After having finished a memorable week of teaching English and sharing the Gospel, we had the opportunity to take in the beautiful city of Budapest. Our first stop was the Historic Covered Market in downtown Budapest. We've never seen so many meats, fruits, cheeses, and souvenirs. I made it a point to pick up some goose liver, which is a Hungarian delicatessen, and Gina bought t-shirts for some of our family back home.
Looking at so much food made us hungry for lunch. We stopped at a nearby establishment called the "For Sale Restaurant," which looked like the "Gino's East" of Budapest. Business cards, poems, and letters were strewn about the walls, and the students took full advantage of posting some verses from the Bible. Christina also posted a fun, little note signed by all of the team members.
Next, we stopped at the "Bobpalya," which is Hungarian for "bobsled." This was a surprise for the students, and it fulfilled the adventure portion of the day. This was a highlight for many of the students, and some left with dirty elbows and knees which made for some exciting stories.
St. Stephen's Cathedral was our next stop, and it didn't disappoint. We climbed 302 stairs (but who's counting?) to get to the top of the cathedral. Once at the top we saw a breathtaking view of the city and took some amazing pictures. We took a team picture at the top which will probably be one of the best photos of the team.
All of the stair climbing caused us to work up an appetite, so we stopped for dinner at a nearby German restaurant. We dined "family style" on chops, chicken, sausage, fried onions and other delicious vegetables. We filled our bellies and there was even enough left for Steve to take home four boxes of leftovers.
We capped off the evening on top of the Citadella at Gellert Hill which gave us some breath-taking views. We saw Budapest all lit up at night and took some amazing shots of The Parliament Building, the Castle and St. Stephen's Cathedral once again. I think Katie Evensen actually thought she was in heaven. We even got to snap a few shots of students posing as the statues on top of the hill. You can ask the team members to see them. Enough said...
Overall, this was a very fun day which capped off a rewarding work of teaching English and spreading the Gospel. I did not imagine that Budapest would be this breathtaking and beautiful, but this city keeps amazing us. In addition, the people are very polite, helpful, and non-intrusive. Gina and I feel blessed to be here doing such important work with all of these top notch students and leaders. This is our first missions trip, and we hope our trips to come will be this Christ-centered, enriching, and fun! Until next time...
Yours in Christ,
Dave and Gina Udchik
No comments:
Post a Comment