"Death & Tourists" or "Rest in Pieces"

I went to the Kaisergruft, the tomb of Franz Josef and a few other Kaisers and Kings of Vienna/Austria. Down in the cript, there are about 30~40 coffins and tombs. Some with angels and crowns carved on them, others with skulls (a strange choice for a coffin..) but all were very elaborate. Many were impressive, but you can’t help but get creeped out thinking you are 20ft underground surrounded by dead people. It was crazy to imagine that you have a dead body, nearly 400 years old, just lying in a stone box a few feet away. Especially a really famous dead body… The body cant really be in there I thought.

After leaving the crypt, I asked the receptionist/ticket lady if the bodies were actually still in the coffins. “Oh yes! “She responds. “Well, the bodies are. The insides are somewhere else.” She continued nonchalantly. “Somewhere else??” You mean they took out all the inside stuff” I asked, gesturing to my stomach to make sure I wasn’t misunderstanding. “Yes, yes, the hearts are at St. Augustine’s chapel. And the rest, well the other entrails are over in the church around the corner.” Me: “Oh, so they burn the insides and keep the ashes in the churches.” Lady: “ No, no ashes.” Me: “ So their hearts are somewhere in a jar or something over in that church??” “Yes, right over there” She smiles…

How creepy. This is what kings, monarchs, and pharaohs spend so much money and effort to be remembered for? This is what these grandiose burials buy you? Your heart and insides torn from your body and kept in churches while your tombs are kept in rooms for tourists to walk around and scrutinize?? Or pharaohs, you are pulled out of your pyramid, pillaged, and moved from museum to museum around the world for people to ‘admire’ for a few minutes before they go to the next exhibit or to McDonalds???
No thank you, I’ll spend my money on traveling while I’m alive to enjoy it and take a normal burial.