betsy's totally awesome blog

The Skansen Open Air Museum was not what I was expecting at all, but it was so amazing! The park had so many different things inside, my favorite part was looking at all the Nordic animals and the old house settlements there. We went to the Finnish settlements and the women there took us into a house to teach us about the heating system there. They used to light a fire in the morning and the smoke would fill the room in a thick layer and under the roof would be sand so it would warm the sand and keep the house warm for the rest of the day. I thought it was so interesting to learn about the way people used to live here and see the native animals.  The Skansen Open Air Park is important historically because it is a great way for the public to learn about the history and culture of Sweden. I was able to learn so much about how people came to Sweden and the types of homes and farms they would build here. There were lots of different types of settlements and you could see the different ...

First abstract art post say what!!! I usually don’t write about abstract art because it stresses me out but I’m going to be brave and do it. I am writing about Henri Matisse’s series titled Jazz. In the museum, they were situated behind a humongous bed because Henri Matisse believed that the most cherished pieces of art should be kept in the bedroom. He created these in a freestyle method where he moved around each piece of paper multiple times and explored the different shapes and patterns that could be made. My favorite one was the second one on the top row because to me it looks like a woman dancing in the doorway and you can just see her shadow like the light is behind her. I’m impressed that it looks so much like a woman when he was just cutting random shapes with no plan!  I think modern art like Henri Matisse's is important because it causes us to think a lot more than other more traditional paintings. When I look at modern and abstract sculptures or paintings I have to real...

Greta Thunberg is so impressive! She was only fifteen when she first began protesting and holding school strikes for climate change, I definitely was not on that same level at fifteen! It was so cool to see the place where she first began protesting, at first I was confused because it didn’t seem to be that crowded of a place, but the further we walked I realized that it is a very popular place making it the perfect spot. I also liked our discussion on why it would be harder for Greta because of her gender to hold a protest. My favorite comment made was that society tends to not take young girls' interests seriously (I think it was Theresa who said it), I have had many experiences where a man has made fun of something I’m interested in just because I acted too passionate about it. She is very brave for acting so publicly for her beliefs.  Greta Thunberg's contribution is very important and is ongoing. She showed society that the younger generation is concerned about big topics ...

Since we only saw the last little bit of The Magic Flute, I am choosing to write about the church that my group visited in Vienna! My group went to the Augustine church and it was gothic but also mainly Neoclassical inside. I really liked going to this church, it was pretty different from the other ones we’ve gone to because it was very plain and extremely white. From the outside, I couldn’t even tell it was a church I almost walked right past it! My favorite part was probably the pyramid statue that was in honor of one of the princesses, I’m not sure which one. It looked really cool like a portal to the underground, I wanted to peek my head down there to see how far it went!  The Augustine church is important historically because it is one of the oldest and most famous churches in Vienna. There have been numerous weddings at the Augustine church for very famous people. Some people who got married there are; Franz Joseph and Elisabeth, Maria Theresa and Franz Stephan, Marie Louise ...

For my Vienna choice woman, I am choosing to write about Empress Elisabeth of Austria, who was nicknamed Sisi. First of all, we spell our names the same which is awesome! I think it is really interesting that she did not like being royal and enjoyed a more relaxed lifestyle. She would spend most of her time at their summer estate or traveling to different places. Her beauty was also very important to her. She was known for having beautiful long hair and a very small waist. She would wear her corsets extremely tight in order to show it off! I honestly find her kind of relatable, if I were an empress I would probably want to escape to my summer estate too!  Elisabeth made many contributions during her time as empress. Because of her love for the people of Hungary whenever she visited there, she began to learn Hungarian. This in turn caused the people of Hungary to love her also! Hungary and Austria then became alliances because of her and there was a dual monarchy. I think that Elisa...

Maria Theresia has been so interesting to learn about! She was the Holy Roman Emperess and the ruler of the Habsburgs empire. She also had sixteen children! I come from a big family, but I could not imagine being one of sixteen kids. I think that it is very interesting that she had so many children because we have talked about how unsafe it was for women to give birth at this time, it's amazing that she was able to have so many. Maria Theresia also pushed for medical and educational reforms and thought that everyone should be getting an education. I also find it interesting that her husband didn’t become emperor and that she co-ruled with her son! I think this is one of the only women that I’ve heard of doing that!  Maria Theresia made many contributions during her rule. One of them is that I think she helped to show that women are just as capable as men. She was a great ruler and brought a lot of unity to Austria. She also made contributions towards education and saw the importanc...

I am choosing to write about the treasury! I loved getting to see all the crowns and fancy jewels that the monarchs used to wear, along with some of their artifacts. Something that I thought was really interesting was there were these crosses with really ornate bases to hold them up, and in the base of each of them was a bone! I’m not sure what the bones were supposed to mean or where they came from but I thought that was really interesting that they were a part of the treasury, they must have been really important! I also really liked it when their gloves or shoes had gemstones on them because it just looked a little silly honestly! Especially the gloves that looked like Thanos from Avengers.  All the artifacts in the treasury are important historically because they allow us to learn more about the monarchy and what the royals were wearing and surrounding themselves with on a daily basis. Now we have these artifacts and we can use them as milestones for art and clothing to tell th...