Being a very imaginative person, I was looking forward to observing the labyrinth at the Landeskrankhaus Salzburg and making up in my mind a huge structure made of green hedges. I was very excited for the expedition to that labyrinth after looking at it on the map. On the map it looked very large compared to the other objects, so it made me think that the structure would be so huge in reality that it wouldn't be very hard to get lost there. It actually reminded me of those labyrinths in the gardens of Peterhof where dozens of squared meters are organized in to large labyrinths with tall green wall around them.
When we arrived at the labyrinth near the hospital, my perspective of the terrain there was changed completely. To be honest, it was a little bit disappointing because instead of the tall hedge walls, there was just a brick path on the ground in the shape of the labyrinth. From the side it didn't even look like it was on the map, where it was shown form the top. At the first glance, I was surprised because the whole image was not expected. However, then I realized that it was a sign. We were “walking” around that idea of a labyrinth, almost getting closer to he realization and understanding of the surround environment, but found out the truth only when we looked at the structure with our own eyes. Nobody expected something like we saw to appear at our expedition destination.
At our destination, I realized that things on the map don’s always represent the reality. There is a relationship between the map and the real world, however it is not always accurate. The map shows the shape of the objects but the scale is not as precise, which makes it hard to actually imagine the true object. This happens, most likely, because of the techniques that geographers use to transfer the “real word” to a map, or a picture on a flat surface. A labyrinth is a kind of a map that organizes space, but not in a way that we might think about it. First of all, the labyrinth is a map because it is a real structure on the surface of the Earth that was transferred to a flat surface. Secondly, it organizes space in a way that it is not a random structure but a thought-out construction that was created by someone for a certain purpose. I feel like this labyrinth at the Landeskrankhaus Salzburg is a representation of the world compared to a map or a picture. The same happens when the continents or any other features on the Earth’s surface are transferred to the flat surface, which charges the perspective of people about the environment they live in. Maps are very helpful when studying a particular area on the planet; however, to get the more accurate and precise view of a feature, it is the best not only to look at the picture but also observe it with your own eyes.
