Ephesus
The ruins in Ephesus were absolutely amazing. Walking down that marble street made christianity so much more real for me. Just thinking that Paul had actually walked there before me gave me chills. I no longer had to imagine what Paul might have seen. I saw it with my own eyes. I was also astonished at how well they ruins have been preserved. The library was so intact that I could still see the structure. And unlike many of the remains that we have seen I could actually tell what it used to look like. It is still a beautiful building, even today. I loved just imagining all that went on there before me. I can almost see the riot at the theater there. The people crowded together yelling their protests. I wish I could go back in time and be there for just a few minutes. But everything is so well preserved, that I don’t have to use my imagination too much. I loved it!
National Archaeological Museum in Athens
Of all the museums that we visited throughout Europe, I have to say that the National Archaeological Museum in Athens was probably my favorite. I loved looking at the all the ancient artifacts and learning about the very strange and different customs of the Greeks. It was all just so very interesting. Throughout the museum, one is able to actually trace the development of Grecian art from prehistoric time to the Golden Age of Greece, all the way to Roman times. My favorite piece of art was probably the death mask of Agamemnon. I have seen much more impressive works throughout Europe, but this one was extremely interesting to me. I loved learning about the different burial rituals that were used during Grecian times. I think that it is just astounding that the people of Greece could create so many magnificent pieces of art in such a primitive time. They were better artists and craftsmen than I could ever be even with all of today’s advancements.
The Roman Persecution of Christians
Reading of Nero’s many atrocities absolutely astounds me. I cannot understand how one man could be so completely evil. I am so thankful that I did not live during his reign. I can’t imagine how it would have been to be a Christian during that time. Today as Christians of the 21st Century, we have it so much easier. After reading of the persecution of these Christians I feel that I have been truly unappreciative of how blessed we are to have complete religious freedom in the States. I don’t know how I would have responded to persecution, but I can’t say that I would have kept the faith as well as the Christians of Nero’s time. I have so much respect for them. They kept true to their faith even when it was almost impossible. They laughed in the face of death, and evangelized even when they knew they might be tortured and killed for it. I wish I had that kind of faith.
The Aeneid: Book 2
The story of the Trojan horse is one that I have heard many times. I thought I knew how the story went but after reading Virgil’s version in the Aeneid I realized there were many details unknown to me. First of all, I had never heard of the Greek boy named Sinon. This is a very interesting new part of the story to me. I always wondered why the Trojans just decided to bring in the horse without first fully questioning its presence. It always seemed to me that they were quite naive and too trusting. But now knowing that there was someone there to cunningly deceive the Trojans into accepting the horse into their city, I can’t really blame them. Also, the sea snakes made for a very convincing reason to believe Sinon’s story. I understand their fear, and realize that the Trojans accepted the horse not out of foolishness, but out of a legitimate fear of the gods. I cannot truly relate to this fear, but at least now I can empathize with the Trojans rather thank thinking that they were complete fools as I did before.
Adoration of the Mystic Lamb
On Thursday, we took a day trip to Leuven and Ghent. As we walked into the Saint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent -the thousandth one we’ve seen this trip- I wasn’t really expecting anything too out of the ordinary. I knew about the “Adoration of the Mystic Lamb,” but I was just expecting another blah painting. But what I saw was so much more than that. The images in the painting were so lifelike it was scary. It looked as if the painter had taken snapshots of actual people. It was like nothing I had seen before. I think I could have stood there all day as someone talked to me about it. But not only was I impressed with the art itself, I was also very interested in learning about the history of the work. At first, I didn’t understand why so many people went out of there way to steal it, but once I saw it I understood. It really was incredible and I’m so glad that I paid the 3 Euros to go see it.
I can only remember once in my life when I was homeless and hungry. That experience just happened to be on this trip. It was also of my own stupidity. I wanted an adventure, and I got one, a very uncomfortable, stinky, tiring and cold adventure at that.
When I first walked up to the Palace at Versailles, my first impression was “Wow!” It was so impressive. Golden and massive, it looked like something straight out of a fairy tale. Not to mention the extensive gardens behind it. They were absolutely magnificent. But after I had been there for a while, the palace started to lose its grandeur. Walking from room to room, I began to tire of the grandness of it all. It was definitely splendid, but who would actually want to live somewhere like that, somewhere so cold and stiff. But then I guess it was better to live there than to be starving in the streets of Paris as most of the commoners were in the times before the French Revolution. Remembering my one night of homelessness, which was terrible, I can’t blame the people for being so upset with the royalty. They were living it up in this grand place while the commoners were just struggling to survive. As I slept in the train station that one night a few weeks ago, I was envious and mad at everyone else who was sleeping soundly in a soft bed. I was even envious of the true homeless people who had blankets.
I now truly understand the need for reformation and changes in Paris during the 1600’s. If I lived back then I think I would have wanted the royal family punished too. Maybe not killed but at least punished. Maybe they should have been forced to sleep outside and go hungry for a while. Maybe then they would have understood how selfish they truly were.
We were lost. We just wanted to go shopping on Champs-Elysee and supposedly we were on our way to the Arc de Triomphe. But as we rode the escalator towards the top of the subway station we watched as a massive white cube rose before our eyes. We were definitely in the wrong place. We stood there for maybe like half a minute just trying to figure out how we messed up. When we realized we were actually at the “Grande Arch,” which really isn’t an arch at all, we just had to laugh and take some pictures. As we walked around a bit, we came upon this huge thumb. All I could think was that I had walked into some surreal “Alice in Wonderland” world. Where could we be that there were giant boxes and thumbs jutting out of the ground? As I posed in front of the huge thumb, I felt pretty silly. I didn’t even know what this huge thing meant or symbolized, or if it did have any symbolism at all. I wondered if people actually consider the thumb art. And if so, what makes it art? What makes anything art? If we take something small and replicate it to be 1000 times bigger, does that qualify as art? If so then we can make anything, anything at all, even the most inconsequential of things, art. I think art represents the wildness of the human mind. We can think up some of the craziest things; for example, a giant thumb.
A little piece of Heaven - Shakespeare and Co.
My favorite things in the world: Traveling, and reading. It seemed as if Shakespeare and Company, the oldest English book store in Paris, was made for me. I fell in love with the quaint little place as soon as I walked through the door. With books crammed everywhere and covering the walls from floor to ceiling, I could have stayed there for days. I loved that the older used books were mixed with the new. There is no telling how many treasures are there just waiting to be found in every nook and cranny of the tiny rooms. There are books for every type of interest. I think was intrigues me the most about this place was that there was just so much knowledge contained in this one small corner of the world. Yes, I know that you can find that knowledge in any library or bookstore, but there was just something different about Shakespeare and Company. Maybe because in the midst of so much French culture there is this tiny haven of English literature. I can’t say what exactly it was that appealed to me so much about that store, but it was without a doubt my favorite part of Paris.
Last week we went to the Dachau concentration camp. All that is left there is a memorial and the Crematorium, along with chapels and a convent. As I walked around the site, I was completely overwhelmed by a deep sense of despair. I can only imagine what those poor people felt as they walked the road into Dachau. Were they still hopeful? Did they realized that they would probably die there? I would find it hard to live there in Dachau where such ghastly events took place. I find myself wondering what the locals there feel when they pass the memorial site. I would be completely ashamed for my country. I don’t know how I would deal with their situation. No wonder the Germans tried to destroy all the camps once the war was over. I guess I would have too. They had to be embarrassed. That part of their culture is something that I will be glad to leave here.
This garden in Salzburg was just spectacular. I could have sat there all day and been perfectly content. If I lived anywhere near such a beautiful place, you would always find me there. I find in strange to think that I have never seen such a quaint garden in States. It seems that here the people move much slower and are never rushed. They take their time with everything. They close their shops early and open late. Maybe one reason we don’t have places like this in the U.S. is because we don’t really have the time to go there. We are always in a hurry. We use our spare time to eat, work out or to just sleep. I know that I never go outside to just go out. As cliche as it sounds we rarely take the time “to stop and smell the roses.” A garden like this would not be put to quite as good use at home as it is here in Europe. The Europeans are lucky. They have a great mentality when it comes to just taking it easy. I wish we were more like them in that sense. But what I don’t understand is how do they ever get anything done??
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