Hungary: March 23
Saturday, March 23
Happy Easter everyone! Ok, I’m writing this after the event, but nevertheless, Happy Easter!
We left our hosts’ homes early in the morning and headed back to the district office / church for the morning service. The Budapest church is very small, as it wasn’t so much setup as a church but more as a translation and publication center. Several Sunday School material sets have been printed as well as several volumes of the works of John Wesley. These publications are of such high quality that other churches and denominations in Hungary are buying them.
Donnie Johnson gave the Easter message, and some of the church members sang and we all participated in the service. The MVNU group sang a special and Maradith Noonen played the violin.
Following the service, we had an American-Hungarian brunch feast complete with all kinds of colored eggs, cheese casseroles, a delicious meat dish with sausage baked into it, coffee, fresh fruit and juices. A special thanks to the folks who worked hard to get all this ready for us. While the food was being served some of the church members sang and played Easter specials. Imre and Maria’s son Rudolf, an accomplished pianist and violinist played for us. Very animated discussions went on around the tables, especially the one where Carlos and Barnabas (one of the Budapest church members) were sitting. Barney, my pal, my friend, if you’re reading this, dude I enjoyed the conversation! Or whatever you call what we did. Your poor fiancée Agnes. Does she realize what she’s getting into? I kid. I kid. Thanks for becoming such a good friend. I’ll email you sometime this week.
After all that we had two choices: nap or visit Budapest. No one in their right mind chose the former. We all changed into more comfortable clothes and shoes and headed off on what turned out to be a 10-12 mile … hike of Budapest.
We crossed the Danube on the Chain Bridge, climbed the ancient city walls, went to the Castle District, took pictures of the Parliament Building from across the river, saw St. Matthias Church where Collegians sang a few years ago, Fishermen’s Bastion, and visited St. Istvan’s Cathedral, an immense and immensely beautiful church now restored to its former glory. Unfortunately, the weather was mostly overcast but the memories will be vivid for years to come.
We ended the day on Vaci street known for its shopping and street fairs.
On the way back to the district office we walked by the The Great Synagogue on Dohány Street, built sometime around 1854-59 and whose 5,000 tube organ was played by Franz Lizst among others.
During the Nazi occupation, the synagogue served as concentration point from where many thousands of Jews were sent off to their death. A monument in the atrium of the synagogue memorializes this dark period in the life of Budapest. The synagogue has recently been renovated and now stands again as the home to the large Jewish population of Budapest.
We ended the way with dinner and another interesting dish. We were privileged to eat peach soup, a sweet but delicious appetizer which, just like the cherry soup, was topped with whipping cream. The evening’s main meal featured many of the left-overs from brunch and the evening was topped off with a viewing of “The Witness,” a Hungarian spoof of the Soviet years, directed in 1969 by Peter Bacso.
Tomorrow, March 24, we depart for the USA. Although most of us are ready to come home and slip into some cleaner clothes, all of us are ready for a return trip.
A wrap-up page with students’ reactions to the trip will be posted as soon as possible, so check back early next week.
