Adventures on the way to Budapest

We woke up to snow in Novi Sad. It was beautiful! We got on the train at 8:30 and rode six and a half hours to Budapest. It was a really nice way to travel. We all enjoyed it very much. Within a couple of hours relaxing and watching the snowy scenery roll by, we had out the binder and were looking at maps of Serbia's regions and municipalities, and strategizing about church planting moving forward. We met some excellent Roma leaders at the conference, in addition to the ones we already know and love, and are very excited because they are spread out in several regions of Serbia. 

It was still snowing when we arrived. You will love this! We got on a cab at the train station in Budapest. The driver was VERY cranky. He would only take pay in Hungarian florins, yelled at me, refused to tell Dad and Rodja what the conversion rate was. We stopped to punch out money from an ATM to pay him. Of course Dad didn't know his pin, so I got out and got money. Got back in, went a half block and asked the cab driver how much farther? He refused to answer. Rodja asked him if he was always this nervous? He said, that's it! Out! He kicked us out of the cab in the middle of the street! It was snowing like crazy, too. We drug our luggage up the street to a very fancy hotel and had a coffee and regrouped. It turns out that we were only two blocks from our hotel, and we walked!

Cab fare:  $0.00
Fancy coffee:  $30.00
Budapest adventure:  Priceless

After a short rest, we  had a typical Hungarian dinner. Some spaetzle-looking dumplings with chicken paprika for me, veal for dad and Natasha, fish for Rodja. It all looked like glop with gravy, but tasted pretty good. It is all we had eaten all day except snacks on the train, and the coffees after the unfortunate taxi incident.

We are staying in an apartment/hotel that the Three Amigos stayed in when they visited Budapest. It is definitely NOT the luxury hotel where we had coffee, but is completely adequate for our needs. The pictures above show the room -- yes, the bed is one foot off the floor! Have I mentioned that I (and my knees) am 55 years old? :-) The last photo is the view out my window. There are still bullet holes from Hungary's troubled past evident in the abandoned buildings. 

Tomorrow is sightseeing with CRM folks, then Tuesday a business seminar for them, and then meet with them to all talk about working together. Our friend, Paul Hovda is affiliated with them, and he and his wife Jody will be with us!