HUNGARY

I can't believe I've been in Buadpest for 9 whole days. It feels like it's been about 2 seconds. I also can't believe I've only blogged about it once. I sincerely apologize. On the other hand, my lovely friend Katie has blogged every night about our adventures. Read about it here. I'll try to give you the highlights of the last 9 days.

Sunday we did a bit of sight seeing.

The four of us on the chain bridge connecting Buda and Pest.

Here we are in front of the Parliament building. It's gorgeous!

Looking from the Pest side into Buda.

Monday we started our observing and visiting.

We started out touring the St. Matthias Coronation Cathedral. It is stunning. They are doing some major renovations, so we didn't get a lot of pictures, but this gives you a pretty good idea.

Then we made our way over to The Institute for Musicology and Folk Song Research. This is a picture of the street it is on. Monday was a rainy and gloomy day, but the colors of the buildings were fabulous.

Dr. Jaccard has a special surprise planned for us later that day. This is Mrs. Kodaly - wife of the late Zoltan Kodaly (The man who's music education system we are studying here in Hungary). This was an INCREDIBLE opportunity for us. We were given a tour of the house they lived in together before Kodaly died in 1967 and then were able to speak with Mrs. Kodaly for about an hour. She has beautiful English and told us a lot about herself. She was very involved in the music world before she married Kodaly and has had a lot of influence since.

Then we met up with Dr. Jaccard's friend Bela for the evening. We walked around downtown Pest with him and he told us some interesting things about Hungarian History. Here we are at dinner. Bela's wife, Boro, is taking us shopping next Friday before we head home. Yay!

Tuesday we observed classes and lessons at the Bela Bartok Conservatory and then headed to the opera to see Madame Butterfly! It was wonderful.

Here is the stunning Budapest Opera House.

And the four of us. :)

Wednesday we observed a choir rehearsal at The Hungarian Radio Children's Choir School. They are incredible. The children are so talented and the teachers and conductors are amazing. Gabi, the conductor was so inviting and spoke with us for a little while before the rehearsal began. Her choir is performing tonight and we are going. I'm so excited!

 Here we are outside The Radio Choir School.

 That night we got the most amazing soufflé for dessert. It was delicious! 


We spent all of Thursday observing classes, lessons, and rehearsals at the Kodaly Hungarian Choir School and the Mozart Leopold After-School Conservatory. That night we went on a River Tour up and down the Danube. It was breathtaking.

The Parliament Building all lit up.

On our way back we found some creepy doors and decided to knock on them half hoping someone would answer. :)

Friday we went back to Gabi's school and the Kodaly Hungarian Choir School. Seriously, these choirs are phenomenal. I wish you could have been there to hear them.

Here is one of the metro stops that I think looks like my name.

Our last night on the metro - we were so sad. We've have some good times on the metro. The public transportation in Hungary is fabulous. Between the buses, electric buses, trams, and the metro, we could go anywhere we needed.

Saturday we went to Vienna!!!

We passed some beautiful canola fields on the way.

Vienna is so beautiful! It was a gloomy, rainy day, but we still loved it. Karissa lived in Vienna for three months last year, so we had our own personal tour guide. It was awesome. 

This is Schonbrunn, where the Austrian Royalty used to spend their summers. It is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Absolutely stunning.

We couldn't leave Vienna without singing some Sound of Music. Please enjoy this fabulous video. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=APltrp359cw

Today (Sunday) we went to Stake Conference and later tonight we're going to a performance by one of Gabi's choirs. I couldn't be more excited.

Friday night we went to Institute at the mission home and I ran into a friend from high school! I didn't know Elder Preston Wright was serving here. Anyway, it was fun to see him and talk to him for a bit. I got a picture with him today at Stake Conference. Please notice how we're awkwardly standing seven feet apart. :) Gotta love missionaries.

So there's a quick update for you! Tomorrow we travel to Kecskemet and then Tuesday to Debrecen. We'll be back in Budpest on Friday to do some shopping. Then I make my way to Manchester to meet up with my mom and spent five days in England. Can't wait!