Bratislava

 In 2000 I traveled overseas with several tradesmen to work on a Bible study center in Surduc, Romania.  Dameron Plumbing was installing the plumbing in the five-story building. It had conference rooms, dining commons, a kitchen, and hotel-like rooms for couples to stay in while at the conferences. We flew on Austrian Airlines from Atlanta to Timișoara, Romania going through Vienna, Austria.  On the way home, the flight from Timișoara arrived in Vienna at noon and the connecting flight to Atlanta left at 11 am, so we had to overnight in Vienna and leave the next morning.  I was rooming with Joey Vonnoh, but Joey wasn’t feeling well.  He wanted to sleep, but I wanted to explore.  I had never been to Slovakia, so I walked to the Vienna train station, bought a ticket for 12€, and rode forty miles to Bratislava, Slovakia for the afternoon.  It was a typical old European city with a fortress and beautiful bridges across the Danube River.  I walked around the city center and exchanged ten dollars for koruna and bought a hot dog for supper.  It was getting dark, so I walked back to the train station to get back to Vienna only to find that the last train to Vienna had left an hour earlier.  Yikes!  I got directions to the bus station but found the same problem: no busses until the next morning.  By then it was getting late.  I walked back to the train station and bought a ticket for the first train to Vienna the next morning.  I dozed on a bench in the train station waiting for morning.  At 3 am the cleaning crew ran me out of the train station with the rest of the bums.  They let us back in at 4 am and I boarded my train for Vienna at 5 am.  The train left Bratislava at 6 am with me and the workers going to Vienna for the day.  We arrived in Vienna at 7 am and I hurried to the hotel for a quick shower and to the airport at 9 am.  I was so tired that I slept the entire flight home.  That was the best flight back that I had ever had!  Hey, I’m glad that the dear Lord watches over His own!  Take the time to read Psalm 23 today.  You’ll be glad to call the Lord your “Good Shepherd”.