Aachen and Monschau

We took a day trip with our director and his wife, Dr. Hughes and Sue, to Aachen and Monschau in Germany. It was only about two hours away by bus. It was a beautiful day, in the mid-60s and sunny. It was a nice continuation of the gorgeous weather we had been having in Leuven for the past two weeks, which is unusual for Belgium.

Aachen

Aachen was a cute little German town. There seemed to be a lot of tours occurring the day we went and it was pretty busy. Aachen is a spa town known for its hot sulfur springs. I got to touch the water in one of the fountains throughout the town. Although the water felt refreshing, I did not enjoy the strong sulfur smell.

Charlemagne was really big in Aachen. He lived here and built up his court and political center here. We went on a tour of the Aachen Treasury, which contained relics of Charlemagne's cranium and hand. It was a small exhibit, but the people gave us a hard time about carrying our bags and kept telling us not to talk. They were not very pleasant, so I spent maybe 10 minutes in the treasury. The attitudes of people can really affect your experience of a place. 

Relic of Charlemagne's cranium. The jewels on his crown were really bright and pretty in person. 

Afterwards we went into the Aachen Cathedral, which is the oldest cathedral in Northern Europe. It is absolutely beautiful on the inside, probably one of the prettiest cathedrals I've ever seen. 

Side view

Pretty window.
The different patterns of stained glass windows are my favorite thing to see in every church I visit.

I loved the patterns on the ceiling.

Tallest windows.
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The cathedral contains Charlemagne's remains and his throne chair, though there is no record of him actually sitting on it. The guide told us that we were not allowed to sit in the chair and then told us a funny story of having to yell at an elderly tour group. The guide was helping an old woman climb the stairs and when he brought her to the throne, he saw an old man sitting on the chair with a burger king crown on his head. It was the man's birthday and the rest of the group was cheering him on. I thought that story was pretty funny. 

Charlemagne's throne.

The cathedral also contains four important relics that are publicly displayed every seven years. I believe the next time they are displayed is in the summer of 2013. It is popular for people to make a pilgrimage here to see relics. The relics are St. Mary's cloak, Christ's swaddling clothes, St. John the Baptist's beheading cloth, and Christ's loincloth. I did not realize the extent of the popularity and importance of Aachen until coming here. I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the town and learning about the history. 

Monschau

After visiting Aachen for a couple of hours, we took a 30 minute bus ride to Monschau, another town in Germany. It was a quaint little town that would be the perfect place to go on a date. There was no itinerary here and the directors gave us two hours to relax and explore. We walked around, basking in the sung. I love the feeling of sitting in the late afternoon sun. I walked around, got cookie flavored ice cream, and just relaxed. Overall, a great day.

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