We were blessed to be able to spend a day with Amy and Jeff from Macedonia, their children, and Jeff's parents, as they spent a couple of days of vacation in Budapest.
Starting early in the morning, we traipsed across the Pest side of the city showing them all the famous sights until late in the afternoon and it was nap time for the kids.
Glenn, as usual, was the tour guide and filled everyone in on the history, interesting facts and legends surrounding Magyarorszag (the country of Hungary).
While we were crossing Vaci Street, our popular pedestrian walking street, I saw this lone red car among a line of black cars. I'm not normally particularly introspective, but I did think this was a great picture of how people sometimes feel different from those around them. Certainly, living overseas as foreigners, sometimes we feel like we stick out like a sore thumb. I know there was a time I enjoyed being in the limelight, but not so much now. I do, however, love the color RED and if I have to stick out in some way from those around me, I hope I can do it with flair and extravagance like the color red!
A day or two after Jeff and Amy's family left, we boarded a plane for Lorrach, Germany for a team meeting of the couples who do member care with us in Europe. Besides being the lead Member Care consultant for Eurasia, Glenn is also the team leader for the North team, which is comprised of the 4 couples who provide member care for most of our families in Europe (including Russia).
My airline of preference is Lufthansa, a German airline. Besides being clean, on time, and having helpful employees, they provide free newspapers in German and English (USA Today and Financial Times) and free coffee in the terminals (and now that I am such a coffee fanatic...) and they give Milka chocolate bars as their snacks on the plane. Can't beath those perks! (I know, we pay for them with each ticket we buy.)
Lorrach is a quaint village down in the corner of Germany where it borders France and Switzerland. In fact, we flew into Basel, Switzerland, walked out the France side of the airport, drove about 10 minutes in France before coming to Germany. However, there are no borders to cross, and I didn't even see any signs that said you were entering one country or leaving another, but all of a sudden the signs changed languages so you'd know you left France and entered Germany. About 10-15 minutes into Germany, we came to Lorrach.
We stayed in the Meyerhof Hotel right on the walking street in the heart of the "village".
Our 3 other team member couples had been attending a Grip-Birkman training (led by one of our own member care couples) and so they were already gathered together. It was just a matter of Glenn and me flying in to spend a few days with them at the end of their training, so we were able to have a North team retreat for little additional expense! Yea!
We met in the mornings and evenings, but had the afternoons free to wander around the village center. I loved this huge clock on the wall of The Three Kings hotel. Anyone that knows me well or has been to our house in BP knows that I have a thing for clocks!
My favorite part of the retreat was lunch. Not the meals, but the female fellowship. Usually, we go out to eat as a mixed group, husbands and wives, but I find that I really crave some good ol' girl talk and so Glenn let the women go for lunch together, and the men went somewhere else both days. It was great to be able to talk about things that pertain to us as women.
The afternoons were free to do whatever we wanted. Since they all had just come from 4 days of intensive training, some of them were exhausted and needed some down time, as I did. The first afternoon I stayed in my room and rested, but the second afternoon I was up for a walk along the river with others who wanted to be outside in the heavenly sunshine!
We usually ended up walking two by two, so I got in some more "girl talk" time, which I really needed. These ladies provided me with some real, down-to-earth member care!
We are off again today. Any bets on where?
1 comment:
Glenn and Cile,
I am always amazed at how busy your life is and how you handle all of the travel, etc. with such grace. I enjoy reading and seeing the pictures, they are like a travel log. I know that you are such a blessing to all whose lives you touch. Thank you for sharing with us.
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