David is...

in Vienna! So, yeah, David is the guy who has so generously allowed me to stay in his place these next 2 nights. We last hung out 6 years ago; and by hung out I mean shared the same lift to school and I was incredibly scared of him - older, meaner and cooler than I knew how to be! So it proves pretty interesting to be getting to know each other. Already impressed him with the fact that I used to leave the car and get on a bus in the opposite direction to go shopping in London! Oh for simpler times...

Thus far I am pleased with Vienna. Admittedly I have only seen the underground and the supermarket but as these things go they are quite fabulous. I went for a short walk, having refreshed from an intense train journey across Eastern Europe, and within 30 seconds I had made a friend - someone asked me for directions and I could give them. Impressed? I was!

But Budapest - I would not wish to skim over it. I had one intense day there: walking tour in the morning, Cathedral when it rained and getting lost as I trekked across the city to find one of the spas. That was nice but I tell you what, don't go by yourself. Maybe it's me but sitting around in hot water is only interesting for a short time. After that you just get wrinkly. Also, I am pretty sure that the main difference (natural water source aside) between baths and a swimming pool is that the rule "No Petting" is not in place. I mean seriously, these people are sick; you don't know where to look. It would have been better if I had not been so utterly confused by all the Hungarian and had the jacuzzi actually been open but atleast I can say I went. A true Budapest experience. Afterwards I went for a romantic 'posh dinner' to treat myself, with sparkling wine and everything. You have to love the prices over there... That and the architecture. And the people. It is a good town and I will be returning at some point foe show.

Each destination has been teaching me something new. About life, myself, God. How far I've come and how far yet to go. One of the biggest things (literally and metaphorically) in Budapest was the cathedral. St Stephen is the patron saint of Hungary because he rescued them from their "heathen ways" and was so respected they got permission to use him as the focal point of the design. Well, I am not going to comment on denominational issues 'cause really they are the things that divisions and non-love are made of and certainly a manmade derivative of a true relationship with God. But, I was rather troubled in the St. Istavan (Steven, I don't know the spelling and am going to use as many versions as possible) cathedral yesterday. There was a picture of the crucifixion at one of the altars in the church and I have been discovering lately what iconography can mean as a way to fix oneself on the truth. That is, realising and rerealising exactly how horrific and traumatic it was for Jesus to do what I believe he did in order that I may be transformed and ultimately saved. As I left it really did not sit right with me that that this image was tucked away in an alcove while a fallible man was glorified at the centre of the house of God. I supppose that to me was symbolic of all the things I don't like about my life and points me in the direction that I must next go in order to continue growing in Him. That is, making Jesus my focal point.

So yeah, seeking God in the spirtual world. Vienna in the physical. I am excited to see how the two will overlap...