The Underground

Hallo. :)

It's cold. Wet. Snowy. And my brain is overloaded with German!

Last Friday I went to a cultural event with my school, the Deutschakademie, to tour the "underground of Vienna." I went with a group of 20 students (most of whom were in the upper classes of German) and that was probably the largest range of cultures and people I have ever been with! At one point I was speaking with a girl from France partially in French, partially in German and then a guy from Britian translated some with his Brittish accent! Then a man from Panama and another from Iran joined the conversation-- quite interesting!!!

We first got a short history lesson of what we were going to go tour (which was mostly in German, so I really didn't understand a whole lot!) then we got to go see what we learned about!

Most of our time was spent at Michaelerkirche, one of the oldest cathedrals in Austria, dating back to 1220! It was stunning!

After touring the sanctuary, we then went underground to the crypts! Quite interesting...upon entering the basement we were notified that we were walking on layers and layers of bones and dirt! Old and ornate caskets lined the halls, some of them open revealing mummified bodies of ancient people who once walked the earth. I realized I don't think about death too often, but in being overtly confronted by it, I was intrigued by the question...."where are their spirit's now?" Such a strange thing, death is. Sobering and empowering to live with the true and real perspective in mind: eternity with God.