Michelle Beaty...

...is home again! And I've eaten so much junk food in my first 24 hours here it's really not funny. But I'm glad to be back and look forward to catching up with you guys!!

Text received at approximately 10:30 a.m.: "What are you doing today? -Liz"

"Nothing. What did you have in mind? -Michelle"

"Oh just maybe sitting somewhere reading or movie and dinner? -Liz"

"Sounds good. See you at 3. -Michelle"

Yep, that's how we socialize. Our Romanian friend was slightly surprised to walk into Liz's apartment and find her in the armchair engrossed in Dracula (you might as well read the story if you live 4 hours from his castle, right?) while I browsed ravenously devoured The Pilgrim's Regress.

"What are you guys doing?"

"We're hanging out. We're reading together."

I love low-pressure get-togethers.

Budapest

Buda and Pest, divided by the Danube, united by a bridge. heh.

The steeper streets--like this one--are quite an ordeal for vehicular traffic.

The opera house, about two blocks from the apartment where Liz and I stayed

The apartment. Vaulted ceilings. Unfortunately, I hadn't thought to bring a volleyball.... Here's the story: this apartment is actually the headquarters for a music ministry called Crescendo. On Tuesday night, I had gone to a Crescendo concert in Iasi, and on Friday night, I stayed in their mission headquarters in Budapest, and I had no idea until I got there that they were remotely connected.

The Parliament building shortly before the storm cloud broke.

Liz and I at Heroes' Square...at this particular moment in history, Liz had a pounding headache, there was a street-dance troupe practicing behind us, a sound check for a huge concert on my left (hence the headache?), and my fingers were stickier than they had been since I was two. Fun times.

This would be why my fingers were sticky. Hungarian yumminess, that right there. Bring your own napkins.

The airline that Liz and I flew had excellent service.