Really the last of Budapest

We had some great hosts in Budapest. We were part of a festival, but the festival lost some of it's funding so they ended up not bringing as many groups. So we got to perform at a lot of different places to fill the time that we would have been spending festivalizing. Andrea in the red shirt below and her husband Janosh (the George Lucas looking fellow in the back) were the heads of the festival and they spent a lot of time with us. More time then they normally would get to spend. It was funny but on the last night there, Andrea shared with us that there was something about our group, an aura around us, that she couldn't put into words. It's great how people pick up on the spirit and don't even know it. Andy, the short brown haired girl, was our main tour guide and helper. She really took to the group as well, and didn't want us to leave.

Zoltan, on the very left, was also our helper.

We met Atila last time we were in Budapest. We performed with the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble and he helps them out doing odds and ends. He also took to our group and followed us around to most of our shows. He just wanted a belt buckle and his picture with the cowboys. His story is an interesting one. He was around 25 in 1956 when they had the Hungarian Revolution. He was part of a police force that was on the side of the revolutionaries that was sent to arrest the Soviets. After the revolution, his name was on a list to capture because he helped the revolutionaries. So he was told to flee. He escaped to Austria and then immigrated to America where he settled in Los Angeles. He always said he would come back when the Soviets left. So in 1992 after they left and his wife had died, he came back to Hungary. He was the funniest guy who was always trying to give us sour candy and kiss the girls.

The last of Budapest

So the last several days in Budapest we have had a combination of free time and performances. We have had several shows in outlying cities around Budapest. On Friday we also had a fireside for the members of the church here in Budapest.

On Wednesday, Mark and me and the other leaders got to go to a performance of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble. They are the premiere group here in Hungary. We met them last time we came to Budapest and performed with their group. Their director then later came to BYU to work with the dancers on their Hungarian dancing. Their performance, called legend of the Sun, was amazing. A combination of traditional Hungarian and modernish dancing. Mark bought their CD because the music was exceptional.

We had a performance with them again on Saturday on Margerite Island. The island is in between the two parts of Budapest, on the Danube river. A very beautiful location. It's fun to interact with the other dancers. Many of them speak English so it is easy to communicate.

Today we went to church again and then had two more shows. We have had a great time here in Budapest and have become close friends with our hosts, Andrea and Andrea. I will post a picture later of them since I have not uploaded pictures from today.

And now for some pictures.

This is our trainer Ron going down the big slides that we found. Sightseeing one day, we decided to go up to the Liberty statue because we didn't do that last time. On the way up we found these huge slides. I wish I would have gotten a picture of it, but when Mark went down he hit the bottom of the slide his shoes stuck and he went head over heels right into the sand. He had sand all over him.

This is me overlooking the Danube at the top of the hill where the Liberty Statue is.

Mark in front of the Liberty Statue. We saw several of these statues in Europe last time but never came to this one. These were the statues that the Soviets put up to celebrate the countries liberty from the Germans in WWII.

I just love this picture so had to post it. This is Tyler, one of the dancers, interacting with a group of Hungarian folk dancers. We were with them for two shows and they just followed us around. Here they were teaching Tyler to count in Hungarian.

Our group on stage at Margerite Island.

The group with the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, and Danu, another professional folk dance group from Budapest.

Still in Budapest

Tuesday we went as a group to the Hero's Square. It is the square that was constructed for the 1000 year celebration of Hungary in 1896. There is a big monument as well as museums and castles and such.

The whole group in front of the monument.

Afterwards we had free time to explore so we went to the castle area in the park right behind Hero's square. The museum was closed so we just took a picture and then went in search of the Jewish quarter with a few students.

On the way we found this cool park nestled in between two tall buildings. We just thought the painted backdrop on the side of the building was cool.

We found the Jewish quarter but the Mosque closed at 5 p.m. and we got there at 5:02. We couldn't get any information on where else to go in the Jewish quarter so we just took a picture. Doug, Brian and Lindsay Watson, me.

Since we couldn't find the Jewish quarter we wandered over to St. Stephens church. It closed at 7 p.m. and we got there at 7:02. So another picture looking out from the church.

More Budapest

I'm really glad that we have free internet in the hotel. However, it is really, really slow. It takes me like 30 minutes to upload pictures.

We are 10 days in Budapest so we have had a lot of time to see everything. We are part of a festival but part of the festival got cancelled due to funds so we have to fill a lot of time. We have seen a ton.

One day, the students went to the House of Terror, which is a somewhat of a Holocaust museum and Mark and I went last time we were in Budapest. So we decided to go to the Szechenyi Bath. Hungary is famous for their natural spring baths. The Szechenyi is in this huge, gorgeous building and there are just rooms and rooms of hot pools with different minerals and such in them. Really they were all the same to me but I guess each one had different things in them. Sulfur, salt, medicine. They also had saunas and steam rooms and an outdoor pool. It was so relaxing after walking and walking. Lots of men in Speedos though.

As a group we went up to Fisherman's Bastian and the Palace. All things we had seen last time we were here. So Mark and I went exploring a little after. We wanted to go into the Labyrinth underneath the castle but didn't have time. Apparently there is a maze of underground tunnels underneath that is haunted. Maybe next time we're here.

The whole group in front of the statue at Fisherman's Bastian.



Overlooking the Danube and the Pest side of Budapest from the top of Fisherman's Bastian.



Mark in front of the remnant of the church of Mary Magdalene. We found this as we exploring.


A view from the Palace wall.


The whole group in front of the wall overlooking Parliament.

Folk Dance Tour 2011

Mark and I are again touring with the folk dancers to Europe. Prior to leaving we took our kids to Disneyland, which I'll post about later. Our first few days have been eventful. I already have blisters on my feet from walking so much. Our plane rideover was horrible. We flew DC to Vienna and Mark and I had the noisiest family behind us. Most of the time, their two young daughters kicked our seats. We didn't go to bed the night before the trip because we had to leave at 4 a.m. so we were so tired and I couldn't sleep. Needless to say, I got about 4 hours sleep in 48 hours.

Our first full day here the group went and saw a few things in Budapest including the parliament and St. Stevens church. Mark and I were here three years ago so a lot of it we have seen before. But it's such a beautiful city, we don't mind touring it again.

Me in front of the Parliament building. This picture doesn't do it justice. It is so enormous and detailed.

The whole group in front of St. Steven's church.

We then were met by the missionaries and headed over to the church to do an interactive activity with the young single adults and other church members. We met a lot of nice senior missionary couples and the mission president as well as many nice members. The church is quite strong in Hungary. It has the first stake in eastern Europe with a large stake center. The largest church building I've seen here.

Some of the kids, and Ed our director, teaching the members to dance.

A local news station is making a documentary on religious groups and is showcasing our church and how their youth are a positive influence in their country. So they filmed us and the members interacting.

The next day we went to church in that same building. It's always a testimony builder to here the members share their experiences and testimonies. Especially in countries like these where everybody is a convert. After church we went to a town near Budapest called Szentendre. It's a very touristy town, with many shops and beautiful walking streets right on the Danube. Andrea, our tour guide says it's where all the rich people are moving because it's the popular place to live.

All the tour leaders. Ron, the team trainer and his wife Leslie, Jonathan our tour manager, Ed and Vicki Austin, directors, and me and Mark.

For lunch in Szentendre, they took us to a restaurant that had this cool tunnel system that was the wine cellar. In part of it, they made an eating area and we ate down there.

After that, we went to Budakalsz, another nearby city, and did a short show at their folk dance festival there. I think at first people don't know what to think about American Folk Dance. It's so much different then their traditional Hungarian dances. But they enjoy it. Some people even show up in their wranglers and cowboy hats.

Today we went to the Fisherman's bastian and palace and had another show. More on that later.

Dancing

Clara has had so much fun dancing with the BYU Children's dance this year. Her class did a medley from Annie. They perform in the dejong Concert hall at BYU and she thinks that is the best thing ever. She gets to have long tech rehearsals and play games int he green room.

I asked her if she wanted to do it again next year and the answer was a definite yes. I told her she could pick something else, and that she might try clogging since her dream is to be a folk dancer. That is a good skill for a folk dancer. She told me that she might try clogging sometime, just not now. She said that with clogging you just stand in one spot and don't do anything with your arms. I beg to differ but she said that she can't be boxed in like that. Her dancing has to be free. Whatever that means.






Speaking of clogging. Our team competed at Nationals at Lagoon again this year. We use it as an excuse to spend the day at Lagoon with my family. My parents and Amanda and Anna, and Melissa and her family came down. It's always a fun day. Our team did awesome too. We have the highest average age of all the teams there (Our oldest dancer is 38) and both our dances placed high enough to get a trophy in our division. One of them placed in the top 5 out of 90+ teams. The other was in the top 15. Eat that, 12 year old cloggers!

It was Collin's Birthday....2 months ago

Oh my gosh, I can't believe how unbelievably busy we have been. Collin's birthday was two months ago and still have not posted about it. I wanted to get it up before we leave. We leave in 5 days to take the kids to L.A. to my brother in law and sister in law's house. They are staying there while Mark and I go on tour with the folk dancers. Hopefully I'll get to blog while I'm there. And hopefully everybody survives while we're gone. My sister in law will have 6 kids. Good luck with that.

Anywho, back to Collin's birthday.




Hiding before the party.




Collin wavered back and forth on what theme to have for his party. A couple of weeks before he settled on Pirates so I started planning. Of course he changed his mind. The only way we convinced him that Pirates was a good theme was to tell him that Stella, my sister in laws dog, would come dressed as a pirate. It worked. Phew. Clara and Collin all dressed up for the party.

Stella. Collin didn't know quite what to think.


The cake. You know me and my lack of cake decorating ability.





We decided to do a pinata. It was the pull string kind, since it was predicted to be cold. We didn't want to be outside. Problem is, Bronson my nephew, pulled out the magic string that was supposed to open the hatch. He tugged too hard and the string came off but didn't break the pinata.
So we resorted to taking it outside and beating it with a stick. We tried hanging it off the tree but one of them hit it too hard and broke the cord that it was hanging from. So then we just beat it on the ground. Eventually it opened. Note to self: buy a better pinata next time.

I love this picture of him blowing out the candles. So enthusiastic.



So Collin has a blue Lovey that he's had since he was 3-4 months old. We were smart after Clara and her one dog. We have 3 loveys that we rotate through. When we first bought the Loveys, they had a rattle in the head. So we pulled out the inside and cut out the rattle. Collin never noticed until recently. The loveys are getting old and the stuffing is starting to come out the hole where we cut. When he discovered it, he thought it was really fun to pull out the stuffing. We were finding stuffing everywhere. He also likes to sniff the lovey when he sucks his thumb. Once the stuffing started coming out he started sniffing that instead. We would catch him with a small piece of stuffing stuck practically up his nose. We had to keep refilling the stuffing, which Collin calls Lovey fluffies. And the stuffing had to be just the right consistency. Not too soft or too hard. Soon after that he decided that he didn't like the stuffing at all and pulled all of it out of all the loveys. Now they all have flat, stuffless heads. He likes to thread his finger through the hole where the stuffing came out. Kids are so silly.