Walk a kilometer in my shoes!

We continue our trip to Lyon, France to visit our daughter and son-in-law. We've had a WONDERFUL time and thoroughly enjoyed our daily lonnnnng walks either in the country where Kari and Jonathan are housesitting or on one of our treks into downtown Lyon.

This is the house where we've been staying. It belongs to a family with another mission organization who is in America until Monday. We've stayed here a couple of times and loved each one. The house is along the Saone River and that is where we have walked and walked.

My favorite memory at the house will be eating meals on the front porch with the cool breeze blowing through and Beau, their dog, laying at our feet wishfully thinking we will drop a crumb. Forget it, Beau!

Occasionally Glenn's cell phone rings and he has to take care of some member care concerns. This coming Monday the budget for TCK education has to be turned in to the Richmond office so there have been "a few" emails that have come in for me to deal with. Otherwise, it has been a very restful and enjoyable week with Kari and Jonathan. Knowing this is my last trip to France for the foreseeable future, I've wanted to make sure to eat a chocolate eclair and at least one crosissant. Fortunately, we've walked and walked and walked, and Kari and I have even jogged twice!

Did I mention we've walked and walked and walked?

In "the neighborhood" out here there is a place called Troc de l'ile. It is very much like a Goodwill store in America. We haven't been able to find anything that compares with it in Hungary but every time we come out here to the country, we walk down to the Troc to browse. I found a "poubelle de table" for me, which is a "trash can for the table". When we lived here in France in 1984, every French table had a poubelle de table for chicken bones and such. I never got me one then, but I desperately wanted one "for old times sake". I found a cute one in a burnt orange ceramic that will go well with my house decor and dishes.

Not every day but almost, we made a trip down the street about a mile away to the Intermarche grocery store. I never minded the walk because I love walking, but also because I love grocery stores, even in America! One time Kari and I went alone, but forgot to limit our items to what we could carry between just the two of us, so we were quite a sight walking home, heavily laden with our three full bags!

One day this week we headed into downtown to hike up to the top of Fourviere to take daytime pictures, and then to hang around in town until almost dark, and then go up again to see the city at night. Not all these pictures following were taken on that specific trip into town, but most of them were. Between the 1000 pictures I've taken with my pocket-size digital camera and the 1000 Kari has taken with her deluxe digital camera, it is hard to choose which ones to show you!

We catch a bus to take us from our countryside home, past this beautiful, old house on the river. This is my favorite sight on the bus ride into town, which takes about 40 minutes. There are two rivers that flow through Lyon. This is the Saone, the other in town is the Rhone River.

No trip to Lyon would be complete without seeing St. John's Church. It faces a square, but the square is not large enough to be able to get the huge church completely in the viewfinder!

This was a common sight during our whole trip. Kari walking with Jonathan ahead of us. Sometimes it would be Kari and me walking with Jonathan and Glenn behind us. If we're in a hurry, it would be Jonathan and me in front of Glenn and Kari. We mixed things up occasionally, but it was most often K & J in front since they knew where we were going!

I love walking along the rivers. Lyon has done a great job of providing walkways along her rivers!

This picture is taken at the level of the river, but up on top of the hill is the Basilique de Fourviere where we were headed. We WALKED (or should I say "climbed" the hill to the top).

I love the rooftops too!

This is one of the views from the top of Fourviere. Absolutely gorgeous!

Rooftops, up closer!

And now, the walk down. Thousands and thousands of steps between very, very old buildings.

Then we spent several hours "killing time" until almost dark, just walking around the city. We found this motorcycle and we wished Chris and Kate had been here with us. Chris would have loved this old motorcycle.

Another view along the river.

A very quaint sidewalk cafe with more seating inside.

By now we've been walking for about 6 hours. No wonder Glenn's tired! We left the country home at 3:15 pm and it is about 9 pm now. We are getting ready to head across town to go back up the hill to Fourviere to view the city by night.

One more trek across one of the bridges to start the climb.

Dusk without Glenn and me in the picture.

Fourviere by night

The city lights at night.

We fly home this evening and will be back to work in the morning. We've had a great visit, and the only thing that makes leaving K & J is knowing that we will see them in September when we head to the States for our stateside assignment!

Thanks Kari and Jonathan for a great vacation! Thanks Elizabeth and Paul for a wonderful place to stay!

Happy Mother's Day to me!

This post is by Cile's ghostwriter. She's on vacation this week, visiting us here in Lyon, France, so I offered to update her blog for her.

- Kari (Cile's daughter)

Hopping off the bus and heading into a full day...

One of the hard parts of living far from family members is that we're not able to celebrate holidays and birthdays together often. Sometimes you have to get creative and make the most of the time you do have together. So, today was Mother's Day - for my mom, at least.

We planned a day of Mom-would-like-this activities and in true Cile Style, we walked the whole day. (She loves to walk.) We started off at the arts and crafts markets at about 10am, then went to our favorite food market to buy items for a picnic lunch. Passers-by wished us 'Bon appétit!' as we ate on the curb by the river.


The best market in Lyon...

After our leisurely lunch, we walked across the peninsula to the banks of the Rhône River, then up to the Parc de la Tête d'Or for a stroll around the rose gardens. Unfortunately, due to the cold, the roses were nehind blooming schedule. Fortunately, that means we have an excuse to go back later this week!


...Sunday mornings along the Saône River.


And on the opposite bank: the arts and crafts market. Very, very cool.


Our picnic: two rôtisserie chickens, a loaf of baguette, fresh goat cheese, rillette au porc (like pâté), green olives marinated in basil and garlic, amazing strawberries, mango, some cherries...


Digging in


Happy Mother's Day!


The Rhône River


The 'rents


Hôtel Dieu on the Rhône River


Taking a break to sit along the bank of the Rhône River


Swans in the Rhône River


Walking to the rose gardens in the Parc de la Tête d'Or


Beautiful peonies in the park gardens


Walking, walking, walking... We've walked over 17 miles since my parents arrived 72 hours ago.


PS. These last two photos continue this post.

Rain and more rain!

The weather here in Europe has been so bizarre this past year. We had a terribly long and cold winter and it doesn't seem to want to get warm this spring. The HIGH for today is 53 degrees and I am wearing long pants and a long sleeve shirt as I write. It has rained for the past 4 days and is to continue raining off and on for the next week. All of Europe is having colder weather than usual.

I did something this past week for which I am very proud. I drove 1586 kilometers through Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Poland, and then back home again. On Monday morning I picked up Janet who lives around the corner from us, and we drove from Budapest, through the country of Slovakia to Brno, Czech Republic where we picked up Wendi and her daughter, Emma.

We continued on to Prague, and then on into Poland to the famous town of Boleslawiec where they manufacture hand-painted Polish pottery. We saw the beautiful rape seed growing along the interstate. Rape seed is used to make canola oil.

As we drove into Boleslawiec, we saw this place selling every kind of statue imaginary. I thought of my son and his love for "yard art"! This picture only shows half of what they had for sale.

Janet and I left Budapest at 8:30 am and the four of us arrived in Boleslawiec by 6:30 pm. A long day but it was a lot of fun. I drove the whole way.

We stayed in a local hotel Janet found on the internet. It was fabulous! We couldn't get over the size of the bathroom!!!! In addition to a huge bathroom, the bedroom was equally large; large enough to hold a double bed, two single beds, and a small sitting area. Quite nice!

It's been a while since I've gone to a pajama party!

Tuesday morning we were out the door by 9:30 am and headed to shop for Polish pottery 'til we dropped. Or until the stores closed! We found wonderful shops, full of pottery of all styles, colors (mostly blue) and shapes.

Wendi had a great time spreading all the plates out on the floor and selecting her a set of dishes. I think she took about an hour and a half in this one store and we visited about 10 stores in all! I bought 8 dinner plates of different styles, a large casserole dish, several dipping bowls for spiced oil, and a utensil holder. It was a lot of fun spending my birthday and Christmas money!

Tuesday night after the stores all closed, we headed back to Prague. We spent the night in one of our co-workers apartments while they were out of town.

Wednesday morning before heading back to Budapest by way of Brno to drop off Wendi and Emma, I was walking around the corner to a local Potraviny (very small local grocery store) to buy something for breakfast when I came upon this horde of young children about 5 or 6 years old walking by. They must have been on a field trip or a stroll to the local park near their school. I was so surprised when one of them kept waving to me as if he knew me! It turned out to be Mason, one of our little TCK's who lives in Prague. I don't really think it was me he recognized, but more likely it was Emma who was with me!

Wendi, Emma and I stopped in a little town between Prague and Brno to buy a piece of the famous Bohemian lead crystal for which Czech Republic is known. It is a wedding present for a friends' daughter who is getting married in June in the U.S. Shhhhh! Don't tell her, Kristin!

I bought it in a quaint little town in the middle of no-where but they had some beautiful pieces!

I got home Wednesday night at 9:30 pm. I had driven through rain most of the day so I was quite tired; definitely glad to be home finally!

I spent the next couple of days getting caught up on emails and hosting the Brummits from Prague who came into town for a wedding of one of their Hungarian friends. While they were at the wedding on Saturday, Glenn and I slipped out to see a movie at the local mall.

A really neat thing they have at MOM Park mall in the underground parking lot are digital signs that tell you how many available parking spots there are on each level. Above each parking spot is a light; it is green if the parking spot is empty and red if there is a car in it. When you are driving through the aisles, you look up high for green lights that indicate an open parking spot. We went to the movies on a Saturday night and it was raining outside so all of Budapest was at the mall and the green lights definitely made it much easier to find an open parking space! The light above Glenn is red because the parking space has our car in it!

We travel again this week to our favorite European location. Can you guess where that is?

My newest ministry!

In addition to my TCK education ministry, providing member care to our personnel, covering at the Eden House once a month, opening our home for food and fellowship, and being a tour guide in town when folks come to visit Budapest, my latest ministry is flower delivery!

I got an email from Dwayne and Missy, asking if I could pick up some daisies for Dwayne's mom for Mother's Day and take them to her. Dwayne's mom is Mary, our co-worker here in Budapest, and they wanted to make sure "Mimi" (as they call her) knew they were thinking of her on Mother's Day. I couldn't find cut daisies so I got her a potted planter full of daisies that she will be able to enjoy for a long time. Hopefully!

I promise, I work hard during the week (I also PLAY hard on the weekends!) This week I took Friday off to go with one of the guests at the Eden House to the Szecheny Thermal spa in downtown. I know... it is a rough life but SOMEBODY gets to do it, and there's no reason why it can't be ME!

I met Elizabeth in town at 12:30 pm in front of the thermal spa and before going in, we enjoyed a picnic lunch on the grounds. The day was warm and beautiful. Very comfortable, temperature wise, but not hot. Perfect day for the spa! Indoors or outside!

Now, we all know the rumor that Europeans are not very modest, and there is some truth to that, but we bought spa tickets that allowed us to change and store our clothes in private "cabins". The ironic thing is that men and women use the same hallway so you have to make sure you are fully dressed before exiting the "cabins.

I've shown you pictures before of this place, but I didn't do much else this week besides return emails about education. The pictures of the spa are much more interesting than me sitting at my dining room table with the computer in front of me and all my papers spread out before me. Boring!

Outside, there are 3 large pools with different purposes. This one has the hottest water at 38 degrees Celcius (or if you prefer, Centigrade). If you look closely (zoom in) on the far right side, you will see several men playing checkers or chess in the water. If you see a picture in a tourist magazine of this spa, it will usually have a shot of this pool with a close-up of men playing chess or checkers.

The middle pool is a lap pool reserved for those who are here for exercise. No loafing in this pool!

And the third pool at the far end is the "fun" pool. In the very center is a jacuzzi that will seat about 15 people. In the circle surrounding the jacuzzi is a whirlpool that has jets that make the water go 'round and 'round. This is my favorite! If you lift your feet off the bottom, you will float all the way around the circle without a bit of effort. The current is really fast and if someone tries to walk it, they will get bumped by the folks who have their feet lifted!

The weather was really nice, but not warm enough for me to want to sunbathe! Maybe this guy had done laps all afternoon and needed a bit of rest!

We also took advantage of the indoor pools. All in all, there are 17 pools, I believe. Each one has something different to offer. Temperatures vary, some have minerals in them, one is for a water aerobic class (we also participated in this too!), and there are a bunch of saunas with the ice pool right beside it for dipping/freezing afterward! Some people just enjoy sitting or laying in the water and letting the warmth relax them. (And for those who are wondering, no, that is not me in the aqua blue bathing suit with the dark hair. She just looks like me.)

This man evidently got too relaxed in the pools! He was sleeping quite soundly!

Anyway, the day was lovely (as my "British" co-worker would say) and I felt all loosy goosy the rest of the evening. Taking people to the spa is one of my favorite things!

This week the iron man showed up at our house with burglar bars for our downstairs windows. We didn't ask for them but our landlord felt really, really bad about our break-in back in January, so he hired a guy to make burglar bars for the house.

This is the view out of one of our four living room windows, overlooking the carport.

And this is the view out of our downstairs bathroom, overlooking our neighbors yard. I was a little worried that I wouldn't like the bars on the windows, that I would feel like a prisoner in my own home, but actually they are quite nice. (I sound like my "British" co-worker again.) Do you see my curtains on the window? They are shower curtains that match the curtains on the tub/shower! I thought that was creative! Besides that, it was a lot easier to buy two sets of shower curtains than to find fabric to match and then have to make the curtain myself (or take it to my Hungarian friend, Judit who is the seamstress.)

Well, tomorrow I head to Poland for a Ladies Road Trip. We are going to shop for Polish pottery! I'm using (by faith) birthday money I hope to get from my Dad and Glenn's parents, and from money E. gave me last year that I've been saving for this trip. I am driving; two other ladies from BP are going with me. We will drive to Brno, Czech Republic and pick up Wendi and her daughter Emma, then the five of us will drive to the town of Boleslawiec, Poland which is the town where all the pottery is made. We'll shop on Tuesday, and return home on Wednesday. Glenn is staying in BP because he had a revisit by the stomach bug that was here two weeks ago. Maybe I will pick him up a piece of pottery so he will know I was thinking of him!

A Horrible Winter Means...

a beautiful spring, we hope! The winter was long, long, long, and a good bit colder than previous winters. Certainly more snow than we've ever had before! We won't have any apricots this year because a late frost got all the blooms, but the apples, cherry and pear trees all seem to be doing beautifully.

This gorgeous Lilac bush is at the front corner of our yard. Our house sits on a corner, Komaromi ut (Komaromi Street) passes in front of our house and Heja utca (Heja Road) passes along the side of our yard. Our first year here I never even noticed our Lilac bush since it is outside our fence and the straw mats woven into the fence blocked the view of it. Last year I found out we had one, but it was after the bush had already bloomed. This year I am enjoying the blooms with fresh bouquets in my house for several weeks!

Even though the flowers are starting to bloom, the sun is not out a lot. Most days it is overcast. Saturday, Glenn and I worked out in the yard for 6-7 hours (yes, I'm feeling it today!) and neither one of us even got the slightest bit pink from the sun. Too cloudy.

It's been a calm week as Glenn and I quarantined ourselves from the stomach bug we caught last week. We worked on emails, and didn't even leave the house until Thursday, and that was to go get some groceries! Since there isn't a lot to tell you about in our life this week, let me share with you something from our local "superstore", Tesco.

I always get amazed at the American products that we can buy here, and the "randomness" of them all! Why do some companies come to Hungary and others don't? Why can we buy Lays potato chips in an assortment of flavors, but we can't get Fritos by Frito Lay? There are tons of other brands of potato chips, but nothing here that is equivalent to corn chips!

By the way, the Mabelline Mascara in the familiar green and pink tube is 1,399 Hungarian forints (HUF), which is equal to $6.93 (USD). I think these sell for about $3.99 at Walmart, don't they?

Freeman's facial products are some of my favorites in America, especially the facial scrub. However, I try to stock up on it when in the U.S. because a tube is $7.75 here whereas in America, the last time I bought Freeman's, it was about $3.50. Of course, it's now been 3 1/2 years since I last bought any and the price has probably gone up some.

I get a little excited when I see an American product with English on the front label, but then my excitement is squelched when I turn the package over and there on the back where the directions are, there is this white label that has been totally pasted over the English and everything is written in Hungarian. There is NO WAY to get that label off to be able to read what was under it. That's the best adhesive money can buy, for sure! Sometimes there isn't a white label; then I really get excited! That is ... until I turn the package or box over and notice that only the front was written in English and the back, sides and everything inside the box is written in Hungarian! The worst is hair dye! (Not that I use it, of course!!!)

And this just cracks me up. Why do they put the words in English on products that are produced here in Hungary and sold exclusively here? On one side of the box of milk it says Tej, and on the other side it says Milk. Honestly, in 10 years, everyone in Hungary is going to be speaking English whether they want to or not!

I told you this was a calm week. Glenn and I are here all this week so hopefully I will get caught up in emails and get in a bike ride with my hubby. Glenn is getting ready to go on a 3 day bike ride with a co-worker and his son, and he needs to build up his endurance. While Glenn goes bike riding/camping, I'm going pottery shopping (in Poland) with the guys' wife! More on that to come!

Have a great week!