Retreat, rest, and ride!

This weeks' title is so appropriate for describing what I have done for the past 7 days!  

Last Sunday, we returned from a 10 day stay in Greece that, although we had built in a day off, we ended up working all 10 days.  By time we returned to BP, I was exhausted.  I had one day (Monday) to unpack, buy groceries, do laundry and repack for a ladies retreat that began on Tuesday.  No time for resting on Monday, so I went into the ladies retreat with less than normal enthusiasm, to say the least.  

The ladies retreat was put on by a wonderful group of women from Austin, Texas from the home church of one of our ladies who lives in Budapest.  However, after 10 days of being with people, I needed some real "down" time, and the Lord knew it!

I managed to get some kind of 24 hour stomach bug the first day, and ended up staying in my room, in my bed, in an air conditioned hotel with a great view!  I slept and slept and slept, and finally woke up the next morning, feeling MUCH better and able to rejoin the ladies.  God knew exactly what I needed and provided the perfect place for recovery!

We stayed in the Novotel that is located downtown, on the Danube River, just across from the Parliament building!  Would you believe that my room was "smack dab" (I hear my mother's voice!) behind the tree on the second floor?  Yep!  I could still see the Parliament building through the trees though and was just awed at the view.

This is the view out the window 2 doors down from my room.

And this is the same view at night.   It is absolutely gorgeous!

Kim, the leader of the group, led us in a Bible study from the book of Esther each morning and evening.  It is amazing that God brings out something different each time we study His word, even the parts that are as familiar to us as the palms of our hands!   (Do you see the Parliament building in the background through the window?)  

After attending a Hungarian Baptist church for 4 years, and even though we now go to an International church where we worship in English, emotion still overwhelms me with each opportunity to sing those familiar old hymns in English. 

What would a retreat be without a break long enough to run to the nearest Starbucks?  All we had to do was walk a block or two down to the nearest metro station and ride one stop, come up out of the ground, and voila', there's a Starbucks!

The ladies brought us treats from America, which we greatly appreciated!  I got two bags of Fritos, 4 packs of note cards, 2 cake mixes, 2 bags of pecans and a bottle of shower gel, but the best gift was the making of four new friends.  

While I was gone, Glenn got some needed "ME" time and then he texted me to say he was going kayaking with Istvan in a lake about 30 minutes away.  It was an inflatable kayak so I was praying for safety for them.  He also cleaned the house for me (!) so when I got back, we took Saturday off and went for a long, long, long bike ride.  

Glenn showed me a castle in our little part of town that he had discovered on a previous bike ride.  It is the Nagytetenyi Castle.  I don't know anything about it other than it houses a museum and evidently allows people to have their pre-wedding pictures taken there-for a fee.

We rode out in the country and passed by "dacha's", which, in the old days, were tiny one-room summer homes on small plots just large enough for raising vegetables for the family.  Today, many dacha's are simply country homes where people retreat to on weekends to give them a break from the hustle and bustle of city life.  This house was probably about 12' x 15'.  

While riding out in the country, we were passed by a small group of about 10-12 more professional-looking bikers.

Here's Glenn as they whizzed by!

Further out in the country, we came to a field of sunflowers.  It was right about noon when I took this picture and since the flower faces were not tilted toward the sun, I assume the flowers were past their prime and were waiting to be harvested.  

Up close.

While I was taking the previous picture, Glenn gently said to me something like, "Cile, don't freak out, but there is a plane about to go over your head."  I looked up just in time to see a glider noiselessly float over me and land across the street in the open field of a small local airport.   The field of sunflowers is on the lefthand side of the photo, and the open field of the airport is just behind those bushes on the right.  

There was some sort of glider competition going on, so we waited a few minutes until the next one came overhead.  I was so hoping for a picture of the underside of the glider as it flew over me just before landing.  Unfortunately for my photo op, the second plane cruised over me about 30 yards down the road.  Still, it was awesome.  The weirdest thing was that a plane of that size makes NO SOUND as it glides through the air!

We eventually turned back toward town and followed the river into downtown BP, taking another break along the way.  I think we rode 3 hours and 45 minutes in all.  

Today, I am resting, physically, emotionally, and spiritually!  

Coffee-fiend that I have become, I am now fixing frappucino's at home, re-using my Starbucks clear plastic cups to give me that psychological edge.  However, since I don't have a blender to crush ice, I am having to make mine with ice cream, which has entirely too many calories to do this for long.  Needless to say, I'm on the lookout for a used blender!

We'll be in town for most of August, resuming our travels in September.  We have company coming several times this month to stay with us for a few days while they sightsee in Budapest.   Tonight, we have a young, engaged couple coming for 4 nights before they fly back to the U.S. in time for college to restart.