A short excursion

Ooo, but I do love Austria! The Vienna Airport has a City Airport Train that leaves right from Terminal B and arrives at the center of the city in 16 minutes. I bought my round-trip ticket before I even left the States and had an opportunity this morning to spend a couple of hours tromping around Vienna between my connecting flights.

For us Americans, most of Europe is like stepping back in time without leaving modernity behond. Vienna is just that. It is an enchanting place. I left the train station, walked two blocks, and I was in the 19th century. A few streets more, and I was in the 18th or 17th century. My planned destination was Stephansdom, a enormous gothic cathedral whose spire I could see from a half mile away at the train station. I just love cathedrals--Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, it doesn't matter. Stephansdom was no disappointment. It has obviously been scarred by fire at some point in its history and much of the exterior is black. Hopefully, the pictures will turn out. The morning light was just peeking out of the fog and clouds, so we'll see.

I have always appreciated the Catholic church for their reverence and awe of the Lord and they way that permeates Mass. Obviously, the theology of the Catholic church is way off, but I've always wanted to sit in on a Mass in Europe. Well, this morning was my chance. There was a Mass in full swing when I got to the church. Two priests in beautiful cream and pale green robes were saying Mass to about 30 congregants. It was kind of sad to see this massive cathedral so empty inside. But, the interior was absolutely beautiful.

I headed back to the airport and everything was sailing smoothly along until everyone was aboard the plane and waiting for pushback and take off. All of a sudden, there was an annoucement that a security situation had developed. A passenger had checked in, checked their luggage, boarded the plane, and then told the crew that they refused to fly today. The passenger was removed from the plane, and everyone else had to de-board while Austrian Airlines did a full security screening. Aargh! Two hours later (!), we were cleared and allowed to re-board. While we were waiting, I talked to a guy from North Carolina who was on my flight from Timisoara. The suspicious passenger turned out to be another guy who flew with us from Timisoara, a friend of the N.C. guy. Apparently, he is Romanian but has lived in California for 14 years. He was flying home to visit his fiancée but decided to bail out and leave us all in the lurch!

Austria has certainly sold its soul to the EU and is as morally bankrupt as the rest of western Europe. But, I'd like to think that it is a little different in some way. Today was my second visit to Austria, and I am smitten. I'm flying on Austrian Airlines right now on the way to Washington. Great airline; they handled the security situation perfectly--plenty of announcements, drinks in the waiting area, and information regularly. The airline is just a reflection of the country. Hopefully, I'll see both again soon.

More to come...