Hungary: Budapest & Eger

1. A bronze sculpture of the mythical turul bird guards the Royal Palace. This statue marks the millennium anniversary of the Magyar conquest in 896.
2. Looking across the Danube River
3. Hungary's Parliment is the country's largest building -- and is Imre Steindl's Neo-Gothic masterpiece built between 188401902.
4. Me, flowers, just blocks from our hotel
5. The Chain Bridge, with Szent Istvan (St. Stephen's Basilica) in the distance
6. This monument to Imre Nagy symbolizes the insurgent prime minister's 1956 defection from the side of Communism to the side of the people -- a protest that cost him his life.
7. Hero's Square, where the Millennium Celebrations opened in 1896.
8. "Violin man" was part of the SPRING festivities at Mihaly Vorosmarty Square just a few blocks from our hotel.
9. Chess, anyone?
10. Traditional Hungarian food -- DELICIOUS! I tried the goulash here. Paprika was the most common spice in the food. Instead of "salt and pepper" on the table, it's "sale and paprika."
11. A section of Obuda's impressive Roman ampitheatre. The Romans arrived in the region soon after the time of Christ, building this impressive ampitheatre in the middle of the 2nd century A.D..
12. Sunday afternoon in Eger
13. Eger is a delightful old town
14. Through the castle wall in Eger. The Hungarians are very proud that this is the place where they turned back the Turks. Nearly all of the "monuments" we saw celebrate how Hungary endured and subsequently "kicked out" the Romans, the Turks, and the Communists.
15. St. Istvan Hotel where we stayed for our meetings -- this was the entrance to my room.
16. Flowers in a window box.

I'm thinking about it, but not making any promises...yet

A few days after my last blog, I started a new "job" with Wycliffe. These first months in a role filled with extraoridanary opportunities to grow and learn as well as to make an impact on things that have eternal significance have been a transition challenge. No surprise there. For those weeks when I had to straddle two universes (the old and the new) and make progress in both, I found that late-light blogging had little appeal. With "miles to go before I sleep" -- or at least before I hear myself saying things like "I think I need a new challenge" -- I do think I'm ready to start stringing words together. So, maybe I'll be back here with some consistency again. Maybe.

Mission Network News

Wycliffe regularly shares ministry updates with our friends at Mission Network News (MNN). Once in a while, I do the interview. Because these interviews (or snippets from them) air on Moody (and other Christian) radio stations across the US, sometimes you (or others who know me) hear me. I've never heard myself except via the MP3 format...that would be strange to be driving down the road and hear my own voice on the radio. Hmmm.

[If you want to read or listen to these news stories, click on the title of this entry and you'll be whisked away to the MNN website. I've unashamedly pointed you to Wycliffe's page on their site -- but you can navigate around from there to see other stories from other organizations.]