Tiny Planet

I can't believe that I JUST found this photo app! It turns your photographs into either tiny planets or rabbit holes and is pretty cool! You have to take a panorama shot and the edges of your picture should be on the same plane for it to work well. Here are some of my tries. The first one is one from two years ago in Innsbruck, Austria when I was teaching there over the summer and the second one is from this past Fall's UNO Space Day. (I need to finish writing that blog post!) Since I'm headed to San Francisco, I expect I'll be trying it out some more over there!

Bell, Bells, Beautiful Bells! - The Grassmayr Bell Foundry in Innsbruck

I woke up this morning to the glorious sound of church bells ringing all over Innsbruck! All of the Alt Stadt (Old Town) churches and the Dom St. Jakob (the cathedral) were ringing wildly, announcing morning mass. As I sat in the cool breeze, pondering whether or not I should actually venture to get up, I breathed in the sounds of the bells and wondered about their stories and about bell ringing in general.

Dom St. Jakob, Innsbruck July 2013

Here in Innsbruck lies the Grassmayr Bell Foundry where, since 1599, bells of all shapes and sizes have been cast and sold. In the beginning of my time here, I visited the foundry.
 

Moved by the unending desire to create a ‘Stradivarius among bells’ ….

(© Peter and Johannes GRASSMAYR)



Grassmayr Bell Foundry, Innsbruck  July 2013



The largest bell in Austria is the New Pummerin at 44,380 lbs. It is the “third largest swinging bell in Europe after the 23,500 kg (51,810 lb) Peter in Cologne Cathedral and the 22,700 kg Maria Dolens in Rovereto, Italy” (Wiki). This Rovereto Campana della Pace is located on the top of a small mountain and tolls every evening 100 times for the fallen in all wars. I hiked up to his bell in 2010. In Austria, you hear bells at several times during each day, chiming the hour or announcing a mass or another event. Every Friday, bells ring at 3:00 p.m. to remember Christ's suffering and death on the cross.

Campana della Pace, the great Maria dolens bell of peace in Rovereto, Italy (2010)

The largest bell from the Grassmayr foundry weighs 10 tons. Every evening at 5:00 p.m. in Telfs/Mösern in North Tyrol, this Peace Bell Friedensglocke  sounds for peace in the Alps.

 

The oldest bell in Austria was cast in 1200 and is from St. Martin am Ybbsfeld. Three hundred years later, Bartime Grassmayr , a bronze worker, set about on his travels tin Tirol to practice his skills and ended up in the art of bell-making. As Bach's musical inscriptions began with Solo Dei Gloria, so did Bartime's journals of his travels. The Grassmayr family has since worked together for over 400 years to stabilize their family company throughout historical events.

Molten metal is poured. Grassmayr Bell Foundry, Innsbruck July 2013

Today, it is Peter and Johannes Grassmayr who continue the family's tradition locally. Their craftsmanship team consists of sculptors, casters, musicians, metalworkers, carpenters and electricians. In at least 100 countries, their bells can be heard and they still have a lively and international business going on today. In addition to taking commissions and casting new bells, they have developed materials that go along with manufacturing bells, ringing systems, and bell upkeep. The company is also widely known for historic bell restoration.

Grassmayr Bell Foundry, Innsbruck
A craftsman works to carve the outside of a new bell, July 2013

The foundry takes special care to tune their bells and if they are more than 1/16 of a half step “off”, the bell must be cracked and they must start all over. How frustrating! Bells sit at least a month in a cast before being removed to test. The last steps include the decoration of the outside of the bell. Grassmayr bells have a unique ribbed design and are capable of producing many notes. The tones last a VERY long time as well. They continue to make all kinds of bells, including church bells (inside and out), bowl bells, cowbells, and long-sounding orchestral bells. The foundry keeps its exact process secret, although it includes mixing horse manure and clay and molasses! The specifications of a new bell’s shape, desired tone, and size are cut into an outline, then modeled in this clay mixture over a brick foundation.

Metal is poured into this device which holds the shape of the new bell as it is formed, keeping its curve
perfectly aligned. Grassmayr Bell Foundry, Innsbruck July 2013

Bells are each christened and blessed. I had heard of that for a ship’s bells, but not in general. They are “exorcised, washed with holy water, anointed with the holy oil of the sick (outside) and chrism (inside) and given a name.” - http://romanmiscellany.blogspot.co.at/2007/05/baptism-of-bells.html

Small bell yard at Grassmayr Bell Foundry, Innsbruck July 2013

The Grassmayr foundry also has an adjoining Bell Museum, managed by Christof Grassmayr. He is a war veteran who endured a ten-year prohibition of bell-ringing of any kind. There is a fascinating article by John Werfring about this silent time and bell cemeteries.

http://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/kultur/museum/462085_Die-triste-Zeit-der-Glockenfriedhoefe.html

The shop of the Grassmayr Bell Foundry, Innsbruck July 2013

More About Bells and Bell-ringing?
- Campanology
- Bell Casting / Bellfounding
- Change Ringing
- List of Heaviest Bells



Innsbruck

Innsbruck, Austria - a gorgeous city surrounded by snow-capped Alps, the capital of the state of Tyrol, a superb cultural center! The Inn river flowing throughout the center of the city provides the most awesome breezes and scenes in addition to relaxing settings. I LOVE IT!


Innsbruck was inhabited by the time of the early Stone Age and populated continuously since pre-Roman times. It's on the earliest and easiest route through the Alps which today is known as the Brenner Pass. It's pretty safe to assume that the Brenner Pass is one of the most breathtaking scenic train rides on our planet! In fact, I'd venture to say that it's pretty dang hard to take a bad picture here. You'd have to really work at it! :-)

Emperor Maximilian the 1st lived in Innsbruck in the end of the1400's. I'm not a history buff, AT ALL, but I like that because he surrounded himself with scholars and artists and therefore the city has become a lasting cultural center filled with art, architecture, and musical tradition! There is an Alten musick (early music) series, a Promenadenkonzerte (main palace square and promenade concert) series, a Tanzsommer festival, an organ master concert series, several festivals (including a New Orleans Festival that begins tonight!) and so much more! Schloss Ambras (castle Ambras) was built by Ferdinand II the archduke of Austria and that is where the early music series is held.

To the right is the beautiful and somewhat curious Goldenes Dachl (Golden Roof). Built in 1500 by Maximilian I, it's decorated with 2657 fire-gilded copper-plated tiles. Now, it's a landmark where people get married!


Aside from the historical notes, a cool thing about Innsbruck is the lovely Inn river itself! The color is unusual and I have not seen any rivers or lakes this color except for here (see below).

What I've learned is that the color is due to glacial flouring (or rock flouring). That is when fine, fiiiiiiiiiiine particles of rocks are coming from glacial erosion and the grinding of bedrock. These particulates get into the water and end up being suspended, unable to settle into sedimentary layers right away. Sometimes, the water appears cloudy (glacial milk) and sometimes it's very clear, but turquoise, blue-green, or light green! ROCKS ARE COOL!  Another interesting tidbit our tour guide mentioned (few weeks ago) is that there are different flowers on either bank of the Inn river due to the northern and southern Alps differing in material. To the north, they are composed of limestone and to the south, they are mostly granite based.

Here is a link to my Facebook album of Innsbruck pictures - so far!
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100341925929517.1073741827.2613080&type=1&l=e1f0b32cfe

I am teaching for the UNO - University of New Orleans Innsbruck Program, a stellar program in its 39th year with tons of class offerings, students from several universities, and a reputation for excellence! We partner with UGA in the program and faculty are from both UNO, UGA, and can be from other universities as well! It is one of our several fantastic opportunities for students and faculty to explore the world!

VSG Experimental Eating and Eating While Abroad

Hello Everybody! :-)
I am writing from Innsbruck, Austria where I've just had a nice weekend after having finished teaching one week in the University of New Orleans Innsbruck program! I'll be here another five weeks!
I will write more about Innsbruck soon and add lots of pictures, but I wanted to give an update concerning my living with VSG while abroad! I must say here that I've been on solid foods now for a little over three weeks. I consider myself one of the VERY LUCKY VSGers because I really have not had any huge problems with any foods! I have also NOT thrown up anything!

The foods that have been the hardest include:
- Chicken (nuggets were fine...I assume because they're processed and softer?)
- Salad with sunflower seeds and chicken and broccoli. That's a lot of hard stuff to digest.

What?! Only two items?
Yep. That's about it.......so far!

I'm feeling pretty awesome about that because having read that some people could not ever have rice, pasta, or beef again or that it was a hard experience for them made me a little worried. I admit, I have been somewhat conservative about amounts that I am eating and also I chew it until I can chew no more. I'm sure that helps some.

Experiments

Ok, I admit this too.....while driving 10 hours to Columbia, SC one week and while driving 12 to Charleston the next week, I decided that I wanted to experiment with some foods just to see what would happen and what they would taste like.......

So, my first week on solid foods, I tried the following:

- a BK burger with bacon, no bun
- a soft serve ice cream cone
- bread with butter
- orange juice
- spinach
- baked fish with rice and broccoli
- grilled chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-A

Conclusions: The burger was AWFUL. I could only eat half of it anyway. I'd found the amounts of protein online. The initial taste of the bacony burger goodness was all but destroyed by my having to chew it so dang much. I had a wonderful realization that I DIDN'T WANT IT anymore, woohoo! That was accompanied by the "what the hell do we put in our mouths?!" gasp. I tried one spoon full of rice, no issues. Same for everything else. I THINK the ice cream might have given me an upset stomach and I couldn't finish the cone anyway.

The following week, I tried:

- pizza from Andonlini's (*hey, no judging....it's the BEST)
- grits
- yoghurt with actual fruit pieces in it
- whoppers
- iced tea
- a Taco Bell taco

Now, I can hear some of you saying "OH, I get it, THIS is how she got fat in the first place....by eating crap like this" and you would be WRONG-O (that's more than just wrong).
Think what you like....as I said, these were experiments. I was going through a phase that included the following feelings, however jumbled up:

- YAY!  I can eat again! (+ I want everything)
- Oh gosh, will I ever be able to eat __________ again?
- Can I still have some things that are "bad" for me in moderation?

So, the pizza was AWESOME and I ate exactly half a slice, mostly toppings, before I was stuffed. Grits were fine and I ate about four spoonfuls. The whoppers were cool and I had five of them. Iced tea - I'm from the south so OF COURSE THAT WAS GOOD.
The taco was THE most wonderful thing I had tried so far. Why? Well, I pulled off a tiny bit of the shell and pulled out a couple of lettuce pieces, but other than that - I ATE THE WHOLE THING and that alone made me feel awesome. The rest was that it was super terrific to CRUNCH and the shell was good for that :-)

DRINKS

Ok, here is where some of us differ - not only in opinion, but in attitude. These drinks listed here are not always on VSGers' lists after surgery and for good reason: calories! Part of me just wanted to test it out to see what would happen because you read and hear so much about what people go through.

I have tried the following drinks and had NO PROBLEMS

- orange juice......If I drink too much of this, I burp the juice and that's when I know to STOP
- iced tea.....with and without sugar. I definitely like sugarfree better, as usual
- Coke on the transatlantic flight with lots of ice.....was ok, but I only took a few sips the size of which was the equivalent of sticking my tongue in (I was fearful it would go badly)
- apple juice......fine
- Wine
-Coke here in Innsbruck, no ice, just chilled. Absolutely fine

EATING WHILE IN AUSTRIA

This has been way more difficult that I previously thought so I am extra glad that I brought some items with me such as protein bars, Crystal Lite mixes, tea, Equal, granola bars, and some mini cans of soup. Yes, it made my suitcase heavy, but I am on a rather severe budget here at the moment and the food is rather expensive.
The Innsbruck program gives us a marvelous lunch every day and after the first faculty lunch together, I asked for a container to bring home leftovers and the restaurant was happy to oblige. I have since used that container several times! The first cafeteria lunch was Wiener schnitzel made of chicken (and breaded) plus French fries. So, I took a few chicken bites, tearing off the breading and then had two fries (that makes me laugh!) Since then, I've been getting goulash or spaghetti sauce over a minute amount of noodles and avoiding the other foods. They have fruits and I always get the watermelon! I also get a bottle of water with each meal.

What's the problem? Well, I know I'm not getting all my protein in and I've been too tired to think about it. I've also been too sleepy and almost running late every morning so I've been forgetting my vitamins. Ok, let me pause and actually take them NOW at 8:47 p.m. because I'm guilty again...

Ok. Whew!

So, I have only bought two meals out and I've been here nine days. That will change, but so far the food has either been free or I've been just finishing my leftovers :-)

That's about it! I will do some Innsbruck and travel posts pretty soon. Good luck to everyone out there and for those of you who have emailed, please continue to ask me questions! I'm here if you need me :-)

***** UPDATE***** I completely forgot to mention that I did not bring my scale to Austria and the Nurse's office for the Innsbruck Program does not have a scale. They recommended that I buy one, but I'm too cheap.......and so I have no idea whether or not I'm still losing, if I'm maintaining....or the unthinkable!