Spring Break in Budapest!

This trip was a HUGE answer to prayer! Having the opportunity to visit Hungary before I move was wonderful. And having my sister Meredith along with me was a source of support and encouragement. It felt different than just visiting a new place because I know God has called me to serve there and that I will be returning in about 5 months!  I had prayed that this trip would be an affirmation of my call to serve as a missionary teacher, and it was! I am full of gratitude and I am also still processing the entire trip! 
Here is a day-by-day breakdown.  I put in lots of pictures so it wouldn't get too boring! :) 

Saturday March 12th and Sunday March 13th ~ Getting to Budapest 

We left Houston at 4:40pm on Saturday.  We were over the Atlantic during the night, and I kept looking out the window at the stars.  They were spectacular! After a brief layover in Munich on Sunday morning, it was onto Budapest.  By the time we settled in at our hotel, it was about 2pm and we were exhausted!  We unpacked, rested a bit and then walked around the area. 

The view from our hotel included the beautiful Matthias Church  and the Danube River in the distance. So pretty! Budapest is actually two cities, Buda and Pest.  We were staying on the Buda side in the Castle Hill district.  It looks like something out of a fairy tale!  There were lots of tourists but it was very quiet at night. Apparently the Pest side has more nightlife but Buda suited me just fine. :)

We ate an early dinner at a restaurant in walking distance to our hotel called 21 Hungarian Kitchen. We were asleep by 7:00pm!  I could hardly believe we lasted that long with how tired we were! 

Monday March 14th ~ Touring the City 

We woke up to blue skies and bright sunshine!  We ate breakfast at our hotel and set out to walk around the city.  We found a few souvenir shops to check out. We walked across the Szechenyi bridge (also known as the chain bridge) and walked down to the Parliament Building.  

Parliament Building from the Buda side 

On the bridge 

Parliament building from the side

In the afternoon we did a city bus tour (in honor of our dad who loves a city bus tour in a new place)!  We learned a lot about Budapest and I made a mental list of places to visit when I return - the opera house, museums, the zoo, parks, and so much more to see! I am most excited about going to the City Park Ice Rink in the winter! :) 

 View from Gellert Hill/Citadel

 Heroes Square in City Park

That night we walked to another restaurant called Pest Buda for dinner and it was delicious! 

Tuesday March 15th ~ National holiday in Hungary, marking the beginning of a revolution against the Austrian empire in 1848

We woke up to light snow and were so excited! We bundled up and headed out to the busy streets, full of food vendors and music for the holiday.  We walked over the chain bridge to Pest and had a quick breakfast at Starbucks. 

We were so excited that they spelled my sister's name correctly! :) 

Photo credit from http://www.untours.com/blog/house-terror-remembering-unspeakable

Then it was off to the Terror House.  This building was used during the fascist and communist government regimes for interrogation and torture.  Now it is a national museum meant to memorialize the victims of these regimes.  We met up with Steve and Barbara Johnson (missionaries with YWAM) and their daughter Rachel, along with a group from St. Martin's Episcopal in Houston.  Everyone was so nice and we enjoyed getting to know all of them.  We had a terrific (English speaking!) tour guide named Attila who is also an administrator at my future school. He helped us understand more about Hungarian government and history over the past 100 years.  

From there, our group headed south to the town of Diosd to Steve and Barbara's house for a late lunch. (Diosd is also where my school is and where I'll live when I move!) The Johnson's home is lovely and we had wonderful lunch of goulash and bread (perfect for such a gloomy, chilly day)!  Goulash is like a beef stew with vegetables.  It was delicious!  

Barbara and me 

By the time we were back our hotel, it was about 5pm and we were exhausted.  Lunch was so filling that we just had a few snacks before we went to sleep that night! 

Wednesday March 16th ~ Visit to the International Christian School of Budapest

We slept in late, did a little shopping and then took a taxi ride to Diosd.  

We had lunch at Johnny's Bistro which is an American style resturant (as you can see from the menu)!  I was so anxious about finally getting to see my new school that I couldn't eat much. All the sudden it became very real to me that this is happening! 

When we walked over to ICSB, we accidentally used the high school entrance.  I immediately saw Psalm 43:3 painted on the wall, which I have chosen for my blog theme verse! I whispered to Mere and she had noticed it too! I felt like it was a little sign that God had brought me there. The receptionist pointed us to the other entrance, which thankfully was the right one!

The elementary curriculum coordinator gave us a tour of the entire building and I had a chance to meet adminstrators and teachers. Everyone was friendly and warm.  The campus is beautiful!  

I spent about an hour talking with my new principal and had a chance to ask questions about things like curriculum and lesson plans.  I spent another hour visiting with the current 1st grade teacher, who was fantastic.  She gave me helpful information and made me feel so excited about taking on this position! 

Their playground is awesome and runs the length of the school! 

I also met the future 1st graders! Their teacher graciously allowed me to spend time with them in the middle of their afternoon.  While Mere talked with her, the kids showed me around their room! They counted to 100 for me, read words from their word wall, and showed me all of their wiggly teeth.  Little children are the same all around the world! :)

I exchanged email addresses with several of the people I met before we said goodbye.  I left feeling excited about returning there in August!  

We made it back to the city and relaxed a bit before heading out to dinner at Riso Ristorante.  There are a lot of Italian restaurants in the city and I had been wanting to try some! We both had tomato soup and cheese pizza - delicious! 

The next morning, we were up at 3:30 (!!!) and off to the aiport for our first flight to Munich. It was much better flying through the day time on the way back. Mere and I were so thankful that all of our travels and connecting flights went smoothly! 

If you really made it to the bottom of this post ~ thank you for reading all about our Spring Break journey to Budapest!