This week began early in the morning with a train ride to Vienna, Austria. While there we went to the Narrenturm, Europe’s earliest mental hospital, and learned about many early diseases and how the doctors/physicians treated them. The most interesting treatment was injecting bees wax into patients’ lungs who had tuberculosis. The wax was injected while warm and was allowed to cool inside the lungs so as to block the holes tuberculosis causes. The Narrenturm also had many skeletons of conjoined twins and rare skeletal deformations. We learned walked through St. Michael’s Crypt and experienced some of the best well-preserved mummified bodies in the world. The most surprising thing I learned while there was that the floor was originally 5 meters lower than where it is today, but when the crypt began overfilling, the bodies were buried in the floor and covered with dirt. So as we walked through the crypt, there were possibly hundreds or thousands of bodies beneath us.
Before we left Vienna we went to the Freud House for a lecture of the life and work of Sigmund Freud. I found the lecture to be incredibly interesting, especially because we were learning about all of his work in the room beneath his study. The work Freud did in psychoanalysis and the idea of "Seduction Theory" was fascinating to learn about.
Because it was a long weekend, I traveled to Rome, Italy. While there, we went to the Vatican City and went inside St. Peter's Basilica, explored the Vittoriano, marveled at the Pantheon, watched people throw coins and wish at the Trevi Fountain, and stood in awe of the Colosseum. The most amazing experience of my life occurred while at the Pantheon when myself and the rest of the group were asked if we wanted to go inside and pray (it is now used as a Catholic church). We immediately said yes and walked in to see that mass was starting. We were the last people allowed in for an entire hour. We participated in mass and questioned how we were lucky enough to walk in at the exact time mass was starting, but nobody was complaining about this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Rome is an amazing city with an abundance of history. You can walk around and see something constructed over 1000 years ago and turn a corner and see another thing built at that time. To know that the buildings surrounding you were built thousands of years before you were born is astounding and surreal. To anyone who questions traveling to Rome-do it! You won't be disappointed in the slightest.
Until Texas,
Matthew
Before we left Vienna we went to the Freud House for a lecture of the life and work of Sigmund Freud. I found the lecture to be incredibly interesting, especially because we were learning about all of his work in the room beneath his study. The work Freud did in psychoanalysis and the idea of "Seduction Theory" was fascinating to learn about.
Because it was a long weekend, I traveled to Rome, Italy. While there, we went to the Vatican City and went inside St. Peter's Basilica, explored the Vittoriano, marveled at the Pantheon, watched people throw coins and wish at the Trevi Fountain, and stood in awe of the Colosseum. The most amazing experience of my life occurred while at the Pantheon when myself and the rest of the group were asked if we wanted to go inside and pray (it is now used as a Catholic church). We immediately said yes and walked in to see that mass was starting. We were the last people allowed in for an entire hour. We participated in mass and questioned how we were lucky enough to walk in at the exact time mass was starting, but nobody was complaining about this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Rome is an amazing city with an abundance of history. You can walk around and see something constructed over 1000 years ago and turn a corner and see another thing built at that time. To know that the buildings surrounding you were built thousands of years before you were born is astounding and surreal. To anyone who questions traveling to Rome-do it! You won't be disappointed in the slightest.
Until Texas,
Matthew
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