End of AGM Hungary - trip to Budapest

Day 4, Tuesday:
Hey, this is J. I went on another bike ride today after VBS today. This time I took Kiki with me, as well as, two missionaries (Vivian and Holly) and a volunteer (Judy: who is close to 60 and out-biked the rest of us). This time we got plenty of pictures of this beautiful little town of Vargesztes, nestled in the hills of Hungary.
After dinner, the missionaries took part in an auction. Because the missionaries don’t have a “home-church” to tithe to every month, they save up their tithes throughout the year and spend it all at the Lottie Moon Auction. The money raised at the auction is put into a fund which supports missions throughout the world. The auction was very entertaining due to the fact that many of the products that they enjoyed in the US just can’t be found in Central Europe. For instance, a 12-pack of A&W Rootbeer went for $500. A “mystery box” full of cheetos, chex mix, and oreos went for $3000. After the auction and a movie, Kiki and I headed off to bed.

Day 5, Wednesday:
After VBS, we had the chance to sit back and watch the musical that our VBS students had been preparing for all week. It was a lot of fun and the kids loved to perform for us. After the show we had a traditional Hungarian meal. (seemed to me like the same stuff they’d been serving all week) After dinner a group of traditional Hungarian dancers put on a show and got us all involved in dancing around the dining room. No AC in the dining room left us covered in sweat, but it was a lot of fun. After playing some pretty fierce 2-on-2 games of ping pong with the missionary men, I met Kristin to begin packing. This was a long process, because it was interrupted quite often by visits with missionaries which lasted until about midnight. It was great to get to know them, and many of them have shared with us opportunities, in which, small teams from the US could really help their respective ministries.

Day 6, Thursday:
We met for breakfast this morning and after saying goodbye to many of the missionaries, we loaded onto buses headed for Budapest.
This city is incredible. We drove down the hills through the western part of the city (Buda) and crossed this amazing bridge over the Danube river into the eastern part (Pest). After lunch at McD’s (unfortunate isn’t it) we took a long trolley ride/walk through the city that included stops at the parliament building, the opera house, and the national basilica.
After a long shower and a short nap, Kiki and I were ready for dinner at a beautiful restaurant across the street from our hotel. The name escapes me, but our whole group went and we discussed the conference and people were applauded for their contributions.
After dinner, Kiki and I took a long walk down the street in front of our hotel. We followed it until it dead-ended at the city’s Central Market. The market was closed, but we will definitely visit there tomorrow. We then walked the whole way back along the Danube river at sunset. (might I add that it’s not exactly blue) But it was a wonderful walk and we got some great pictures-I think.