Week 8

We split off into smaller groups after the tour for lunch before we reconvened for a tour of Michaelerkirche and the catacombs. The church is right next to Hofburg Palace and there were a bunch of cafés all around that area. A small group of us went to a café that was located in part of the palace. We had about 3 hours to kill before we needed to be at the church but we were all so cold that we stayed in the café for about 2 hours trying to warm ourselves up. It started to snow as we were getting ready to leave which provided a great atmosphere to take pictures. We played in the snow for a long time and took a ton of pictures. It was time to meet at the church but since we are such a big group, we had to split into two groups. The first group went into the church for the tour while the rest of us waited outside. I was once again freezing but it had at least stopped snowing. After what felt like an hour the first group emerged from the church and my group headed inside. There was no relief from the cold inside but it did feel one or two degrees warmer. My toes had frozen once again so I spent the entirety of the tour waddling like a penguin. Michaelerkirche is one of the oldest churches in Vienna and one of the few buildings that showcases the Romanesque style. Michaelerkirche is one of the oldest churches still in use in Vienna. For being so old, the inside of the church was still in good shape and is still in use today. Our tour guide took us down to the basement where the catacombs were located. It was amazing being able to see coffins and skeletons that were hundreds of years old and see how well preserved they were. On one side of the wall was a pile about 5 feet high of just femur bones. There was another pile of a mixture of different bones against the opposite wall. Knowing these bones were once a person was incredibly mind-blowing and somber. The detailing on the caskets was still visible and the artwork was done with such precision and the colors were still pretty vibrant considering how old it was. The tour guide finished showing us all the caskets and some really well preserved full skeletons and some old family crypts. We went back upstairs and saw some really old murals on the walls and then the tour ended.