Europe, Part Four; Hungary, Final Act

Get ready for our last installment of our Europe Trip 2014. This one is jammed packed!

Our final stop on our Hungary trip was three days in Budapest. It's still kind of a blur but I'll try to remember the details as best as I can. Day one, Thursday, was really a half day split from the morning in Debrecen where we did some shopping and checked out the branch house.

Our first task upon arrival was check into the hostel (bucket list! check!) and drop off our bags because our next item was to return the rental car to the airport. When we dropped off the car, we bought a three day transportation pass to all forms of transport in Budapest of which there are plenty of options. Buses, trams, subway and water ferry. We rode three of four while we were there. The only way for us to get back into Budapest proper was to ride a bus. Now here was where I was the most nervous. Budapest is a huge city and I never served there. When I visited for different reasons, the APs drove us around or I followed the throng of missionaries. I never had to navigate the bus and subway system on my own but I spoke the language and I live in DC, how hard could it be? Not that hard it turned out! Which was a huge sigh of relief.

We made it to the Nagy Palacsinta Haz without a hitch and ate some more delicious palacsintas. With our bellies full, we walked around Buda. Some exlination seems to be in order here. Budapest is actually two cities divided by the Danube River (or Duna River as it is called in Hungary). One the older, more beautiful side is Buda and on the more industrial side is Pest. The Buda side has the castle and the mission home/office while Pest has St. Stephen's Basilica and Parliament, all of which we visited. Back to Buda. Scott found a Budapest tour book back at BYU and bought it for me. This book was now proving its worth. There were a bunch of mini tours in there and we happened to be in an area where one started so we followed it.

Our view of Buda after we crossed the river

We got a quick rest after the tour and crossed the chain bridge to the Pest side and continued to walk along the Duna to see the Shoes on the Danube. These shoes are iron molds of shoes representing the victims of the Arrow Cross terror in 1944-1945. It was too dark to get a picture of but it always amazes me.

From Wikipedia, The Shoes on the Danube.

It had been a long day so after ice cream, we caught a bus back to the hostel to turn in for the night.

In the morning, we joined a free walking tour of the major highlights of the city. We started at St. Stephen's Basilica and walked for three hours seeing the sights with a local University student. Here are some of the things we saw along the way:

A lucky bellied police man.

Hero's Square, one of my favorite places in the whole country.

We ended at the Castle and when we broke, Scott and I found some lunch and ice cream. Our next stop was the catacombs/labyrinth which ended up being a huge disappointment but hilarious at the same time. Rumor has it that Dracula spent many years as a prisoner in these very catacombs so they had a section devoted to that. They also talked about the ghosts who haunted the paths and had masquerade balls. To honor that part of its past, they had mannequins dressed in ball gowns and suits with opera music playing all around the catacombs. It added to the eerie story so I was glad to get out of there.

Having thoroughly walked around Buda Castle, we made our way to the Nagy Piac which is a large market that sells all sorts of tourist trinkets and food for the locals, like a meat market. We caught a quick seat to get back our energy and made our way to St. Stephen's Basilica to go inside. Well it was closed so we walked around and ultimately decided to go back to the hostel and call it a day.

Saturday was our last day in Budapest and in Hungary and in Europe! We started it off by catching a tram to Margitsziget (Margaret's Island) in the middle of the Duna that has a 5K running path. I wanted to run one more time in Hungary and we did! It took a little longer than expected so we quickly got ready for the day and actually met up with my one Hungarian companion, Antonia, for lunch. It was her mom we stayed with in Polgar but she is living in Szeged, a city in the south. How fun it was to catch up with her and learn about what's going on in her life since we last saw each other. I always have a great time talking with her because she understands English and I understand Hungarian so she speaks to me in Hungarian and I respond in English. I bet it sounds like a one sided conversation to others but I think it's awesome!

After saying our goodbyes we rushed off to Parliament for a tour. We almost didn't do it but Scott insisted that I wanted to and he was right and I'm so happy we did. The inside of the building is just as stunning as the outside. It is my absolute favorite building in the world (with the exception of the DC Temple).

Still amazed at the beauty of the Parliament building, we went back to St. Stephen's Basilica and still couldn't get in. Another wedding! We compared it to the Salt Lake Temple, which we lovingly refer to as the Wedding Machine. So if we couldn't go inside, we'd climb the 200+ stairs to see the view of the city. St. Stephen was the first king of Hungary and is well loved by all. His basilica is the tallest building in Budapest and no building can be built taller than it, just like the Washington Monument in DC.

Our view from the top.

We climbed down the steps about 45 minutes later and grabbed a Magnum bar and a bus to Gellert Hegy (Gellert Hill) for a final view of the city. We saved this trip for last since it was the last spot I visited as a missionary. On my last night, the APs (Assistants to the President) drove all the departing missionaries first to Hero's Square and then up to Gellert Hegy. It was here in 1987 that the Dedicatory Prayer for missionary service in Hungary was given by Elder Russell M. Nelson. It is a sacred place for me and I wanted to revisit it on our last night in the city.

Our view from Gellert Hegy. My beautiful Budapest!

The red shirted person is Kiersten.

Having fulfilled my wish of seeing the beautiful Pearl of the Danube at night, we made our way to a perfect little restaurant we found conveniently in our Budapest tour book. It was down a side street and we were the only patrons. The food was divine. Rantott sajt, gyümölcsleves, paprikas csirke and szilvasgomboc (breaded cheese, fruit soup, chicken paprika and plum dumplings). To end our perfect evening we found our last bit of ice cream of the trip. The flavor of choice was black vanilla, definitely an oxymoron. I chatted with the ice cream vendor in Hungarian and he was so impressed by my ability to speak his language that he gave Scott an extra scoop of ice cream free of charge! God bless the Hungarians!

Fruit soup, breaded cheese and a happy Kiersten.

When we got back to the hostel, we packed our bags in preparation for an early start in the morning to catch our flight home. The flight, another Air France with a connection in Paris, was uneventful. We landed in America by 5pm and fought to stay awake until 8:30pm. The next day, Labor Day and Scott's birthday, was a holiday which gave us another day to recover from our fantastic vacation. It was a priceless trip for us and so meaningful for me. Returning to Hungary reminded my of the love my Heavenly Father has for me and for His children in Hungary. We will cherish the time we spent in Europe this summer and look forward to planning our next visit in the future.

Europe, Part Three; Hungary, Part Two

Monday marked the beginning of week two in Europe and day three in Hungary. Once we had eaten breakfast we packed our bags and said goodbye to my beloved Győr. We traveled across the country in about 3 hours and visited a castle in Eger, a city where only Elders served but I was lucky enough to take part in a youth trip to this castle as a missionary serving in Debrecen. We spent an hour or so there then continued on to Miskolc, which was my greenie area. I'll be honest, I don't have fond memories of that place but there are some gems.

The castle in Eger

We drove over the river through the woods, literally, and over a mountain and I shouted at Garmin the whole time, "Where are you taking us?!!" Scott kept the relative calm by laughing and chimed, "What an adventure!" We got to our hotel in the late afternoon and drove to a restaurant that serves savory palacsintas. A palacsinta (paula-cheen-ta) is a Hungarian pancake, similar to a crepe. Very filling.

Scott was so patient waiting for his massive palacsinta.

After dinner was the traditional hunt for ice cream. Well all the ice cream shops were closed so we had to buy a pint from the grocery store. We decided to turn in early and watch a movie from Scott's iPad. It was a relaxing night.

In the morning, we made our way up to Lillafüred (lee-la-fur-ed) which is a palace turned tourist attraction. It is beautiful. There is a lake and a gorgeous palace which is now a hotel and caves under the mountain which we of course took a tour in. Best of all, they had lángos! A lángos (laan-go-sh) is deep-fried potato dough brushed with garlic and topped with shredded Trappista cheese and and sour crème. So bad for you but so tasty!

By the afternoon, we were at the castle in Miskolc called Diósgyőr (de-osh-gy-ur). Diósgyőr is cool because it used to be on the 200 forint bill (forint is their currency). I have a picture of me standing in front of Diósgyőr with a 200 forint bill as a missionary. They are currently in the process of rebuilding the rough parts. It used to look really cool and war torn and now it'll look ordinary and new. Castles are meant to look like they've undergone fighting and cannon fire! But I digress. We had a great time exploring the parts that were open and Scott loved the fact that we were at a castle. He's such a boy.

When we had our fill of castles, it was late afternoon so we started our drive to a small town in between Miskolc and Debrecen called Polgár where a member lives who was letting us stay at her house for the night. Her daughter, Antonia, had been my companion as a mini-missionary for my first transfer in Gyor. They attend the branch in Miskolc so I'd known them since my first area. Judit (equivalent to Judith but pronounced You-deet) met us with open arms as if no time had passed. She is a wonderful woman and strong member of the church. She took us to eat at a traditional Hungarian village restaurant and we chatted amicably. Poor Scott. He had no idea what we were saying and Judit doesn't really speak English so it was just us talking. He was a trooper though. Gosh I love that man!

That night, we did laundry and planned the remainder of our trip. In the morning, we said farewell to Judit and drove on to Debrecen. We got there earlier than anticipated and had time to go to Hortobágy (Hore-toe-baaj) which is where they sell the whips. (If you've never seen or heard me whip my Hungarian bullwhip, you are seriously missing out. Ask me to show you and I'll gladly whip it out! Pun intended!) Hortobágy is part of the national parks in Hungary and they do horse and buggy tours of the area complete with men in full traditional wear, whipping on horses. Not just in the saddle but standing on top of the horse lying down on the ground. There is also a guy standing on two horses and holding the reigns of three more horses riding around the buggies in circles. It was pretty amazing!

The Hortobágy Five

Soldiers used this technique to teach their horses not to react to gunfire overhead.
The whip sounds like a gun shot. These horses didn't flinch!

Buggy ride over, we walked back to our car and drove back to Debrecen. We ate dinner at another boat themed restaurant, this one on land, called Calico Jack's. The food was pricey and not what you would call traditional Hungarian food but you go for the atmosphere. Ice cream followed as usual. Can't get enough of it!

The next day we did some shopping and took pictures. We bought me some Hungarian DVDs and a DVD player for home since the DVDs here only play on region 2 players which is not the same players as America (region 1 for those interested). With pictures all taken and my experiences of Debrecen exhausted, we drove on to Budapest for the last three days of our trip which will be the final installment of these entries for this trip.

Europe, Part Two

Welcome back to another rousing tale of our Summer 2014 trip to Europe. This episode features waiting in foreign airports, driving stick shift, ice cream and Hungarian!

We last left you in the airport in Porto. We had a connecting flight to Spain and got in around 10:30 pm. It was so late there were no more flights leaving that night. We had to leave the terminal, get our bags and come back in and wait at the front desk area which was closed for the night until we could check in for our flight at 5 am! So we spend the night on the hard floor of that Madrid Airport. Scott didn't sleep much and neither did I but not for a lack of trying. Fast forward to Hungary. We landed in Budapest around 10 am but we got in earlier than anticipated and our rental car wasn't ready. I wasn't too phased at first because I was back in Hungary! and there was a grocery store in the airport and I was hungry. They first thing I bought was Trappista cheese. If you've never heard me talk about this particular Hungarian cheese, just know this. I love cheese and this kind is the most amazing tasting cheese in the world! I can't find it anywhere outside of Hungary and I've looked in some pretty obscure places and even talked to Hungarians who live in America. No one can find this outside of Hungary! Next was a Milka bar which is technically German chocolate but well loved in Hungary. Also purchased was bread for about 5 cents (I forgot how cheap the food is there) and delicious Jogabella (pronounced yoga-bella) yogurt. Checkout proved my first challenge on my Hungarian. I passed but it was dismal. Scott liked the food and I was immensely happy.

We passed the time in the airport playing Five Crowns and eventually by noon, our car was ready and we were on our way to Győr, almost. I was the driver of this trip since I'm the most comfortable driving a manual transmission vehicle. The only problem now was, how do I put the thing in reverse? After a few tense moments, Scott figured it out and we were off! Through the streets of Budapest, over the bridges and onto the M5 west to Győr. It was glorious! Scott took a short nap and we arrived in about 2 hours. Our hotel in Győr was the same one my parents and I stayed in four years earlier when they picked me up as a missionary. It's a converted monastery complete with an inner courtyard.

After we checked in, we took a quick nap since we hadn't slept in Madrid and went out to get dinner. For my first Hungarian meal I went with my favorite, paprikás csirke (pap-ree-cash cheer-ka). Holy cow! Just as good as I remembered! I was in heaven. We also had an appetizer of rántott sajt
(giant breaded slice of cheese) and dessert, a mini strawberry cake.

Paprikás csirke 

So happy!

  Just as we were paying, I saw the Elders walk by with a woman with them. Double take. I know her! I made a quick gesture to Scott and I took off down the street to catch them. I found them in McDonald's (yes, they exist in small towns of Hungary) about to eat dinner. The woman with them was Barbs, a fantastic member who frequently helps the missionaries with lessons and work in general. She speaks perfect English, no hint of an accent at all, and she accompanied my parents and I to Austria four years ago.

The rest of the evening was spent catching up with her and eating more ice cream. I was glad to run into her because the next day was Sunday and I wanted to attend church there since Győr was my last area and kind of my baby. I spent 6 months here after there hadn't been sisters in over 18 months. I saw a lot of great things there and witness four of my investigators enter the waters of baptism, the most I'd had in any of my three areas. Győr will always hold a special place in my heart.

Sunday, day two in Hungary. We got up and drove to church. The branch house looked the same and a lot of the members were the same. Unfortunately, a lot of the people and youth especially I'd worked with weren't in attendance but I had expected that. The people I did see and who remembered me were a blessing to see again. I understood most of sacrament meeting thanks to the Elders being speakers. We Americans who attempt to learn Hungarian all speak with similar accents and vocabularies. I tried to translate to Scott for a portion of the meetings but once the high counselor got up it was all over! My favorite part though was singing the hymns in Hungarian! And! best news of all, they have real hymnals!! Gone are the printed, spiral bound copies of long ago. They have actual hymnals! It almost made me cry.

The branch house in Győr

After sacrament I saw one familiar face I didn't expect to see. His name is Árpád and he was the most unexpected investigator I ever had. His number had been on one of the Elder's old contact sheets we inherited in the area book. Árpád had been taught by missionaries before but wasn't ready then to join. When we called him up in 2010 he was ready. With the help of one of our strong male members present, a friendship blossomed and a seed of faith was planted. Árpád was baptized in only a few weeks of meeting. It's four years later and he is an active member of the Győr Ward and a worthy Melchizedek Priesthood holder. He continued to refer to me lovingly as Hammond Nővér, my missionary title. 

Standing with Árpád, in front of the very place he was baptized.

After church, we were invited to eat with Barbs' cousins who are also members. One of them Klaudia recently got home from her mission in Logan, Utah where I was able to visit her and eat lunch one day when we lived in Provo. It was fun to visit and reminisce with them all. My brain hurt speaking in Hungarian but thankfully they understand English well enough that the few English words I slipped in were understood and translated as a reminder to me.

The Wunderli family and Barbs (in the blue dress). I love them!

When we left lunch, we headed up to Pannonhalma, a monastery I went to once on a P-day. We got an audio tour and learned about the architecture and history of the monastery. It was awesome to get to show Scott a little bit of what I experienced as a missionary.

After our audio tour. Beautiful view!

Before dinner we walked around the downtown and I regaled Scott of stories of talking to people on the streets, investigators I taught and funny memories of my companions, the Elders and the food I ate there. For dinner we at the Hajo (hi-oh) which means boat. And it actually is a boat.

Having a Coke in the Hajo. Under the Coke logo it says, "Ez az enyem, ez a nap" which I translate to say, "This is mine, this day".

In the main downtown walking area they had a wine tasting festival which isn't uncommon but what was more exciting was the booths they had, one of which was a kürtőskalács (court-ush-call-at-ch). It's basically a hollow tower of dough, roasted and caramelized with sugar over an open flame and flavored with your choice of cinnamon, coconut, cocoa powder, nuts or sugar. Delicious dessert!

Join us next time as we drive across Hungary and visit castles, stay with Hungarian members and eat more delicious and not so healthy food!

Europe, Part One

We're back! What a whirlwind experience traveling to Europe. If going to Europe is on your bucket list, I commend you. It is a noble goal and worth every penny. Especially if you like to eat!

I'll begin this tale where it ought to be started, at the beginning.

On Sunday, August 17 we boarded an Air France flight in the afternoon for Paris. The plane was a double-decker, one of Scott's life long dreams achieved. The flight was pretty uneventful due to the fact that we had a personal video console on the seat back in front of us and there were A TON of movie options. We watched The Grand Budapest Hotel first, thinking 'This is an airplane! It'll be edited.' Nope. But it was hilarious. Next we broke off and watched our own things and before we knew it, we were landing in Paris. We had a few hours in the Charles de Gaul airport early in the morning and we were appropriately jet lagged and grumpy. Next flight was to Lisbon, Portugal which landed in the mid morning. We hopped in a taxi after getting a European sim card for our phone and drove to the apartment Scott's parent's had rented for the trip which we learned was much cheaper than three separate hotel rooms for 7 people.

After some slight confusion and irritation, we found the apartment building and with only an hour to sit and relax, we were off to sight-see.

Scott and I were exhausted but excited to be in Portugal. However, the excitement wore off once we got on a warm bus with relatively comfortable seats. We almost immediately dozed off. We did however manage to see some beautifully manicured gardens, a seafront fortress, eat lunch at a quaint outdoor cafe near said fortress, have gelato! and wander the downtown area. We ended the night by playing games in the apartment until 11pm which means we were awake for about 30 hours. It was a long day!

We had a wonderful nights sleep and one day two, it was time to see Jenna. We drove to the mission office in two taxis and after a little confusion as to where she would be we finally were reunited with our lovely Jenna. She looked great, seemed happy and had the best sandal tan lines I've ever seen. Back to the apartment and then out again for a private tour around Lisbon. We went to a beach and the western most point of Europe. Incredible! Overlooking the ocean on some amazingly intense cliffs with high wind gusts. When we made it back we had some snacks and hung out until we fell asleep.





It was really windy up there!

Day three: we got a bus and drove up the country to Porto, a city where Jenna spent a good amount of her mission, to another apartment. We walked all around Porto and had a fantastic Portuguese sandwich called Francesinha (pronounced fres-ca-scene-ya) which, according to Wiki, is originally from Porto. I will describe it as in inside-out grilled cheese sandwich with meat, lots of meat, smothered in a tomato-based sauce and eaten with french fries.

Meaty on the inside, cheesy on the outside. Delicious all over.

Next we literally wandered the streets of Porto and arrived at the river. It looked exactly like you'd imagine a European town to look like along a riverfront.

Gorgeous! Taken from the Gaia side of the river.

Across the river is Gaia, another city where Jenna served. We walked across the bridge and headed up the hills to meet with some sisters Jenna had served with and for more ice cream. (Let it be known now that I had a goal to eat ice cream EVERYDAY of this trip. They just don't make ice cream in America like they do over there.)

This was Scott's ice cream selection, one of everything.

After another exhaustively long day, we got back to the apartment, well it was actually a house, and fell asleep.

Day four was full of a sight seeing trip of Northern Portugal. We saw a lot of Catholic churches and learned a lot of history and visited several castles. One thing I learned which I feel important to mention is, cork comes from trees. Hold your laughter until you understand my astonishment. I thought cork was a man-made product mass produced for cork boards. I was so wrong on both accounts. Cork comes from trees and there are lots of cork trees in Portugal. And! cork seems to be the preferred material for all sorts of things in Porto. Book covers, purses, shoes, wallets, earrings, postcards and magnets. It was pretty amazing what they could make out of cork.

That night we went to the branch house which was about 5 blocks from the house we were staying in and met the Branch President. He was a terrific man who is a convert of only a few years. The church is growing all over the world!

Day five was our last day in Portugal. We spent the morning going to the beach and writing a letter in the sand to Elder Brenton Jackson, currently serving his full-time mission in Boston. After about an hour, we finally dug through the sand that was more like tiny rocks and took a picture of our message to Brenton.

Day five also means we depart from the company of Scott's family to venture off on our own for the next week in Europe. Scott's dad dropped us off in downtown Porto, we said our goodbyes as they drove back to Lisbon to fly out the next morning and we did some more sightseeing. We ate lunch at a terrific outdoor cafe by the river where we again ate Francesinha and hunted down some ice cream.

I'm a little blurry because the main focus of this picture is of course the food! My Francesinha was the hot dog version.

In the course of the next 4 hours we:

• Found the book store which inspired J.K. Rowling's Hogwarts in Harry Potter.

  

  We weren't allowed to take pictures but it was incredible! Well worth walking around for an hour searching.

• Bought some ceramic tiles spelling 'Jackson'. Ceramic tiles were all over Porto and Portugal in general. They decorate the sides of buildings!
• Walked around a castle/fortress and took lots of pictures.

At 5pm we hopped in a cab and headed for the Porto Airport for our flight to Hungary. Thus ends our wondrous journey in Portugal. The sights were breathtaking and inspiring. I again reference bucket lists. We saw a bunch of 20-somethings backpacking. It got me thinking, maybe that would be fun to backpack around Europe....

If you feel I didn't give Portugal enough attention in this blog I apologize. My trip didn't officially start until we got to Hungary so hold on to your hats. I'll give you more information about our trip in Hungary than you'll ever want!