine Chapel at all. We wound through the Egypt Collection, the Greek & Roman Collection, the Raphael Room and so on down the line. I kept trying to explain things to Mary as best I could, but I think I’m going to have to buy several big books for her and Tiff both. Mary at least seems interested, Tiff still wraps herself up in an air of apathy whenever she’s not looking at some ruins or something gargantuanly Baroque. Lucky for her, there’s plenty of both in the Vatican.
When we finally reached the Sistene Chapel, Tiff’s response was something along the line of “Well, it’s not what I expected…”. I gave her the “you-did-not-just-say-that-about-this-historic-and-impressively-masterful-artwork” look and took a few more illegal pictures. After walking the length of the chapel and really soaking it in, though, she eventually expressed more grateful approval for it. She’d just imagined it as one continuous piece. I don’t know why.
Anyway, the Sistine Chapel provided a new perspective and a better appreciation after having looked at it in our art class. It was quite different to actually understand the significance of the paintings, rather than just taking them at face value. The ultra-realness of the perspective is, I think, what may still draw crowds today.
Ok, the Tourist Bureau helps too.
We wound through a few more collections on the way out and then shot down to the Vatican. Lucky us, the Pope had decided to give an address today. I got to see Pope John Paul II from his little window!! I have no idea what he said, but I still got to see him and the absolutely massive crowd gathered to hear him speak. I couldn’t help but wonder how many were left over from yesterday’s protest, and whether he sat by one of his other windows to watch it go by.
After listening to a lot of Italian that we had no hope of understanding we toured St. Peter’s. Mary really enjoyed the scale and was utterly fascinated by the crypts, Tiffany’s developed a pretty good taste in sculpture, and I was just happy to take it all in again. We wandered by Michelangelo’s Peitre and all the other pieces. I’m actually recognizing names like Bonnichi now, even if I can’t spell them. He was a sculptor and architect, by the way.
The Vatican will always invoke a certain spirituality in me. Holiness isn’t the right word, really, because the Catholic Church has many things that I don’t equate with Godliness. But the sheer spiritual energy, the focus of billions of worshippers over thousands of years, is still an amazing force to behold. It must be how the early church must have felt, when confronted with Jerusalem’s Jews and the Roman Pagans. Of course, that brewed hostility, but it also built bridges. Jewish tradition and Pagan thought both have their places in Christianity, especially in the traditions of the Catholic church, but applicable to the broader Christian community as a whole. Not that we should be circumcised (please, not that), but the Jewish tradition on which the Bible is built still shines through in many of the beliefs carried from it today. Of course, I think it was the Greeks and the Romans that invented the preacher. Yes, there was Paul the Jew, but even he had connections to Rome. It was there –here!- that this gigantic chunk of world culture took its first steps, and only Jerusalem has a closer claim to its birth.
It is, in short, a place every Christian should be. It is a place to remember, and to look forward.
It’s the Eternal City.

I got swept by a tangent there. I hope you enjoyed it. After visiting St. Peter we meandered our way up to the Papal Residence and bought more souvenirs. Then a quick ride to the bus brought us back here for some rest before our evening visit to the Pantheon. This gigantic Roman temple was built to honor all the gods, but not by us. It closed before we got there. So dinner in the nearby plaza, and delicious Gelato for dessert served to round off another well paced day.

By the way, if you ever plan on going anywhere in Europe by night, reserve your tickets well ahead of time. I think tomorrow we may have to sleep on the night train standing up because we didn’t.

Magic Dinner and One Wish Granted

Dinner was wonderful! Tiff and Mary weren’t as impressed with their pasta as I was by my rabbit (the lil coney was cooked up in butter and garlic!), but we were all pretty pleased with our Tiramisu (and whatever that “Grandma cake” Mary ate was called). The place, which was something along the lines of Hostila Romanesca, was on a plaza off a plaza down the road from the plaza we got off the #40 or #64 bus on, which was also down from the Venecian Plaza. It took us quite a bit of wandering to find. I enjoyed the lively Italian streets with all the open stores and very open bars, but by the time we found the place we were all equally ready to sit down and eat.
No less than 5 street performers did their thing for us. There was an accordion player wandering around the plaza while we circled it in search of our restaurant, a saxophonist and a mime while we waited on our food (separate acts), a guitar player off in the distance while we ate, and the restaurant boss chased off a rather untalented accordion player as we began dessert. A Turkish man tried to sell roses and Polaroids, but he didn’t get past the first table (who did buy some). Our waiter was a nice man who looked disturbingly like Alex, a family friend frb
om back home. He was apparently older than he looked, he’d already worked at several restaurants and was apparently in charge here, but he had that youthful vigor you occasionally hear mentioned as belonging to a proper Italian. Personally, I think it’s something in the wine, but far be it from me to hope for the same effects in my thin American blood.
Anyway, our Alex-like waiter was very good, and when he found out it was Tiffany’s birthday (through Tiffany’s excessive pleas for us not to sing That Song to her), he announced that there was a little thing he used to do in one of his old jobs, and asked if she minded. Of course, we gave the go-ahead for her. He sang quite melodically the traditional “Happy Birthday,” first in English, then in Italian. By the end of it we couldn’t tell who was blushing more, him or Tiffany.
After dinner we planned on a little walk over to the Trevi fountain. When we got off the “Trevi” stop on the bus, we were across the road from the river. We wandered several directions and finally found what I at least thought were a couple of lost looking Italians. It turns out they were lost Belgians, also looking for the Trevi fountain. We tagged along with them since we were without maps and mostly without hope at that point. We crossed the Piazza Navona with it’s gorgeous fountains and many artisans a model for all the dozens upon dozens of fountains now, but it’s one of the more important ones. Then we wandered by the Pantheon, which Tiff hopes to actually get in to today, and finally we found our way down to the Trevi Fountain.
It’s not exactly an easy place to get to, but a couple of hundred people seem to have gathered there before us. At least 20 of the pushy men with flowers, cameras, and various glittery or sparkly things were busy assaulting the crowd. I bought Tiff 5 flowers because making it 5 was his way of making change and Mary got hotel information from our guides, who we had already profusely thanked. They had not only gotten us there, they’d provided pleasant conversation on the walk. Politics were touched on, because they always are, but only to mention that the election was coming up and the European Community was watching closely. Luckily we dodged the specifics. Halloween was a much safer topic, what with it’s current invasion on Europe. She shared the same opinion I’ve heard from many and come to believe for myself: it seems Europe’s getting all the worse parts of the holiday exported to them to serve no purpose other than greed.
Back to Trevi. The fountain was well lit in all its glory, just like I remembered it. Maybe it seemed a little smaller, but this trip has made everything seem smaller.
When I last stood at the Trevi Fountain I made a rather simple wish: That I could be there again not to make another wish someday. The Powers That Be brought me to that point, so I could be a little more ambitious with my second wish. Of course, you can’t know it yet. When it comes true, I’ll tell you.
There’s not too much left to tell. We took a little bit of a wavering path back to the train station, but we made it ok. It was about 12:30 by then, so I pulled pics off the camera and went to sleep.
Now we’re getting ready to line up for the Vatican, which is only going to be open from 8-12 today. The Sistine Chapel is first on Tiffany’s list, so we’re going at things a little backwards from what I’m used to. But it’s further up their priority list, so we’ll go see it first.
CNN’s showing more Iraqi hostages and bombs and Palestinians trying to find a post-Arafat path. I don’t think I’d missed this as much as I thought I had.

Living the History Channel and Confusing the Locals

So now we’re back from another day of relaxed-pace touring. Today was actually a good bit brisker, mostly since the guide wouldn’t give us a choice. That’s right, we jumped on one of those large-group tours rounding up strays on the streets. It was a good one, though. 8 extra euro on the entrance fee to the Coliseum got us past the hour and a half line, and guided all up the Palatine Hill and around all through the ruins. The Coliseum tour was useless as far as information goes (watch the History Channel special so you at least get the CGI reconstructions to go along with it) but with our tight schedule forgoing the hour-long line alone made the price worth while. We spent a nice hour inside the Coliseum and made a somewhat startling discovery: they’re rebuilding a corner of it. Fresh marble has been laid where the seats once were, and in the flood under the arched stairs leading up to the seats. A quarter of the old wooden stage is back, and the top story of the Coliseum opposite the restored seats creates the background for the stage. Quite a strange monument to revive, but I imagine the Latin scholars are thrilled.
Speaking of Latin scholars, I’m going to make the birthday girl (Tiffany) give you a little more insight on this city tonight. I’m not really big on my ancient Roman history. I’m much more interested in the Church, and in what they’ve done here in the past two thousand years. I get a few hours in the Vatican tomorrow, and I’m going to drag Tiff and Mary through a few more churches before we leave here. I’ll tell you about that, Tiff can tell you about this, and maybe we’ll get it all together by then.
Hopefully all the political intrigue will be done by then.
Today was Protest Day in Rome. Recall that Italians riot about soccer on a regular basis, so when actual historically relevant events come up people really get stirred up. The Italian Communists decided to throw an anti-American/anti-war march today. It wound around Old Rome and ended right in front of Piazza Venecia. We had to wind around 6 rows of full-riot-gear cops and a couple of blocks to get back on path to the Pantheon, which we ended up skipping out on due to tired feet and hunger. We caught the bus back to the hotel instead, and are now scouting out the dinner situation.
Tiff and Mary keep muttering “well they may want to influence the American opinion, but they can’t” whenever the news or anyone else mentions European opinions swaying the vote. They’re probably right. To Americans it doesn’t really matter what the rest of the world thinks. They’ve been swayed by propaganda, misinformed, or are generally ignorant. Right.
I keep saying I’m not going to talk about politics here. I’m trying, really. It’s just that time of year, you know? A few more days and maybe I can clear my mind from it again.
One nice thing about this city, there’s an old law in effect protecting stray animals, especially cats. Volunteer women, called “cat women” in Italian, take care of all their needs and manage the shelter they all live in. We saw several cats lounging around the Coliseum and the ruins, typically looking at our large group like we were intruding on their territory. I suppose we are, that law has been here a lot longer than we have. I was just happy to see cats again.
Osama picked quite a good time to pop up again, didn’t he? Having a recurring villain provides a nice literary device for us all.
Rather than discussing or heading toward food, we are watching the forecast for Africa. I’m going to get them moving.
Ah, I didn’t have to. They just got on it all by themselves. We have a reservation for 8. Still early by Italian standards, but as has been made extremely obvious repeatedly, we’re not Italian.
They’re quite amused by Mary asking about birthday cakes.

Best Breakfast Buffet Ever

Just a real quick note: This is the best breakfast buffet I’ve had yet. We're at the Holiday Inn in Rome, you should go there too. They have a real expresso machine, tons of different breads, actual American cereals, and good meat and cheese. I swiped lunch off it too (common travel strategy, it works well when there’s actual decent food to be taken).

Burnout

Ok, I’m ready to go back to Regensburg now.
Not really. I’m just a little burned out from walking right now, and being a tourist tires me out mentally. Tiffany and I had a nice Italian dinner at some restaraunt I can’t pronounce. It sat on a little road past what we think was the national opera house, or something like that. Nice, picturesque, etc etc. Tiff’s was some sort of pasta, mine was spaghetti with mussels. It took over 2 hours for us to get in and out there. It was good, though.
Tomorrow is Ancient Rome and maybe some other stuff, and Sunday is Vatican day. Everything in the Vatican is free on the last Sunday of the month, so we’re seeing as much of the museums as possible. Tiff’s mom has some missionary group whose church service she wants us to go to on Sunday morning. I don’t think she’s realized it’s all going to be in Italian.
Maybe it won’t be.
I really miss my internet.

Back in Rome

Tiff’s just figured out how to get to the Appian Way. Since we’re in Rome, that’s probably a good thing. Mary, Tiff’s mom, is snoring again. It’s been her typical status whenever given half a chance, but she hasn’t exactly been on a normal sleep schedule for the past three days. Tiff and I drug her quite a few kilometers, up and down 3 of the 7 hills of Rome (as best I can tell, anyway). We saw quite a few gorgeous churches, mostly named after St. Mary.
Haha, Bush campaign officials got in trouble for CGI extras added to a GI crowd on their commercial. I’m not sure how I feel about “No Surrender” being Kerry’s current “theme song.” That seems a little pessimistic. Maybe it’s just meant to be aggressive. Don’t read too hard, I’m not going to put in a plug for either of them.
Yes, I’m watching CNN for the first time in 2 months. I’d watch Fox to balance it out, but they don’t bother with Fox here. I’ve got Tiff here to balance it out. Besides, this is CNN Asia (I don’t know why not CNN Europe), so maybe the reputation doesn’t apply.
Lets not talk politics here.
Asian TV has really cool commercials. And it’s in English. English Asian CNN. With Brittish photojournalists. Odd.
Well, maybe a little more politics.
EU’s constitution is getting signed here today. I know, you’d think something that’s been around for over 15 years now would have a constitution that they signed, right? Well, they do, but it’s written for 6 countries, not 25. I’m watching the story now and it seems that the general purpose of this constitution is to declare plans for the new, larger EU. It includes a 5-year presidency, rather than 6 months at a time, a slimmed down commission, a new voting system, etc. So far all but 10 countries have signed. Unfortunately, there’s doubts on some of those countries, and if they don’t sign this little piece of paper is worth about as much as the one in your bathroom.
What’s having the entire EU in Rome doing to our trip? What do you think? We had to completely circumvent most of central Rome, and will have to again tomorrow as well. With any luck we’ll get into most of the old city, but we may have to take a convoluted way around the city to get there. Today I probably walked by a thousand different police officers, in the navy blue of the local Romans, the greens of the Italian Army, and the grays of the rent-a-cops the EU uses (they’re really much more professional, r.-a-c. is just an easy way to put it).
Phillips has made “peripheral television,” a wrap around screen for your tv. How bizarre.
The Rome I’m seeing today is not the same Rome I saw 4 years ago. Like all cities in Europe, and maybe even more than most, this town is alive. It’s a thriving hub of activity, and it’s exciting to be swept up in the current. Amusingly enough, with Mary we are moving through this lively flood of people at the slowest pace I’ve taken anywhere in Europe. I’m not complaining too much. I’ve been here before, I’ve seen the tourist track already. This trip I’m seeing it more from the inside. We're wandering most everywhere, getting lost occasionally. Tiff didn’t want to buy a city pass at the time, but to get to the Vatican and to the old city we’re going to have to. The slow pace was relaxing for the first day, especially after a painfully bumpy overnight train ride, but if we spent all 4 days here we wouldn’t get everything done.
Still, it’s really nice to be able to take in the city, not just the sights.
Tiff changed it to BBC, and all they’re doing is whining about W. I hope she’s getting the hint of the look I'm shooting the screen.
Look at that, she did.

Funniest Sign in Regensburg

I really should tell you about the reception, but it's 2AM and I'm exhausted, so I'm putting that off until I'm coherent. Trust me, you'll appreciate it.
So instead, here's a delightful pic taken by my friend Becca. It's been titled "The Funniest Sign in Regensburg"

Artisan for a Day

Todays art tour took us into the small workshop of a private company that restores various secular and non-secular works off art. I think our professor met them through the Dom's shop, since they've done quite a bit of work for the Cathedral. Visiting this tiny little building tucked away in a corner of the former Ubermunster Lady's Convent was an experience I never imagined I'd be having here.
It's been overcast today, like October finally remembered how it's supposed to be behaving. The cold has crept in with the clouds, and all four of us (me, our profi, Liz, and Tiff) seemed quite glad to get inside. Tho the left of the door was a pile of over 250 plaster molds. We were rushed upstairs to put away our things, shown a couple of the current secular projects (including an original Albrecht Durer print, which is still a fairly common thing to get in Nurnburg), and then told to wait downstairs and amuse ourselves with the plaster molds and the book describing them.
It turns out that the molds were rescued from an attic after the artist, whose last name was Kirch but whose first I've forgotten, died. One of the apprentices told us the funny story while we waited. Kirch, like I said, had died, and his possessions fell into the hands of an elderly woman. She was apparently not a very personable person, and when she died she left all her inheritence to her poodle rather than any surviving family. A museum rescued the art, but wasn't interested in the plaster, so our local Regensburg artisan got it instead.
Like I said, the plaster took up most of the left side of the room, really probably 3/4 of the room total. Molds ranged from ash-trays to busts to reliefs of saints, and only a copy of Kirch's hand-written notes corrosponding to the numbers on the outside of each mold provided any form of organization. I hate to think of what the apprentices have to do when they need one of those molds.
The artisan got back not long after that, and thank goodness he did. I was really afraid one of us would drop or damage a mold. After what happened in Neufarrplatz, I don't think I could handle seeing anything else break.
Of course, he turned out to be much more trusting of us than we are of ourselves. He gave us a quick demonstration of how gold leaf is put onto a piece, in this case a baroque pedestal head, then he turned to the next sheet of gold leaf and offered it to our group. We thought this was a poor attempt at humor, until our professor explained: "He says he can spare to waste a sheet on you, try it."
How can I refuse an offer like that?
So I lifted the little pink paper page of the leaf-book, looked at the .0008mm thick sheet of gold, placed my tool on it and blew lightly to get it to wrapped around, and cut it into slightly less neat sections. Then I took the paintbrush, wet it with the glue (which is some sort of alcohol mixed with water), and spread it thickly on a ungilded portion. Getting the wide brush to catch the gold was the hard part. It was a matter of creating static electricity, which I apparently just don't have enough of. The chief artisan chuckled, rubbed it on his shaved head, then snatched the piece up on it expertly. I laid it rather clumsily, looked immensely proud, and tried a couple of more. I never quite got the knack of it, but by the time I'd passed the tools to Tiffany I realized that for the next however-many-years-it-lasts a pedestal I gilded will hold a German churches art.
How cool is that?
Now I'm off to meet the US ambassador. Seriously. We have a reception in about an hour.
Homesickness is fading, I'm loving it here once more.

I am Still Alive...

Tiff's been sick, so we didn't go to Salzburg or anywhere else for this weekend. Little Dell's been getting introduced to the world, including a couple of quickly removed virii and lots of fresh software. Unfortunately for me and for you, the reader, I also discovered the 500 megabyte download limit they have in the dorms. On Saturday my internet was cut off by noon and on sunday, when I was a little more careful, it lasted until 6. Today I've been in classes and otherwise away from the computer, so I might not break my limit today. Of course, I don't have descent on here yet either, but that's probably a blessing in disguise. I'm not sure I can netplay through the firewall anyway, but single-player mode would be nice.
Oh yes, I have to do schoolwork too.
I'm writing my art journal tonight and tomorrow night. I'm a little behind on it, actually. It's got some decent, or at least entertaining, content to it. Maybe post-trip I'll type some of it up for you.
We're meeting the US Ambassador to Germany tomorrow at a reception. I have mostly mixed feelings about that one, but I guess it sounds impressive, right? Also, they'll have really good food, if it's like most receptions I've been to.
I've been a little homesick lately. Halloween's always fun back in the states, but here it's a joke from overseas that nobody quite gets. While it's amusing to watch the German reaction to this newly imported idea, it's slightly frustrating to try and explain our perception of it to them. Kristen's decided she's going to lead by example, she's going trick-or-treating. I'd worry about her getting shot, but I don't think anyone in this country owns a gun.
I'm going to get myself in trouble with these comments soon, though, so I'd better go grocery shopping before I say anything stupid.
:P

Getting Ready for Salzburg w/Lil Dell

It's way too late at night. It doesn't seem like it to you, but I have to get up at 6AM, so that makes it significantly worse. On the bright side, I can sleep on the train tomorrow morning.
We're going to Salzburg! I'm excited about getting to see Mozart's birthplace, not to mention all the other nice bits this town has to offer. Outside town are a few nice castles, and there's a crystal cave that I'd like to see too, but I'm not sure we're going to make it to all those outlying things. We are only daytripping, after all.
All my German flatmates still gawk whenever we talk about daytripping more than an hour or two away. It's just not a thing here.
But we are.
Little Dell arrived yesterday. I rigged up a way to plug it in today, but since it has a 3-prong plug and everything here is made for 2-prong, it's been a little difficult. It runs like a dream, and I've already got most of my software moved to it. Pics shouldn't get lost anymore, since 30gigs is more than enough room for them all (I hope).
Anyway, I have to sleep. I'll tell you all about it when I get back tomorrow.

connecting the dots...or at least spotting them

It's apparently american music night up here. Tom Jones played, then the Beatles, and now Simon and Garfunkel. They're still going through CD's. There's never a dull moment here.
Yesterday in culture class we discussed the 20th/21st century music scene here. The past 30 years have been a lot like America's: Protest-hippies, experimentation with electronic music, pop music and the underground scene that hates it. The older forms are a little different. Schlager doesn't really have an American counterpart, but for simplicity's sake I look at as German oldies.
What's really confusing, though, is that here they know American bands, Brittish bands, German bands, and French bands. It's quite a mix to grow up with.
I think I'm finally starting to grasp the indentifying marks of Romanesque style. We discussed wall paintings and mosiacs today in class. There's more Romanesque mosiac work than I realized. I'd come to equate it with the wall paintings like you can see in my photos from the All Saints Chapel behind the Regensburg Dom and Prufening. I didn't realize the Greecian/Byzantine influence, or the mosiac work was part of it. That really opens up a new angle on Romanesque as a whole. Hopefully I'll be able to connect it all someday. At least it makes looking at all these churches and chapels and cathedrals more interesting.

Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau

Neuschwanstein was more impressive than I had anticipated. Unfortunately, it was also more crowded. We had every English speaking country represented in groups, plus a lot of Japanese/Chinese tourists, some Germans, and others I'm not so familiar with (Romanians, Hungarians, Indians -the type from India-, etc). The Hohenschwangau, Maximillian II's castle and Ludwig II's boyhood home, was more impressively decorated than the incomplete Neuschwanstein. It was filled with gifts from various other countries, including a shield covered with every Bavarian coat of arms. That particular piece was given to Maximillian II as a wedding present, behind it hang an axe (symbol of Bavaria) and a mace (symbol of Prussia, where his bride was from). A piece of Red Alabaster lit the guest room beautifully, and several huge crystal and brass centerpieces decorated each table.
Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau are both covered with swans because before the royal kings of Bavaria moved in there the knights of the swan had a fortress there. Maximillian (not sure if this was I or II) decided to build Hohenschwangau on one of the old fortresses, Neuschwanstein on another (hence the name: "New-Swan-Stone"). The knights had all long since died off (by the 12th century they were gone... these castles were built in the 19th).
All in all, these castles were the products of too much money and too many fairy tales. Ludwig loved the epic history of Germany and all the romantic ideas of his time. It shows. Wagner was a personal friend of his, and Neuschwanstein is mostly dedicated to him. Every room in it depicts scenes or themes from Wagner's operas. It must've been a surreal experience for Wagner to spend the night in this rich fan's castle.
Another interesting tidbit. Construction of Neuschwanstein was privately funded, and stopped nearly the hour Ludwig II died. Tours of the unfinished castle started 6 weeks later.

The hike to the nearby Marianbrucke was worth it. Not only is the view of Neuschwanstein great, the falls below the bridge are crystal clear and picturesque. Few of the hikes are easy, though. If you're not up to steep hills, take the bus.

Fidelio and just plain dough

Just got back from Fidelio. They did a modernesque interpretation, a modern military prison and so on. Good music, good voices, strange set.
But, for my first opera, not bad.
Tiff kinda ruined the hall for me though. She pointed out that it looked just like the Muppet Theatre, which it did. I spent a lot of the time looking up at the boxes and running the opening sequence through my head. I bet it's been ten years since I saw Muppet Theatre, but that opening number is still there. How disturbing is that?
My suitemates are throwing dough at eachother tonight. I'm getting used to it. I hid behind the biggest one long enough to get what I needed out of the kitchen, then came in here to leave you this quick note. Tomorrow we're going to Neuschwanstein, which I think I just mispelled, and leave in less than 6 hours. I have to go to sleep now.

Lazy Saturday Ramblings

Christmas shopping phase 1 complete.
In other news, my laptop will get here in 3-4 days. How cool is that? I'll actually have it before fall break, which might mean that I can take it with me on fall break (whether or not I will is another matter). But at any rate, you should be kept in the loop fairly regularly.
Don't worry, all hope is not lost yet.
On yet another unrelated note, Tiff's been kindly working out the various routes and other painful details of our december trip. She forbids me from posting details until everything's more finalized, but it looks like it'll be fun. And don't worry, we haven't forgotten about the Black Forest trip, it's just been postponed. It's currently scheduled for the weekend of Nov 19-21, but that's tentative still.
I read Goethe's Faust Part 1 for humanities yesterday. I have no idea why I never encountered that book before. It was a great play on the 18th century, the 16th century, Shakespeare, and culture in general. Cleverly written, too. I guess it just falls outside the realm of typical English classics. Shame on us.
For a pleasure read I borrowed Neil Gaimon's Neverwhere. Also a good read, though definitely not for the same reasons. Gaimon writes a lot like Terry Pratchett. Satirical, sarcastic, dry humored puns and jokes pepper a bizarre version of a stereotypical story (in this case, Alice in Wonderland with a little of the Hero's Quest or The Wizard of Oz mixed in). It was lightwieght enough to also be finished between classes and meals, which is a pleasant change after Freud and Nietzsche.
It's been really nice having this weekend to wander Regensburg. I'm really getting to like this city and am going to miss it when I come back. Then I think about hamburgers, though. Ah, sweet beef...
There was another point to this post. I'll get to it here directly.
That's right! The opera.
We're going to see Fidelio tonight at the Bismarkplatz Opera. I'm of mixed feelings on it. The DVD put me into an instant battle not to fall asleep, one which I fought with various degrees of success, but it was just after lunch. Then again, this will be just after dinner. I'm going to be having coffee with dinner, I think. Lots of coffee.
Opera.
It's cultured of me, right?
I think I'd rather be a brute.

Schones Wochenende! Oh, and a little about a monastery...

Good news, it's the weekend! Which means I finally have time for the one thing I hoped to always have time for: sleep. Oh, and this too.
I handwrote a couple of journal entries on Berlin when I was in Berlin, and I've put them in here under their original dates. It probably seems a little cheap, but it'll just make more sense that way.
Oh, and the computer's getting more fickle, so I may not be able to update as often if it decides it's tired of turning on for me. Worst case scenario: a little over 2 weeks. That's right after fall break. My new laptop may get here before then, but I'm not going to place any bets on it. This one may hold out for the next week, but I'm not sure how likely that is either.
So lets talk about everything else this week now.
Tuesday we went to this gorgeous little monastery outside of town. It dates from the 12th century and was Benedictine. It didn't fare well through the ages, though, because the Benedictines there actually tried to stick to the stricter interpretations of Benedict's Code, which meant they had no property besides the monastery, no income, and often had to beg for food.
Not a very popular way of living, especially when the Benedictine's up the road have all their gold and are constantly fattening up on delicious food.
So it fell into various phases of disuse over the years, was brought back to life a bit in the 18th and 19th centuries, dwindled again, and was eventually bought by the Thurn & Taxis family (remember them? They own most of the city now). One of the Thurn and Taxis men attempted first to revive the monastery, then simply resigned to living in it. He'd sit in his room in the church facade (built as a guest room in the 19th century) and lower down the key on a string whenever anyone knocked at the church door.
He died some time recently and the Thurn & Taxis family let a montessori school move in. They totally rennovated one building of the monastery, so now it's bright yellow with fresh wrought iron and is every inch the 19th century building.
Two things made this monastery especially interesting for me. Firstly, the contrast between the old, cracked buildings with all their 19th century decay stand stark against the two rennovated ones (along side the montessori are now a series of flats available for rent). It's just a purely ascentic fascination.
Second is the church.
As I told you, this place was originally built in the 12th century, so it's a Romanesque church. Besides the date, you can see it in the windows, the layout, and so on. But when the monastery experienced a bit of a revival, they turned it Baroque. So now you have a layer of VERY Baraque paintings over what was once totally Romanesque murals. You may have seen my photos of the Romanesque murals in the All Saints Chapel at the Dom. I'd link you, but the photo page is misbehaving again. Anyway, these are like those, if thouse hadn't been destroyed. They've totally uncovered the original paintings on the trancept and the ambulatory (that is, above the choir and altar). On the ceiling sits the Virgin Mary, clad as a queen, representing the church in all its splendor. Virtues and Angels flank her, and on either wall saints, apostles, and prophets come toward her. Below the prophets are the various church orders, and below the apostles are the hermits. Interestingly enough, a set of the hermits is female, but when the murals were discovered and restored in the 19th century they painted them male to avoid controversy.
So, you'll see this in my pictures once they're uploaded, but just imagine it now, you have above the choir and the altar huge, Romansque paintings, covering every inch with vibrant colors that have faded to a sort of chalky lightness. Then, above the nave (the long stretch with the pews) are these dramatic oil paintings of the patron saint of the church: George.
St. George was a very hard man to kill, according to catholic legend. His persecutors tried to burn him, to boil him, to stab him, to break him on a wheel (similar to the rack, if you're familiar with that particular part of torture), and do various other cruel things. On the ceiling, he's depicted in typical Baroque-liveliness, smiling and looking holy while they try to do all these things to him. The paintings there are done in oil, and neatly framed. The rest of the walls are white.
So, back to the church as a whole. Totally white except for St. George being martyred on the ceiling, up till the darkwood alter. Then bam! it's like the walls exploded into color. The contrast is amazing. The oily frames of St. George, though lifelike and beautifully painted, are like little windows looking into a far away place, but the romanesque paintings are right there, bringing you to the gates of heaven in every color imaginable.
I wonder what it must've looked like when the whole church was painted in Romanesque.

As you can imagine, I thoroughly enjoyed this trip. In my pictures, you can also see the abandoned astronomy tower, which housed snipers during WWII and, later, squatters. This gorgeous little nitch is just one more example of the thousand years of history that I'm living in right now.

So much to do, so much to see...

I'll tell you all about Berlin. Really, I will. I've got it written out already, I just have to type it. But this afternoon we're going to another monastery with our art class, and then we have another paper to type.
I accidently deleted half my Dresden pictures today, too. I tried to use an undeleter, but it wouldn't let me write to the same drive I'd deleted from, so I'm going to have to either borrow a jump drive or try and network this poor old thing to the new computer when it gets here and save it to a network drive. I think I can do that. If not, then we just lost the latter half of the Dresden pictures. It's kinda sad, but not a huge tragedy.
So with any luck I'll be able to talk to you some after stammtisch tonight and we can actually get things caught up again. Sorry about the wait.

Back from Berlin

I'm back from Berlin. I can't give you the full story right now, it's going to take much more time than I have here. With luck, I'll get it written tomorrow night. If that fails, than it'll be tuesday. Suffice to say that Berlin was amazing, but I'll never get to see it all.
Tiff has a new suitemate named Katie, and her messy roommate moved out. Katie's from Arizona, and is a grad student here teaching English to Germans. We're all going to have a mass cleaning of their kitchen soon.
Anyway, I'm going to sleep. I've been trying to wake up enough to write, but failing miserably. Right now I don't know half the people in the kitchen, and I'm trying to figure out who they all are. Kevin's one of the Colorado students, and his suitemate is friends with Tommy, my suitemate. There's a German girl that we met last week, but I've forgotten her name, and now there's another one of Kevin's suitemates. I've given up thinking of it as "my" kitchen. It's no more "mine" than this building. I just sleep here. Of course, it's not "theirs" either.
This whole communal property thing confuses me.
I'm going to sleep now. I have 2 tests tomorrow. Once those are behind me, I'll take you step by step through the most magnificent city I've seen in Germany. I promise.

Berlin part 2

The Pergamon.
What else needs said? It's like the Louvre, the Brittish Museum, the Smithsonian. It's the grandfather of museums, a collection to be envied by other countries.
Actually, that goes for all of "museum island," which is supposed to one day be connected into one gigantic complex even bigger than the Louvre. Anyway, the Pergamon was big enough for me and it's lucky I got to see it, it's going to be closed from 2005-2010, if not longer, for rennovations.
There are 3 huge things in the Pergamon. Dozens upon dozens of smaller, and in some cases more notable things, but we'll start with the big things first: The Pergamon Alter, The Babylonian Ishtar Gate, and the Roman Market Gate of Miletus. All of these structures are massive, but only the Roman Gate of Miletus is 100% original, and it was under a net while they reconstruct it. Still, they are all at least partly original, which is about the best you can get for things over 2000 years old.
The Pergamon Alter is a 3 story reconstruction of the original one in the 2nd century Greek City of (you guessed it) Pergamon. The original freizes wrap around the walls of the room, telling the story of the gods battle against the giants (I think we tend to translate that as Titans, I'm not real up on my mythology, though). They're magnificently done, to say the least. I'd always heard the Greek statues referred to as "living stone," but never really seen it until then. These statues are frozen in motion in such a way that you can almost hear the crushing of bone and sword and spear. It's amazing, really.
By the way, "reconstructed" only goes for the actual walls, I think. The columns, freizes, and so on are original.
I took tons of pictures of the various greek statues, as you've probably noticed. Nashvillians, you should recongize one of them. She has no gold, or arms, for that matter, but it is the same dress and face that stands in our parthenon today. The original Parthenon Athena (who was duplicated in the 18th century with all the added gold and such) was a pleasant surprise to my visit. Note, also, the size of the parthenon columns. Pretty overwhelming to think everything was built that way, isn't it?
The Ishtar Gate, and the exhibit beyond, literally gives life to the biblical setting. Nebuchadnezzar II's throne room facade is there, along with the forementioned gate, which looms over the processional way in shining blue and orange. It is remarkable to walk through these artifacts and imagine their uses. I couldn't help but dream of building such a set for VBS back home, to show the kids what power the Isrealites were faced with on a nearly daily basis. We've all seen Egypt, but Babylon is too often forgotten.
The Market Gate of Miletus was part of a huge procession of Roman bits, including quite a few caesars and some other things I'm even less familiar with. The coin collection was impressive, with pieces from all throughout the empire. I got a shot of the Casta Regalia coins of the time. In other words, the ones from Regensburg.
I can't describe the Pergamon as a whole. I just can't do it. We hurried through the middle east exhibit, which featured a couple of maginificent prayer niches and a remarkable wooden ceiling, and didn't see whatever the exhibition was. Even without all that, it took us 5 hours. I don't think I'll be able to look at the ancient world the same again, which I guess was the point.
After the Pergamon, and a quick lunch courtesy once again of the breakfast bar, we went to the Berlin Zoo. If you didn't already know, the Berlin Zoo dates back to 1844, when it was expanded off the Royal Gardens (the Tiergarten, also a royal hunting ground). Today it boasts the most diverse species collection in the world, along with much of the original 19th century architecture (though not, thank god, many of the original cages).
The Zoo is not very big by American standards. Most of us were skeptical of the variety of animals that could possibly be in such a small space, but we soon discovered why. It's built very much like the old zoo, with small spaces seperated off from eachother. In the states we have this movement toward "natural" environments, where the animals wander around in a fascimile of the wild. The Berlin Zoo really doesn't. It's just a glassed in cage, or a open air part seperated by a pit.
The animals were amazing, though. I saw things I didn't even know existed. Some of these I tried to photograph but, as you may have noticed, they move a little too fast to manage this well.
The zoo is built for strolling through. It was a nice day, cold (it's always cold in Berlin), but clear. Tiff and I took are time exploring. She had to describe many of the animals there because I didn't even know they existed anymore. We saw one in the Rhino House staging an escape. He managed to get the food door open and was trying to get up the nerve to jump into the pit and go through it. I don't know if he ever made it or not.
Breakouts seem to be a problem there. I read about a gorilla escaping in June and a bear escaping in August. Luckily it was a vegetarian one. The grass is always greener, right?
The Zoo was nice. What else can I say about it? It was a Zoo. The creatures were fascinating, the architecture was more so. Many of the original buildings are still used, though not for their original functions. They mimic eastern architecture, mostly, showing the 19th century fixation with exploration.
After the Zoo we hit a few souvineer shops, then had mexican for dinner. The Mexican place by Checkpoint Charlie is delicious!! We went to B-Flat, a somewhat famous local Jazz club, but the house band wasn't looking so hot and the place was deserted. I decided 8 Euro for such a venue just wasn't my thing. So we wandered and saw a good bit of the city at night before coming back to crash.
Sunday morning I tried to get to the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedschtniskirche to go to the world-church at the foot of it, but we made it there too late. We probably wouldn't have had time to stay through the whole service anyway. The "world-church" is the flat building beside the "hollow-tooth" of the actual Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. It's made of thousands of glass panes set to form a globe around the modernesque church. It's not open very often, it seems like.
Since we couldn't get in there, Tiff and I wandered our way down to the Ka-De-Weh, a huge Macy's-like store that houses a bit of everything (it's something like 2 city blocks in diameter, 9 floors, just insane). Lucky for me, it was closed. So we meandered our way back to the station, got on the train, and came home to do all the homework we'd neglected.
Quite a trip, really. The tour encompassed most of the "typical" Berlin things you're probably worried that I didn't mention here. I'll try and get that page done soon. But Berlin, like Paris and NYC, is just not a city that can ever be seen completely. By the time you think you've seen it all, they've rebuilt something or put in something new. Still, I'm looking forward to a chance to one day come back and see what they've done.

Berlin part 1

It's only been a day and I've already got no idea how to descrcribe to you everything that I've experienced. This gigantic city has swallowed me up, and I'm thrilled by it.
We entered the city by an ICE train. Inter City Express, I think is what it stands for. What it means is plush. The cozy ride was more like your average intercontinental flight, the good kind, not the bad ones. Built in radio and a dining car included. Once I ran out of daylight and could no longer watch the scenery blur by I napped. We had over 6 hours of travel time, I think. It felt like 6 days.
I've mentioned already that this what a planned excursion. In other words, all 9 students, 3 professors, and 1 professor's wife came on this trip. So we were quite a loud corner of the train. Matt had a Kinder Egg the size of his head. The toy inside was a rotating music box with Steve Tyler leading a band of Christmas elves. Chris Heck played "Save the Last Dance" on his DVD player for Liz and Jen to watch, and everyone talked loudly the whole way.
We cleared the car out pretty quickly.
We arrived in Berlin at 9:45PM, found out hotel, which was actually a youth hostel, and crashed by 11:30.
Breakfast was bread and meat and cereal. I had cornflakes with cocoa on accident. I thought the cocoa was brown sugar. These places all seem to be badly lit. I also had a couple of extra rolls I stashed for lunch. They had no shortage, after all. I waited until they were closing the breakfast bar, then helped myself. They didn't seem to mind, and I wasn't about to watch those things get thrown away or, worse, put back out there for us tomorrow.
Our walking tour was a thorough 5 hours. I'm writing it up on a seperate page whenever I get time to go through my recording of it and match it up with my pictures (which, at this rate, will probably be after Christmas). I've got pictures accompanying most of the major highlights, though, and a few good stories as well. Our tour guide was an American student who'd come over here a few times and was now doing her grad work here. I am so jealous.
After the walking tour (so, around 3 PM) we ran over to the box office, bought tickets for the Blue Man Group Berlin Show, then ran off to the Bauhaus Archive. It's just me and Tiff at this point, by the way. The rest of the group moves too slow, and they didn't have to see the archive anyway.
Not that we saw any more than the lobby. They were closing, and thus not real interested in visiters. It was a really neat lobby, though.
We had enough time left to hurry to the room, change clothes, and go to the Blue Man Group show.
If you haven't gone to the BMG shows in Chicago, NYC, Vegas, or San. Fran., go. It was the most overwhelming sensory experience I can remember in recent memory. If you're unfamiliar with BMG, it goes something like this: three enigmatic bald and blue characters who take the audience through a multi-sensory experience that combines theatre, percussive music, art, science and vaudeville into a form of entertainment that is like nothing else. They discover food, music, science, love, joy, interaction, art, everything along with the audience. I'm doing it a terrible injustice, you just have to see the show. By the end of it everyone's revelling in the atmosphere, completely immersed in the show. Sample a little of it at www.blueman.com, but don't write it off there. See this show!
After the show we climbed the Reichstag dome. This is the same Reichstag that burned in the days of Hitler and sat desolate for the cold war years, by the way. In 1999 it became the home of Germany's government once more (a council of over 600 representatives, by the way), and they build this gigantic glass dome to celebrate it. In my pictures you can see a mirrored funnel down the middle of it. This lights the Bundestag, the council, with natural sunlight. it also lets out all the hot air through a hole in the top of the dome.
The view was great. We saw all the lights of the city. I discovered that my vertigo has gotten worse, or maybe it just doesn't like walking around open glass and steel. I made it, though, and genuinely enjoyed the view. I just had to take very small steps to do it.

Through the Looking Glass

I leave for Berlin in just a little over 30 minutes, and I'm actually packed on time! This whole "living out of a backpack" ordeal is getting to be less of an ordeal and more of a normal thing. I'm going to be gone until late Sunday, though, so you won't get any more posts until next week.
By the way, my personal Deus Ex Machina bought me a laptop so ya'll can continue to enjoy my insights. Thank you Dad, Grandmom and Graddaddy Hopper! You saved my tail end this time. The old Toshiba's still got a little umph in her, but I spend more time booting it up and fighting with it than I do actually using it. Like I said, you saved my tail.
Today in Humanities we dove right into Freud's Civilization and its discontents. Tiffany and I are of like opinion on our dear Dr. Freud, but he did contribute enough to so many different facets of 20th century life that we are oblidged to at least acknowledge his influence. Still, it brought a grin to my face when Tiff responded to Freud's attack on the Golden Rule (which he deems as against man's nature and plainly counterproductive to the individual) by pointing out that for the betterment of society one must first act as the catalyst of goodwill, even if it is not personally advantageous. She didn't actually say it in class (for fear of a long drawn out discussion on the matter), but she still shared it later.
But you probably don't want to hear our opinions on the "master" of psychoanalysis, do you? This is, after all, our travel blog. And, though we are here primary as students, its through travel that we're learning the most. I have to say, though, I'm learning quite a bit here in my room as well. The German students are agast at the thought of having to pay a dime of tuition, and Sophie (our french roommate) only pays about $300 a year. This is only a sample of the long conversations that have taken place around the kitchen table for the last three nights now. Bavarian is starting to come together a little bit clearer now. It is a lot like southern english in that it takes the native language and stretches it out into different vowel sounds. It does not drawl, but it definitely reshapes. I imagine my German teachers back in the states will have quite a time with me when I look at them and say "Gross gut," or some similar Bavarian phrase.
Culture is so much more than the history we're studying in class. I feel like I spend every period soaking in why this was built, or how some group conquered another, but the transformations that have trickled down to the present from those little events is so strange to see. Tommy and Martl last night stood by the map of Europe pointing out the lines of the Second and Third Reichs, before France "expanded east" (what we would call taking back what was theirs). They talked about the Saarland, a place where French and German have mixed to create a dialect and subculture, and also a point of conflict. They joked about how many French people think Germany borders Russia and how they have all the beaches in Europe worth seeing. It's very strange, in this time of German-French friendship (as the histories call it) to see the past through this present lens. It's not the way we've been shown it in the states, which is why I'm so fascinated by it. Not that it's "right" (whatever that means for history), but it's different. A difference that is not so disturbing now as it once may have been.
Yes, not all journeys are by land. Perhaps the best really aren't.

Full House

Well, I've met everyone in my suite now. Tommy came back last night, making Vor der Grieb 1, floor 2 totally full. Tommy, Markl, Franz, Sophie, and I stayed up last night until around midnight talking to each other. Conversation was limited to most of the basic "where are you from," "what do you study," "what's your family like," at first, but as we got to know eachother we got a little livelier. Sophie, being French, had an involved discussion with Markl about the differences in Brie and Camembert (Thanks Tiff for spelling that one for me). We all switched between German and English a lot, sometimes midsentence. Sophie's English is better than her German, but her German's still a lot better than mine. She's had 7 years of it, I think she said. She and Franz also spoke in a little French, mainly b/c Franz had been to Quebec recently and supposedly absorbed a bit there.
French will always just baffle me, and occasionally make my head hurt, but it's one more language in our little multicultural pot here.
Oh, and nobody here eats peanut butter, and the thought of ruining their jelly with it made them all cringe.
I was supposed to be finishing up my Art journal yesterday so I could turn it into class today. With all that excitement, it didn't happen. I'll get it done by one.

"Oh, you said FRANKREICH! I thought...uhm...nevermind."

Yeah, there's a big different in Frankreich (France) and Frankfurt. Good thing I didn't have to have that conversation with Sophie.
It does explain all the french labelled food, though.
And the name.
And the accent.
I'm such a stupid American.
Thank you Tiffany for saving me from having to have that conversation.

Old Problems, New People

I took my computer to the repair shop today. The repair guy swore a lot, shined the flashlight in a couple of places, and told me to buy a new one, that it would cost at least 100 Euro to fix.
Great.
I also have a new suitemate named Sophie. She's nice, a 20 year old German studying International Business and Communications. She speaks a little English, and I speak a little German, so we can kind of communicate. With Markl here and Franz back, this place is starting to liven up again. It's nice, except late at night.
Anyway, I have loads of homework to do. I read Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks over the weekend, purely for pleasure. It was worth it. The book's a little melodramatic, and tends toward the graphic side, but it's a powerful image of village life in the 17th century, and human nature in any time.
On the other end of the spectrum, I had to read Nietzche for class today, and am about to start Freud's Civilization and its Discontents. I think Dr. Griffin put the detestible authors side by side on purpose, but I can't prove it.
And now I have to go finish my art journal. Nothing like reflecting on that which I only partly understand.
At least it gets my mind off my poor, fried computer.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

The laptop's gotten worse, much worse. It's turning off itself more frequently now, and I'm becoming convinced that it's the chronic Toshiba problem I mentioned earlier. I'm going to take the paperwieght down to the repair shop where one guy told me they could help me and the other told me they couldn't and hope for the best. Barring that, I'm going to start looking into more drastic alternatives. If you don't hear from me here before wednesday, assume the worst.
I hear Mt. St. Helens is getting ready to blow again. Apt timing for my laptop to blow, too, isn't it? I wonder what will happen next?

Thurm & Taxis Palace and Mine

ok, I'm still behind, but I think I'm just going to condense things for you. I have a convenient avenue for doing so. You'll probably know it when you see it.
On Monday we toured a jewel of Regensburg, the Thurm und Taxis Palace. The Thurm und Taxis family is really just one family that changed thier names too often. Thurm is translated from the Italian word for turret, which was also the old house symbol and Taxis is kind of a round-about way of saying mountain-dweller (connected to the Italian word Tasso), as best I can tell. For whatever reason, the Taxis symbol is a badger. Yes, the small, stubborn animal you're imagining. The Thurm family had been fighting for possession of Milan since the 13th century, with varying degrees of success, and apparently part of them retired to the mountains after a while. A couple of hundred years later, in the 15th century, that family (called Taxis) helped out with the newly formed post and was raised to nobility. They weren't recognized by a lot of the older blood, though, and so they hired a geneologist to prove their worthy status. He found the Thurn family in thier past, and they were so thrilled by it they stuck the name on first. The post continued to flourish, a brewery was started, and several Imperial offices were held. Hence, the Thurn und Taxis family grew in wealth and prestige as the princly family of Regensburg.
Their palace not only houses the Thurn und Taxis family, but also a rather nice monastary. Actually, the monastary was there first. It dates back to the 12th Century, but the palace expanded into and around it. There's a free meal there for the poor, making the monastary a place where the poor and rich really can come together, like the church is so often not. The palace itself is beautiful. Like I said earlier, it's physically larger than Buckingham Palace, but favors such large rooms that it contains 100 less total than the famed Buckingham. The family has a private chapel, many many guestrooms, historical rooms, meeting rooms, a ballroom, and rooms whose purposes I can't even imagine. Over the course of an hour we saw 18 of these rooms, including (roughly in the order of the photos)the greeting hall, several historic meeting rooms, the ball room, the private chapel, the monastary, and the private crypt. The Thurm und Taxis family is still very active today. The Princess Gloria is actively involved in the government, has written several books, and of course does many courtly duties still retained as local tradition. Her three daughters are off in college (being roughly between the ages of 20 and 26), and her son is currently serving his required military service time.
Today I toured a mine once owned by the Thurm und Taxis family. This mine's name is a bit of a mouthful: "Das Historische Schmucksteinbergwerk Silberschacht am Kittenrain in Bach bei Regensburg," which translates to "the historic silvermine at Kittenrain (presumably the name of the mountain) in Bach (the town) near Regensburg. In 1494 the T&T family mined for silver and came across marble, which they quickly used. They milked it dry after a while. In WWII people hid from air raids in it, and from 1960 until 1994 it was mined for Floride. After that they turned it into it's current status as a museum (museum page, in German). They didn't speak English on the tour, but Tiff and I pieced together the German pretty well. Our tour guide, who somewhat resembled Dominic Deegan, had his hand full with the pack of kids ranging from age 8 to 12. There were only about 7 of them, but it seemed like 30. Once he told them they could find floride crystals on the floor, they spent the rest of the tour hunting them. Still, it was neat and he was nice, and the student discount made it only 2 Euro 50 each. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon.
Tomorrow I have quite a bit of homework to do, so I'll probably spend my day cooped up here. I'll spare you the details of last tuesday's trip to the collections of the various churches here. Suffice to say that Regensburg has two pieces of the "true cross." If you're unfamiliar with the true cross craze here, one witty writer once wrote that there was enough of it in Europe to build a sizeable ship. I don't think he's far off, but I think our art teacher does. She's making class interesting, but it's not the breeze I had thought it would be. That's probably a good thing, though, because I'm learning to tell the difference between Baroque (which I think I just mispelled) and Gothic and Romanesque. I imagine that'll come in handy some day, if for nothing else than intelligent conversation.
I'm going to go collect the various clothes that have been gypsy-drying all over the room, then I'm going to sleep. I hope you enjoyed the rather lengthy post!