Bike ride along the Donau river

Right after checking out Stiftmelk the study abroad group went on a 30 km bike ride along the Donau river.  It was a lovely ride.  It was all flat except for a few hills at the end.  The trail took us through some little villages and a bunch of vineyards. 

Day trip on Sept 18th to Melk

Stiftmelk is a Catholic Monastery outside Vienna near the little town of Melk.  As if the baroque architecture and many gardens weren't pretty enough, the view looks out over Melk and rolling green hills.  It was gorgeous!  There are currently 30 monks and about 200 teenage students here.  

The abbey is that red-tiled and bluish-green roofed building on the top right.

The first courtyard was breathtaking.

The tour of its history was particularly interesting.  The tour led us through several rooms remodeled by a modern artist.  Each room represented a different scene of the abbey's history.  It was odd to see the modern style in stark contrast to the old architecture.

The blue hue here represents the beginning.  On the wall reads a single word: listen.

The green hue represents its subsequent growth.  We're looking at a box with the stories of Jesus Christ carved on the sides.  Can you find me in the pic? 

My favorite couple rooms were these next two, because they showed the difference from the medieval ages to the wealthy and prosperous baroque age.

Baroque architecture is known for its elaborate gold statues.  The mirrors in this room emphasize the grandeur of the Catholic church.  

Here the viewer's attention is directed toward the importance of the pope and saints.

And here represents the reform.  Thank you Martin Luther.  I always like these sudden contrasts.

The last room held several paintings of Christ's life.  On this side are the dark moments such as his crown of thorns.  However the viewer can walk to the other side of the room to see paintings of the uplifting moments such as his baptism. 

 

Yay Stiftmelk!  I thoroughly enjoyed.

Whoot I now have a blog.  The "whoot" is a hybrid between "woot" of excitement and "whew" of catching my breath.  From the moment I got off the airplane I've been hustling around with the group of similarly excited BYU students.

Quick overview of what I'm doing: I am one of 16 BYU students on a Vienna Study Abroad from Sept 10th to Dec 8th.  We are taking classes at the Austro-American Institute and living with host families.  We will be traveling as a group to nearby cities about every fortnight.   

So far I've noticed a bunch of little differences between the USA and Austria.  For example, the average car size is much smaller.  An average compact US car is relatively big for Austria.  And the locals aren't afraid to drive right up next to other cars.  Driving into the city, this one truck was passing our van on the right and literally came no more than two inches away from us.  Five girls in our van, five girls freaking out.  The local who was driving our van got a kick out of it.  I know everyone drives like this from time to time.  But honestly it's worse than California over here.  Another difference is their lack of lampposts.  Most streetlights are suspended by wires between the buildings.  Someone was saying this is normal for every big city.  That is yet to be determined.  I've never seen lights like this, or at least not this frequently.  Also it's brilliant to see the Gothic and Barock architecture everywhere.  Whether looking at a church, museum, city hall, bookstore, or clothing store, the viewer will inevitably see intricately sculpted designs.  The only exception I've seen are the few modern-style buildings and the Jewish district.  

After a couple days in Vienna I noticed more differences.  The toilet paper squares are longer.  Plus, bathroom stalls aren't the same.  They are more like toilet rooms instead of stalls.  This is particularly nice when more privacy is preferred.  However I foresee a disadvantage when the toilet paper runs empty (the poor soul who recognizes it too late!).  The walls in most buildings are much taller than I'm used to seeing.  My bedroom ceiling, for instance, is at least 15 ft high.  My bedroom door is probably 7 ft tall.  And although there's not much of a view, my window is about 8 ft tall and 4 ft wide.  I really like the place I'm living.