Oh to be young and spontaneous! To be free and on vacation. And to have a good companion to share that special time with. Put all this together and you get me and my cousin deciding to fly to Budapest for the weekend - because I had read that Philip Yancey was going to be there. Philip who? Right... At the moment Yancey is my favorite author. 'What's So Amazing About Grace?', 'Reaching For The Invisible God', 'Prayer - Does It Make Any Difference?' are titles of some of his books, and there are more I could recommend.... So yes, I had found out that he was going to speak at an event in Budapest and asked Toni if she wanted to act as a groupie with me. Just kidding...So we booked the trip and were amazed.
 First impression of the metro: we are sitting on somebody's living room couch. 
St. Stephen's Basilica reads just underneath the gable : ego sum via veritas et vita. I am the way, the truth, and the life.
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Chain Bridge. One of ten bridges in Budapest that connects the two parts of the city, Buda and Pest, that are divided by the river Danube. In the background you can see part of the Royal Palace, the castle. On the right picture you can see some boats that offer tours on the Danube.
 
Do you have any idea how difficult Hungarian is? It's said to be one of the most difficult languages to learn. I'm sure they're right. Here we are at the festival where I knew Philip Yancey was going to speak. It ended up being an amazing concert. I had just forgotten to read the fine print...
 
Tim Hughes, Matt Redman, and Philip Yancey are just a few who came to the annual music festival 'Ez az a nap!' which translates to 'This is the day!' Many Hungarian artists as well as Serbian and I believe a Croatian artist united to make it an incredible day/night. We were blessed by a lively young crowd who sang with all their heart to a God who made us to worship him.
 
This young man put down a show that took my breath away. He is part of a British band named LZ7. Check out this video.
 
If you've never been to Budapest you will be overwhelmed by the architecture, by the variety of different styles, and all the history behind it (of which I know nothing about...). Walking around downtown you can see many beautiful statues like here, by the entrances of the buildings, or on the roof tops. The picture to the right is the Jewish Synagogue.
 
On the Buda side is the Royal Palace I mentioned above. The whole area is surrounded by the old wall of the castle and the picture to the left shows you the little towers from where you have a wonderful view onto the Danube and the Pest side. The picture to the right is the Matthias church, also part of the Royal Palace.
Matthias church
Looking at the Pest side and directly at the Parliament
 
Both pictures show again the Pest side. Chain bridge on the left, Freedom bridge on the right.
 
This is the Liberty Statue, a woman holding a palm leaf. The statue was first erected in 1947 in remembrance of the Soviet conquest of Hungary during World War II.
Meet Queen Elisabeth. Yes, I spelled it correctly. She was a popular queen and empress of Austria-Hungary, who was assassinated in 1898. So no one of major importance. I just liked this statue. And ner name.
I had a very good time in Budapest. The weather was great (up to 25°C/
77°F), the sights were amazing, and it was just wonderful to be traveling again!
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