Photo of the Week

Week Twenty-Eight

Image Title: Dark Cathedral

Location: Vienna, Austria

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i

Focal Length: 24mm

Exposure: 1/125

F-Stop: 4.0

By the time we reached Vienna I was exhausted. We had been running non-stop for nearly two weeks. Every day of the trip had been packed with sightseeing, food, activities and crowded streets, trains and hostels. We had almost no downtime, and as an introvert with about 5 minutes of quiet time in the entire trip, I was ready to go home or to just be alone.

We stopped at a music museum in Vienna, and had 2 or 3 hours there, but I am not very interested in the musical scene of the city (though if that’s your thing it’s really great).  I skimmed through the museum and managed to slip out into the cold to be alone and to explore (and by explore I mean grab Gelato) on my own before our next meeting time.

We had spent some time walking through the city that morning (partially on our way to the museum, partially because we had gotten lost) and  had passed through  the city square that holds St. Stephen’s Cathedral. And if you’ve read some of my other posts you know that I am captivated by cathedrals and so I found my way back to it and slipped inside.

St. Stephens. Dark, moody lighting. Shafts of sunlight streaming in through thin windows, tall slim columns holding up the roof, bishops or saints or disciples carved into the stone making up the supports. Delicate and strong and beautiful; everything a cathedral should be.

And that’s what I needed to get me through the rest of the trip.

Just a few minutes alone, a few minutes to feel small and insignificant in a architectural feat built to bridge the gap between God and man; a building created to make mortals realize the power and beauty of God.

Find what gives you peace; what makes you feel small and reverent and un-important, just for a little while, just to gain perspective.

Happy Tuesday.