Hungry for more Hungary?

OK - Sorry for the cheesy title but I have to get this post off my plate. OK, now I'm done - no more awful humor.

Here is the gang in Hungary - Rachel was acting as photographer. Bart took one look at this picture and said "So, why did you stand at the lowest end of the bridge? To make yourself look shorter?

Yes, I am vertically challenged and it doesn't help to be surrounded by Mid-westerners with Northern European roots. At least I fit in the 6' beds at the hotel - the guys were having a bit of issue with the "little people" beds.

Here I am trying to leave the Esterhazy Palace - I would never be hired for Keeper of the Gate.

Playing tourists on a free day. We all (8 of us) piled into our 7 passenger vehicle and took off down the road to Esterhazy Palace. Kudos to Julie and Carol who took turns riding in the middle of the third seat - each suffering from a small bout of motion sickness.

The Palace was pretty cool and we all enjoyed the large, surrounding gardens with the gumdrop bushes/trees. One can only visit inside with a tour guide (Hungarian or German) so we chose the German tour in hopes that I could translate some.

I did a little translating but overall, the group got more out of the written English guide we were given. But I was able to let them know these bushes/trees are all over 100 years old. That was really interesting and useful. Right?

I did a lot of power point that week and really, really enjoyed the music provided by the group. Hadn't heard some of the songs since we left Valley and I'd catch the girls humming later in our room. We really enjoyed it. Kevin is sitting on an instrument called a Cajon - it was very popular with the missionaries. It's like having a drum in a box - hooks right into the sound system. Helps to have some knowledge of percussion instruments to play though. I'm sure it would sound like an empty box if I tried. I'll stick to backup vocals or power point.

Speaking of PowerPoint - it gets crazy on certain songs and I did mess up a slide or two. Felt like an accomplished PP operator when I could get through "You are Holy" without blowing any slides.

The guys doing their thing. They rocked! And the conference attendees really enjoyed it.

Here's Rachel with Ben and Bradford (or 'Brad' as the girls refered to him - we all cracked up at that). It's amazing to see your own children interact with other adults for a full week. There were no playmates their age - just us grownups. How they developed a trust and liking for people that I've known but they were never really exposed to much before.

The girls were comfortable and I didn't have the stress in taking them along that I thought I might have. Each one of these adults made an impact on my kids life - if you are reading this (or your wife is :)), Thank You!!!!!!!

A view of Sopron from the city tower - it was hazy and smokey but still pretty.

Ah Tesco! My first shopping trip to Tesco. Big deal you say? Let's start at the beginning: Germany used to have a few WalMarts but they pulled out. There were a couple of Carrefour's in Switzerland (think French owned answer to KMart - and large Int'l retailer of it's type) - there are no more. :(

So while I was in Hungary, I stocked up on shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shaving lotion, etc... at about 40% less than I buy these same products for in Switzerland. Yeah!!! I want to say Tesco is like a UK KMart - does that sound right regular UK reader?

I also bought a new pair of boots - go figure. At about 25 % less than I can here - because they don't have many sales here, the whole "wait for the sale" theory does not apply when living in Europe. And they fit my "sporty" legs - I can even tuck my jeans into them. But still trying to determine whether I can pull off that look beings I'm vertically challenged and all - I'll check with my stylist -

RACHEL!!!!!!!........ Yes, the daughter who tells me which clothing options make me look younger. She does plan on becoming a fashion designer someday. Time will tell.