Arrival

      Hello again, I hope reading about our journey isn't too exhausting; I'll try to give the reader's digest version.

    Yesterday Josie and I arrived in Hungary after more than 24 hours in airports and on flights. My dad drove us to the Idaho Falls airport at 6:40 A.M. (thanks dad) and we flew to Salt Lake City. When we boarded our connecting flight in SLC to go to Minneapolis, the pilot had us unload the plane because the airport was being shut down due to icy conditions. We spent the next 5 hours waiting and trying to figure out our itinerary for the rest of the trip. Luckily, we were able to be put on a later flight and keep the previous route. We flew from Salt Lake City to Minneapolis to Amsterdam, Netherlands to Budapest, Hungary. All of the flights went well and surprisingly fast considering how long we were in the air (15 hours). We kept ourselves entertained by watching movies and I especially liked the flight tracker screen which tells you the outside temperature, speed, and altitude. It never ceases to amaze me that at our highest point, we were flying at 655 MPH 40,000 ft above sea level with an outside temperature of -71º F.

View from our hotel room in Budapest.

   We got to Budapest, (pronounced boodapesht) at 4 P.M. local time (8 A.M. Idaho time) and were greeted by a coworker, his wife, and daughter (the Potter family from Idaho Falls). They helped us get a rental car, phones, and bought us dinner. Josie ate a shrimp at the persistent encouragement of Troy Potter and even was kind enough to act like she enjoyed it. Later she would say,"I almost gagged." They also made sure that we had the right adaptors for the electricity and even showed me Josie where to get a hair straightener and blow dryer. We exchanged our money for the local currency (Hungarian Forint) and found out that one US dollar = 240 Forints. It is pretty fun to say that we have thousands of Forints, makes us feel wealthy....

   Last night we didn't sleep very well because of the jet lag. At 6 A.M. I tried to convince Josie to come and get some breakfast with me. My attempt failed and we were able to fall back asleep (Josie faster than I) until 9. The continental breakfast was very good and comprehensive with fresh fruit, eggs, bacon, and potatoes. We took full advantage of the free meal and got very full.

The Buda Castle while crossing the Danube River.

   Before we headed to the city where we will be living, the Potters took us around Budapest for some sight-seeing. It is an amazing city that has been inhabited for thousands of years. Budapest is actually two cities that are separated by the Danube River. On one side of the river is Buda and the other side is Pest which combine to make Budapest. We crossed the Danube and were able to see the panorama of both cities. We first stopped and toured the Matthias Church and the Fisherman's Bastion (see attached photos). We were able to see the panorama of the whole city and the daughter of my co-worker even paid to hold a live eagle. Next, we walked to the Buda Castle (circa AD 1250) and had some hot chocolate and cake. The castle is 1,000 ft long and is surrounded by walls. There are numerous statues around the castle's yard (my favorite was a hunter holding a cross-bow standing by a dropped bull elk). The castle is uninhabited and houses an art gallery, library, and the Museum of Hungary. Unfortunately, all three were closed today because of some reason that I could not understand.

   After we left the castle, we headed for Kaposvar where we will be living for the next 8 months. It is a 2 hour drive from Budapest through rolling hills, trees, and little towns that look the way they probably did in 1920. We are currently staying at a hotel for the next week until we find an apartment. We walked to the grocery store and bought some bottled water that turned out to be carbonated (ick) and ate dinner at McDonalds. We have church tomorrow and will be able to walk there. From what I hear, there are about 15-20 members and a couple of them speak good english English well. Enjoy the pictures and hopefully they do justice to what we were able to see today.

Fisherman's Bastion overlooking the Danube River.

Random Hungarian man with an Eagle.

Josie at the Fisheman's Bastion overlooking the Danube River with the Parliament building in the background.

Inside of the Fisherman's Bastion courtyard.

Inside the Matthias church. Evidently the churches don't have to pay taxes if they are "under construction," hence the scaffolding in the background and no apparent work being done.

The Buda Castle

Fountain outside of the Buda Castle. On top is the hunter with the elk.