Some say the hardest part about moving to another country is the holidays. Customs and traditions are different, some holidays aren't even recognized and most of all not being able to be with family. This is what we always look forward to, a time we can spend with our family and remembering what we are thankful for. While this year we weren't with our immediate family, we felt like we were with the next best thing.
Ralph and Tammy Stocks are our field coaches who live in Budapest, Hungary. Recognizing a need to come and visit them, they invited us to their house for Thanksgiving. We left Bucharest and were on the overnight train (14 hours!) to Budapest. When we arrived Wednesday morning we were greeted by Ralph and he welcomed us to the city.
Wes on the Overnight Train
From the moment we arrived we were well taken care of. Ralph already had our bus tickets purchased, showed us our way into the city and then took us to his house for a warm, home cooked breakfast. We spent most of Wednesday seeing the city and visiting the sites. Some of the sites include the Church in the Cave, the Holy Right and the Danube River.
Susan and Wes with the Danube Behind Us
Later that evening another colleague and friend of ours, Penny Mann, had arrived. She is serving in Pecs, Hungary also as a GSCer. I guess in honor of having Texans for dinner Tammy made a wonderful Mexican dinner. Wes' mouth was drooling for he has been missing Tex-Mex. We spent the evening visiting, catching up and anticipating what the next day had in store.
Penny and Susan
Thursday was a wonderful day! Penny took us into town again to visit the covered market, a popular site for tourists. We walked around the city some more and then decided it was time to make our way back for the Thanksgiving lunch. In addition to sharing Thanksgiving together, the Stocks had invited some American friends of theirs over who also live in Budapest. The day was so fun and eventful. We couldn't get over all the food that we had. The best part of it was that is was all Thanksgiving food; turkey, dressing, sweet potato casserole, cranberry casserole, pumpkin pie, apple pie, you name it! The rest of the day was spent playing games and relaxing. It was such a great day. If we couldn't be with our family, this is the next place we would want to be.
Our 20 lbs Turkey
I hope each of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and thanks again to the Stocks who made our holiday excellent.
(Stayed tuned for upcoming posts on our trip to Vienna, Starbucks and IKEA!)
3 comments:
sounds great... makes me hungry even though I ate a bunch also...
Love Mama
you forgot to mention wes getting his butt kicked at xbox and you, somehow winning a game you had never played...AND started late. i still think you cheated! :)
We're glad you had a great time and we're already anticipating Christmas. I can't believe you posted the picture of the turkey!!
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