Starting our day! It's going to be a hot one - 90 deg F...
In one of the main squares, there was a market and bands playing, people eating - good times!
This place has been around for a LONG time. 8th century - think about that! The Black Death was still 500-600 years away. Siege of Constantinople. Charlemagne was not yet Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
Sometimes, I like to imagine what these people looked like without the fancy vestments, funny hats, and Sceptres of Moral Superiority. Like a t-shirt, just reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee. Not so scary now, is he?
I love the ceiling style, I think it's Gothic? Regardless, I thought the cement columns looked out of place, but it could just be that their plaster facades have just worn away?
There it is again! The all-seeing Eye of Providence. "Don't worry kids! I'm looking down on you, and will surely never punish you with an eternity in hellfire if you do/think anything I disapprove of. Oh, also - I love you!"
These were panels in the floor - I'd be lying (and you wouldn't believe me anyway) if I told you I wasn't just dying to lift one of those to take a peek.
A more complete picture
This is the exterior of the Stiftskeller St. Peter, in Salzburg. It is claimed to be the oldest restaurant in Europe (the world?). Open since 803, it's said to have served Charlemagne, Columbus (600 years later), Mozart (another 300+ years later), and Faust. I find this exceedingly cool.
A view from the inside.
A collection of tombstones - notice the Eye of Providence in the upper-right? :D
This poor man and his family - it appears he's about to be made into soup. Zoom in on this one - I'm not sure if this is a redemption story with him praying and receiving forgiveness from the angel above (wish I knew what that latin banner said!). But that fire's roaring, and the flying baby-heads are hungry.
That guy has amazing balance - he hasn't moved the entire hour I watched him.
Maya and me playing a little chess in another town square. She did really well! There was a fair amount of good-hearted banter/kibbitzing from some teens from Australia. Pretty fun!
Nice place!
I like this form of iconography
Look at what's going on here - Kingly-type surrounded by red, distant/resolute facial affect, not looking the victim in the eye. Victim is freakishly proportioned, kneeling for mercy (that is about to be granted in the form of a quick trip to see St. Peter, IYKWIM), features exaggerated and de-humanized, has boils everywhere, etc. I'm sure there are other messages in here that would make a ton of sense to people "back in the day", but this seems to me to be a "doing god's work" sort of message.
The expression on that kid is universal. Plus - more skulls with wings!
Thought this was interesting, saw a non-priest taking samples and doing some distinctly non-faith-based testing on the font of holy water. Readers may recall that there was a pretty serious epidemic of sickness a few years ago because it turns out that people don't wash their hands enough. That tends to concentrate nasties in the holy water for a convenient infection vector!
Found a nice place for lunch!
And some nice company!
We happened upon a world cup qualifier for young-adults in technical riding. So cool to watch! They could track-stand for days.
After seeing a bunch of literal kids do things on a mountain bike that I could only ever dream of, we did a quick tour of a musical history museum (we like obscure museums - the clock museum in Vienna is also excellent).
I think this is a combination zither and piano, but I couldn't get this classic Venn diagram out of my head for the "keytar" (keyboard guitar)
Don't know why the circles are cut off, but you can clearly see that everything about this Venn diagram is awesome and correct. Sidenote - my bet is that if beavers could choose guitar or bass, they'd choose bass.
This is Archbishop Wolf Dietrich - he was a total player, kind of a badass as well (how could you not be with that name?) He was in charge of one of the richest regions in history (salt was worth the same as gold, and here they were just drowning in it). Unfortunately, he picked a fight with some unfriendly Bavarians about the price of salt. Looks like their BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement) was "capture the cocky dude with a cool name and hold him in a tower until he dies" (which is precisely what they did). Oopsie.
The above story about Wolf Dietrich got me thinking - how much and how little have people changed with relation to power and the various levers used to impose it? I found his story surprisingly "modern" in that he was so completely out there that he not only had a mistress, but built Mirabell Palace and Gardens for her! And his hubris re: the salt prices was ultimately what ended him. I don't know whether to laugh or cry sometimes, so I'll try to laugh, thinking how ridiculous it is!
Executioner's sword - blunted tip, but heavy two-handed blade. I.e., not meant for poking someone to death.
Can you imagine giving birth to triska-dodeca-tuplets? Their similarities are uncanny!
The Flood - (the right-hand-side pic is after the flood and everyone's dead - didn't mean to spoil it if you haven't read The Book, this part is near the start). This is the part where god basically says "I thought I loved you, but it turns out we need a re-do, so I'm going to kill every living creature that doesn't make it on the boat. But don't worry, I'm about to invent the rainbow!" Never mind that much of this is lifted directly from the Epic of Gilgamesh, vastly pre-dating the OT by over 1,000 years. You know what they say about the "sincerest form of flattery"
Leg locks - it was hard to make out, but it looks like ashi garami. If standing dude looses his footing, he's going to be on crutches for 4-6, minimum.
Dude on left is about to lose - back on his heels, doing jazz-hands. Plus, they're both naked, so as far as I'm concerned, they've both lost by going against one of the truisms of the Universe - "no one wants to wrestle the naked guy"
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