Step Out Of The Story The SoulJahm story from October 2010 until February 2011.
"Life and Jah are one in the same. Jah is the gift of existence. I am in some way eternal, I will never be
duplicated. The singularity of every man and woman is Jah's gift. What we struggle to make of it is our sole gift to Jah. The process of what that struggle becomes, in time, the Truth." - Bob Marley
The symbol of the rose continued to follow Dave & Kate.
On the bus from Prague to Vienna a girl sitting just across from them had this bag...
On their first stroll out in Vienna they passed a shop with this displayed in the window...
And on 14th Feb, Valentine's Day, not only did a new computer appear, but as they returned to the apartment via Spar the woman at the check-out handed out a fresh rose. It sat on the glass coffee table for the rest of their time in the apartment...
Right from the beginning, when Kate said "it feels like we're here on a business trip", it went that way. The 3 days became a blur and the whole focus seemed to be on getting to Vienna.
This was a new experience for them as even back in Hamburg where they stayed only 3 nights they were able to immerse themselves into the city. In Prague it felt very different.
It is probably one of the most beautiful cities they've been to but as they strolled around in the cold the urgency to get to Vienna was palpable. They had no idea why, except that it might be the Music - it was like Vienna had sprung up into the consciousness and made its voice heard, calling them on.
Kate's feeling to enquire about Vienna apartments back in Berlin served them well. She was able to go through the list and write to them again with new dates. The cheapest offer was EUR 400 for 2 weeks. They were happy with this one... or so they thought. The reservation was made but Dave felt very restless that night about the apartment situation and so at 1am they went back down to the PC at reception. The next best offer was from the same woman - another apartment in the same area for EUR 450. Only this time Dave spotted that a PC with internet was listed. They hadn't seen that first time around. They quickly wrote to the woman and switched apartments. Now they could rest as the right one had been uncovered.
Another night in the aparthotel Dave was sitting on the bed absently singing away to himself when the next minute he found himself humming some classical music - a rare occurence. He turned to Kate and said "that's Strauss isn't is? Wasn't he Austrian?" and they were sure it was The Blue Danube - titles of classical pieces not being their forte. And it was. An anthem of Vienna and Austria.
Dave & Kate checked into the ApartHotel Susa in Prague on Sunday 30th January 2011 for a 3 night stay. When they entered their room they were taken aback, but not really surprised, by the main picture on the wall opposite their bed...
It was like a confirmation again that they had landed in the right place. The apartment served all their needs for those few days and even had free internet so they could sort out Vienna. Inevitably, there were a few hiccups, confusion seemingly following them around wherever they went. The woman at check-in, although pleasant enough, appeared to have been spellbound by them and then they found the room had only been set-up for one person and so had to be made up for two.
Later at night when Dave asked for a plug for the kitchen sink the guy took him through to the staff kitchen, rummaged around for about 5 mins looking for things, before eventually opening one of the cupboards and asking Dave "is what you are looking for in here?". Dave pointed to the plug at the sink and said he was looking for one of those. "Ahhh!" the guy said and handed Dave a new plug from a drawer. What exactly he was lookng for in those 5 mins remains a mystery!
Still it was a worthwhile visit as it confirmed to Dave & Kate that they wouldn't bother with the free breakfast in the morning - exhibit A) dusty-looking cornflakes lying uncovered in a bowl being the main culprit.
Better news was when they took a walk to the supermarket that Sunday and bought all the groceries they needed for their time in Prague on debit card. Other than this, the only money they spent was on coffee at Costa and their bus ticket to Vienna, and both could also be purchased by card. This meant they didn't need to change currency in cash, spending exactly what they needed and no more. It left them with a confidence that somehow things could work out smoothly even in circumstances that didn't look so favourable beforehand.
Shortly after all the festive mayhem had been and gone, Dave was again stopped in his tracks by a song on the radio. It went:
"Some say love it is a river that drowns the tender reed
Some say love it is a razor that leaves your soul to bleed
Some say love it is a hunger an endless aching need
I say love it is a flower and you it's only seed
It's the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance
It's the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance
It's the one who won't be taken who cannot seem to give And the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live
When the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long And you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snows lies the seed That with the sun's love in the spring becomes the rose"
He had never heard the song before but the last two lines in particular seemed to speak to him about what was happening during these times.
A few days later Kate noticed roses on Karl-Marx Allee and also Will & Georgie had just sent her some photos of roses.
A few weeks later, the day before they checked out of the apartment, Dave was making porridge and while drying the bowls, he began laughing at what he was staring at. Kate walked into the kitchen at that very moment and exclaimed "a rose!".
They hadn't clicked until now that the bowls they'd been eating out of everyday for the last month had a rose design on them. That day as they sat eating their porridge the song 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' came on the radio. Later, as they walked up to check out the area where their new apartment would be the first thing they saw as they turned onto the street was this...
That night on tv a programme called 'A Portrait of Bryan Adams' came on German tv and in the background while he was being interviewed was a single rose in a vase...
The following morning, January 16th 2011, as they sat down to eat their breakfast of porridge, the song on the radio was 'The Rose' - only the second time in their lives they had heard it... just before they left the apartment to move into a new one.
