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The Luxor Obelisk is an Egyptian pointy piece of stone that sits in the Place de Concorde in Paris, France. It actually belongs to the entryway of a temple in Egypt and its partner is still there. This odd shaped sore thumb was built in the 1200′s BC and there are even hieroglyphs covering the four sides of the obelisk that are “worshipping” the King Ramses the 2nd. I think that was my favorite part, seeing how something that looks so different can be used as an early form of the alphabet that I use in everyday life. The gold you are seeing at the bottom is a mention about King Louis Philippe the 1st, who was reigning when it came over to France from Egypt after Muhammed Ali, the governor of Egypt offered them to France. I would like to study more about the hieroglyphs and what they stand for specifically. 

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The Milan Cathedral, or Duomo, started construction in 1386 in the middle of the town’s center, Piazza del Duomo. It took over 500 years to finish construction in 1965. It is Italy's largest cathedral and you see how huge it looks behind me even though it is pretty far away still! What I find to be the craziest is that there are 3,400 statues on the cathedral and over 100 of those are gargoyles! What a big statement this place is to Christians who live around it or who get to see it like I did. I am glad we stopped by for the day to be able to see it because it really is amazing that a church can take up an entire city block! It claims to hold one of the nails used in Jesus’ crucifixion up in a little wooden basket and it only comes down once a year around September 14th to mark the day of Exaltation of the Holy Cross. It is hard to believe they actually have the real thing but I can’t imagine being able to see it believing that it really was one of the nails that had been in the body of Jesus. 

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These are the Hallstatt Salt Mines: Salzwelten. While we were in Salzburg for the week, we took a tour of the salt mines and learned pretty cool things about them so I thought it would be cool to do some more research on them and tell you about it. In 1719, the mines we toured were started but this mountain and its salt have been known to be used as far back as 5000 BC. They found a deer antler made into something similar to an ax, an adze, that was most likely used around that time of 5000 BC. Of course, the salt itself was formed when the earth’s tectonic plates split apart and became the different continents which caused the salt plains by the ocean to be pushed and moved around and formed into a mountain with salt stuck in the middle. Salt has been a key ingredient in life in many different ways, one of the bigger ones being preservation. When refrigerators were not a thing, salt was used to keep things from spoiling or wasting away such as meat, cheese, and fish. Because of this, in 1734, the Man in Salt was found. When he was found, his body was believed to have been preserved for over 2000 years, so much so that you could still see his skin and hair. Something else that was found dating back to 1343 BC that shows how important this place and its contents were: the oldest fully preserved staircase in all of Europe, completely wooden and functional. Now, a copy of how they were discovered is in a large cave that we got to visit on the tour. Salt is still important to us today for many reasons and our food sure wouldn't taste as good without it. I really enjoyed the salt mine tour and learned a lot from it, I am so glad we did it. I especially liked the surprise “train” ride out of the mines, similar to what we are sitting on in the first picture of the group.

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The Winged Victory of Samothrace is estimated to have been created around 190 BC. Many people have attempted to truly figure out the year of the statue’s creation but it is difficult to determine. Victory is the Roman equivalent to the Greek goddess Nike in which her name means victory. She is a majestic woman known for speed and victory as well as strength. Her wings are her biggest identifier which is why we know this statue is of her. Victory is standing on the prow of a boat pushing against the wind. It is believed that this statue was built to commemorate a victory within the navy, possibly the Battle of Myonnisos. The statue itself is beautiful even after the fact that her arms and head are missing; it depicts a strong feminine woman standing strong against the wind, proud on the front of a ship ready to fight. She was discovered in 1863 on the Island on Samothrace in Northern Aegean Sea by Charles Champoiseau, hence the name. Ever since then she has been held in the Louvre at the top of the Daru staircase. Nobody knows who created this sculpture but she has influenced so many other sculptors since being discovered. This statue has been the inspiration for memorials, Fifa trophies and even poems against Nazism. She has been relevant as long as people have known about her. I was excited to see her and know what she truly looked like, she is strong and graceful and a good example for us women these days.

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Pietà: This is a statue of Jesus in Mary’s arms after he was crucified on the cross. Michelangelo started carving in in 1498 and finished within the next two years, and it now sits in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. When Michelangelo was carving, he made Mary’s body bigger than the body of Christ’s which doesn’t make sense seeing that Jesus was a 33-year-old man when he was crucified and Mary was an older woman at that point in time, this was assumed that her size meant to suggest her maternal “power.” She is also portrayed as a young, youthful woman: the reason for this dissimilar comparisons might be because Michelangelo was trying to portray Mary’s pure, innocent character. This sculpture has been through a lot since it was built and has even taken a trip to New York, but it is now in its original home with a sheet of bulletproof glass to protect it. It stands as a symbol of true sacrifice and dignity. Pilgrims from around the world come to see it and the place it lives. I treat makes you think about the sacrifice not only Jesus gave, but what Mary went through watching her son die a slow agonizing death.

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These are from Aachen, Germany. This is the first place we went for a group day trip. The three of us found this cute cafe with tables out front while wandering around the streets and had to take a picture with it. In the other photo is our whole group that is studying abroad in front of Charlemagne’s Cathedral!