Albi There For You (Day 5)

Today we spent the day in Albi. We woke up super early to leave at 7:30. It was a two hour bus ride, and I have to mention the rest stop. The bathroom was literally just a hole in the ground. When we got to the town of Albi we went right to the St. Cecile Cathedral. There we were given a tour. This Cathedral was built by the Catholics in response to the Cathar way of life. The outside is very simple and the windows are very tiny. Inside, however, is completely the opposite. It is extremely decorated. It was interesting to see the choir, which was the part inside the walls in the cathedral, and its difference to the naive, which is outside the walls. It's hard to imagine going to mass where you can't see the clergy because they are inside a wall, and you have to just sit outside facing the wall. The walls of the entire cathedral were filled with many frescoes, as was the celling. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the one of the Last Judgment. We also saw the statues in the chapels on the sides of the aisles. The one of St. Cecile was especially well decorated. I also like the one of the Virgin Mary. It was interesting to see the difference between the outside and the inside. They were two extremes, and personally I prefer a medium between the two. Too much decoration can be distracting, but a little is good because it can keep me focused. Afterwards we went to the museum of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. I had never heard of him, but I really enjoyed most of it. I liked more the paintings that seemed to have an impressionistic influence over the drawings.

After the museum, we decided to get lunch. A lot of people had picnics, so those of us that didn't got food and brought it to the park with everyone else. We got food from a tai restaurant (I got noodles with vegetables) and then we stopped and got strawberries. After lunch, we just walked around the town. We looked in all the shops and just observed all the people. I went then with Courtney and Tatiana to a cafe. I tried a crepe and they found a cookie that was really good. When I asked where the bathroom was, I realized that even though I could ask the question, I couldn't understand the answer. I also realized that the hot and cold water are on opposite sides...learned that the hard way!

After that, we went to a vineyard and had a wine tasting. This was the first time I tried white

wine. It was hard to understand exactly what the process, but it was still interesting to learn about the pigeon house, where they keep the pigeons for the vineyard and to see all the barrels that they keep the wine in in the cellar. Then we got on the bus and came home. We had pasta

for dinner, and we were all very excited. Afterwards, we worked on our homework and took a break by going for a walk. It's weird that it's so calm and peaceful, and although it would be nice for things to be open longer, it's a completely different way of life than at home. We're tired but we are having an AMAZING time.