Budepest I

The first thing that caught our eye at the Budapest Hotel was the green poster next to the elevator advertising our concert (C6-01)

It was a very modern hotel with views all around. (H8-01)

The view below was from our room, but the downside was that a tram went right by the hotel and the early morning noise was very wakening. (H6-03)

But Bruce said that his view was to the back and his overnight noise was the deafening, constant wind.

Our first activity in Budapest was a dinner cruise on the Danube which was enjoyed by one and all. Top left (H6-08), right H6-05)

Left (H6-07), bottom (H6-06). Michael Foster's friend, Julie Abrahams is an acquaintance of mine from another life - my math grantsman days in the Defense Department. Sure is a small world!

The next morning, we had a guided tour of Budapest. Left (C6-09) is our guide, chatting away near the castle in Buda.

Below, is the Buda Castle. (C6-10) Our guide pointed out that that bird in the top right of the picture is not an image of any real bird that that ever existed. It is a figment of the sculpture's imagination.

Two more pictures of the chain bridge taken from this very high castle overlooking the town of Pest. Above is (C6-14) and below (H6-12) shows at the far left the parliamentary buildings which we never visited. In the picture below (H6-13), those parliamentary buildings are at the far right.

Above, (H6-18) is the Matthias Church where we will be singing our last concert.

Below, (H6-22),the Danube from the Citadel even higher up the hill in Buda.

And below, (H6-20) you can see Elaine standing in front of the the Cathedral door with our green concert poster to her right. Is that the cathedral guard standing at attention to the right or is it Dick Morrison?

Right, (H6-21) is one of the beautiful stained glass windows in the cathedral. I was unable to photograph most of the cathedral interior due to my tiny flash.

Below is the Castle Courtyard - somewhat out of sequence. (H6-16)

Our driving your continued across the river into Pest. We drove into Heroes' Square and were shown the Millenary Monument above (C6-23). We were let off at the beginning of the pedestrian walk right near the Hungarian Academy of Science building below. (C6-27).

Above, (C6-24) is St. Stephen's Basilica. We walked a bit down the pedestrian walk, (C6-28) and took the tram back to Moscow Square below (H6-31), a short walk from our hotel. I was really beat.

After the strenuous day and a touch of the "bad water" syndrome, we decided to simply eat in the coffee shop. Turns out, we weren't alone. In addition to all of the choir-people photographed to the right (H6-34), there was a very sick Laura, a disturbingly peckish Tom Stork, (our bass soloist!), and several others who really didn't want their picture taken.

The next morning, we had our rehearsal for our Budapest and Eger concerts. Bob held forth above (C6-36) and the choir to the right (Top-H6-35, Bottom C6-37) responded with enthusiasm. The room was large but the windows behind us were opened for much needed air.

This finishes our first page of Budapest. The next section describes our
Day in Eger and our third concert of the tour.
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