Eastern European Adventure Part V: Beautiful Churches

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” ~Ghandi

St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna might be the most breathtaking church I have ever walked into.  The huge Gothic-style church is beautiful.  It has intricate columns, a beautiful alter, a moving crucifix hanging in the center, and color-striped windows.  After seeing it, beautiful felt as though it might be an understatement.  I excitedly went back to our apartment after stepping foot into the church on a search for Mass times the next day.  I even convinced my friend to come to her first Catholic service with me because it was in the beautiful church.

What happened next left me angry.  Like smoke coming out of my ears, want to lecture someone, saying, 'this is what is wrong with Christianity' style angry.  When I was explaining to my friend some Christian beliefs and Catholic traditions quietly before service started and she asked what she should and should not do at the service, we were rudely shushed by another attendee.  I next watched two men get into a fight about who could sit at the end of the pew.  Another man rolled his eyes and acted imposed upon when a woman showed up a couple of minutes late and asked to scoot into his pew.  And then a lady stole my service program (okay, it was in German and I do not speak German, but still) without even asking, saying thank you, or giving it back when she was done.  These people sat in a house of God, one of the most beautiful in the world, and acted in such an ugly manner, so unlike the Jesus to whom they were there to pray.

It made me think of the churches that I have been to that may not be much to look at, but which the people made so much more beautiful.  A tiny Methodist church in Eastern New Mexico where we stop the service to introduce people visiting.  Soul Mate Friend's church that does not have a building, but has created a community that is like a family for her.  The plain-looking church in my college town where an elderly couple said hello to two college girls one day 9 years ago and began an amazing friendship.  The Catholic church in Albuquerque where the sweet little Irish man runs all over the chapel to wish everyone there peace with a handshake at morning Mass.  All of the small town churches that I have repeatedly watched rally around families when tragedy strikes to put together a feast fit for a king in less than a day.

These churches are doing something right. They are following Jesus' example.  They may not be Gothic style.  They may not cause people to reach for cameras, or buy postcards with their photos on them, or write blogs about their beauty.  But in my mind--and I think that in Jesus' mind as well--the people make them so much more beautiful than all of the cathedrals in Vienna.

Eastern European Adventure Part IV: Vienna, Austria

And now we are on to stop #2 of the European adventure:  Vienna!

Summary of Vienna:  Beautiful old town, Breathtaking St. Stephen's Cathedral, first latte, to-die-for asparagus ravioli.

Day 5:  May 6

So we finally boarded the overnight train in Prague at midnight.  It was not pleasant.  The three of us were in a tiny little compartment that smelled sort of like a dead rat, laying on "beds" that pretty much felt like a sheet laying over a board.  Cousin Swiss Mister had told me all of the horror stories about bad guys on planes, that I was terrified to go to the bathroom.  I finally gave up and made a run for it about 2 am.  Of course, it was fine.  All total, it was only about a 5 hour train ride, so about the time I finally got to sleep, it was time to get up.

So there are, 6 am in Vienna, with three hours to kill before we could check into our apartment.  I was tired and sore and dirty and DYING for a shower.  We found a little restaurant called Cafe Elisabeth that let us camp out and eat breakfast while we were waiting.  When we finally got to check into the apartment, I have never in my life been so grateful for a late check in and a hot shower.  Then, since sleep basically did not happen the night before, we took a little siesta.  Then it was time to get crackin'.

I think that if I had to pick my favorite day of the trip, I would pick this one.  Although you will hear later that Poland was my favorite place, Vienna held my favorite day.  Here's the scoop.  After showers and a long nap, we got up and headed to check out the sights.  We did a little strolling around the old town area, stopped in for lunch at a great restaurant, and I had my first latte.  I'm not a coffee drinker at all, but Vienna is famous for it, and ya know, when in Vienna....  I have to admit, I liked it.  I have, however, in the interest of not going broke or getting fat, limited my coffee drinking to vacations.

After that we just walked around old town and took in the sights.  It was beautiful--little shops and restaurants and amazing architecture was everywhere.

Peonies--my favorite flower.

Museum Quartier

The group shot.

St. Matthew's church

While we were out and about, we stopped in St. Stephen's Basilica.  Now if you know me, you know there is not much I like more than looking at old churches.  I have to say, this one might be the most beautiful I have seen.  When you walk in, it is literally breathtaking.  There is an amazing nave, a huge crucifix in the center, and beautiful colors everywhere.  If you go to Austria, this is a must!

 We stumbled upon the Vienna Opera House and decided to check into tickets.  We got standing room only tickets for about $3.00 and decided that we had to check it out.  We were totally not dressed for the occasion.  Cousin Swiss Mister was seriously wearing a Harley t-shirt.  Probably a first time ever.  Ha!

Harley shirt at the Vienna Opera.

Turns out, we're not very cultured.  We lasted 26 minutes before leaving.  Miss Canada leaned over and said she was hot and needed to go outside.  I asked Cousin Swiss Mister if he was ready to leave. His response?  "PLEASE!"  So we were the first ones to leave the opera.  I am sure that the workers thought we were uncouth  uncultured, morons.  Cousin Swiss Mister tried to act like we had some sort of emergency phone call to make us seem less ridiculous.  Yep.  We were those people.

On our way home, we stumbled upon a little side alley with several restaurants.  We chose Amerling Beisl because I thought it was cool that they handed the food out the window of the kitchen for service to the tables outside.  Best decision we made the whole trip.  I am here to tell you, this was probably the best food I have ever eaten in my life.  Bottle of white wine.  Fried cheese with raspberries and what they called tartar sauce but tasted like ranch dressing.  Asparagus ravioli.  Apple-rubarb dessert.      We spent hours just enjoying the perfect night, perfect food, and perfect atmosphere of Vienna.

Day 6:  May 7th

In order to try and get our bearings and see as much as we could, Miss Canada and I did the hop on/hop off bus tour of Vienna.  It was interesting, but honestly I think it was something I would probably not do if I had it to do over.  The one really interesting tidbit of info that we got was about the Vienna ferris wheel.  Apparently before WWII, all of the cities in Europe had a ferris wheel.  But during the war, most of them were dismantled by the government for scrap.  The exception was the Vienna wheel, which was purchased by a private investor right before it was to be tore down for scrap.  He saved the ferris wheel and it is now one of the oldest in Europe.  Afterwards, we went back to the places we wanted to be sure to see and photograph.

City Hall

City Hall

Apartments that are famous for the tree growing out of one of the rooms.

Ferris Wheel

Ridiculously good looking man at a coffee house.

The mother ship...

That evening, Miss Canada and I went to a prayer service at St. Stephen's.  I enjoyed it, particularly the organ music.  I have a few more thoughts about the experience and the rude people who were there coming up.  So stay tuned for that tomorrow.

We spent the rest of the day doing some shopping, at which point I learned that my foot size is "not typical" and that I do not fit into "normal" sizes in Europe.  Whatever.  I just ate some more gelato to drown out the pain.  Ha!

Day 7:  May 8th

For our final day in Vienna, we had a pretty laid back day and just did a little strolling about and latte drinking.

Parliament

Parliament

My favorite pose.

That evening, we returned to our favorite restaurant from two nights before and had my "birthday dinner."  My birthday, of course, is not for 6 more months, but since this was my 30th birthday trip, and I never say no to a birthday dinner, I went with it.

Birthday dinner.

Stay tuned tomorrow for my thoughts on the prayer service at St. Stephens and Wednesday for my Budapest recap!

Those Two Girls

“It was quite a wedding and as I stood there watching I realized something I'd forgotten a long time ago. Sometimes in life there really are bonds formed that can never be broken. Sometimes you really can find that one person who will stand by you no matter what. Maybe you will find it in a spouse and celebrate it with your dream wedding. But there's also the chance that the one person you can count on for a lifetime, the one person who knows you sometimes better than you know yourself is the same person who's been standing beside you all along.” ~  Greg DePaul

13 years ago two girls met.  One...ahem...College Roomie....ahem...thought the other was stuck up.  Obviously she was wrong.

12 years ago those two girls showed against each other, and both got beat by a piece of crap York hog. Not that I'm still bitter.

11 years ago, those two girls decided to room together at a college shrouded in orange.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Those two girls have screamed at football games and gone on road trips and cried over boys and laughed at old stories.  One (me) constantly distracted the other from studying by jumping on the bed.  There were long nights and crazy days and trips that have involved seeing the Atlantic and the Pacific and the scariest bus ride in history.  People referred to them as a collective unit, and some did not know which girl was which.  There were crazy nights at IHOP and Sunday school classes taught with hair that smelled like a bar and eating icing from a can in a car.  I taught her not to fear lighting a match and that the yellow line you see on tv during football games does not exist when you are watching a game in real life.  She taught me how to properly roast a marshmallow and how to use Facebook.

Then one left for law school and the other moved to China.  But, as fate would have it, life brought those two girls together again for the last 3 years.  Dinners and dancing to Vanilla Pop and Notorious and running amongst naked people, and a bachelorette party ensued. 

Today, those two girls will fix their hair and put on pretty dresses.  One will be short and black, the other long and white.  One will say I do, the other will give a speech.  And then, I predict there will be a lot of dancing.

Happy Wedding Day to College Roomie!  No one in the world deserves to be happy more than you!