WVC Tour - Budapest, Hungary

Our first stop on tour was Budapest.  Here we picked up our fantastic tour guide, Andreas, and took a bus tour of the city on the way to our hotel.  We stopped atop Gellert Hill and got a nice view of the city below:

me and Laura G in Budapest

After our tour, we checked into the hotel and had our first Hungarian meal - Turkey cutlets in paprika sauce.  It was pretty good, and the dessert looked like it was going to be good, too, but we were surprised to find that what looked like cookies and cream tasted more like poppyseed ick!

That night, Laura (best roomie ever!) and I slept for a solid 11 hours.  It was SO needed, and I didn't feel jet lag at all the rest of the trip.  Sadly, I didn't sleep much the rest of the trip, either, but we had a great time socializing instead.
On our second day in Hungary, we served as the guest choir for a mass, then followed it up with a concert, which was well-received by the congregation, audience, and tourists checking out the church.  After a nice lunch at the cafe across the street, a small group of us took taxis up to the Gellert Baths.  They are famous in Budapest.  There natural hot springs that supply water to the baths.  We tried out the hot baths, then visited the indoor and outdoor cool pools.  Check out our awesome swim caps (required for the indoor pool)!  When we first arrived here, they closed the ticket windows saying they were too full.  I'm so glad we stuck around and waited for sales to open again, because it was so relaxing once we got in.

The church where we sang

Rachel and Laura at lunch

with Deborah, our amazing accompanist and fantastic travel companion

Deborah, Franzi, and Laura

After the baths, Deborah, Rachel, Franzi, Laura G, and I walked over to the castle (unimpressive), did a little shopping (I bought Tony and the kids a puppet made in Hungary), and then enjoyed a wonderful dinner.  Our server, Adam, was wonderful, and we loved the relaxed nature of meals in Europe - no hurry and rush you out the door to turn as many tables as possible in a night!
We shared these delicious appetizers, and I had vegetable risotto for my main course.  It was really hard to find vegetables on the trip, so every time I had the opportunity, I ordered some!

Grilled cheeses and meat pancake in paprika, cream, and red pepper sauces

After dinner, we hung out at the hotel pool, then outside on the patio socializing with several other folks from the tour.  It was truly a fun and relaxing day-- a great way to start off my vacation!