reddit Pic

The beautiful Budapest Parliament building on a calm Danube morning. (The inside is equally impressive.)

A Viennese Vignette

Not the minister mentioned

A number of years ago, my wife and I were on a train from Vienna to Budapest. Across from us sat an attractive couple about ten years younger than we were. Being rather gregarious, I started small talk ... learning that they were German from Hamburg and on vacation throughout Eastern Europe. I was surprised when I discovered, at his age, that he was a retired Lutheran minister ...well appointed and taken care of financially.

We then went through the standard questions back and forth ... children, pets, hobbies, trips, etc. But then I stopped things cold when, at the end of some religious conversation, I blurted out an impulsive query ... prompted by some of his wishy-washy answers. I said, "Do you believe in God?" After I saw his  reddening face and some sullen silence, I realized I had stepped over a cultural line.

After taking my wife's elbow in the ribs, there was no more polite conversation all the way back to the now-wider Danube.