Successful Sunday

Waking up not wanting to go to church, I forced myself and come home with these. I didn't know what the drawing said until I was able to look it up once at home....'Gott nähe zu sein, ist mein ganzen Glück' Psalm 73:28. To be near God, my whole happiness. One amazing kid.

Seeds. Soil. Sun. 

Just three days later, bloom.

I was invited to go to a jazz concert with some friends. I was taken to this warehouse, when I went inside, i couldn't believe it. In this warehouse they renovated pianos. there were piano parts everywhere. and a stage set up with a beauty at the forefront. 

Simple structure.

So many gadgets.

accidental beauty.

Captivated by the crane.

Still don't know why.

The concert was different. The group was good, but not what I expected. 

The sky on the way home lit as if it were sunrise. 

Couldn't believe it. 

Life is so unexpected.

Abbey

Holocaust Memorial

Gina and I went to the Holocaust memorial before one of our field trips. I had seen pictures, but it took me back at first sight.

the view totally changes depending on where you were standing

the regulations of the memorial. I would've never spotted them if Gina hadn't found it. It is on the ground.

Walking in.

the aisles

It had rained earlier and after being in the memorial for 5 minutes, I noticed the drops on the cement.

In some shaded aisles, the drops looked like lights, even stars, endless.

It was like they were shining in glory.

I could've stayed for hours.

Not all were shining as individual lights though. Some were falling. It made the cement pillars seem like they were crying.

Every side of every pillar was different.

i had never seen anything like it before.

This is a panorama. the panorama doesn't go long enough to get the fourth aisle I was within

some of the cement was cracking.

some so much that they needed support. Still breaking, still bleeding, still grieving, still healing.

wounded

endless

After we walked through the memorial we went to the museum underneath the memorial. You walk in and start reading what is written on the walls. You are confronted with progression of the harsh facts about how 5.5-6 million jews died. Simple text on a while wall accompanied by pictures.

The next room has about 16 white rectangles on the ground. they each had postcards on them with their translations and the writes story. All victims of the holocaust. It was in this room where I was stifled by the stillness I hadn't realized until that moment. There was nothing anywhere that said you couldn't/shouldn't talk, it was just naturally adopted. I wan't expecting it to be loud, don't get me wrong, but you have to understand, there wasn't even any white noise. I have never seen that many people occupy one space with no noise yet be in motion. It became a sensory experience like the void in the jewish museum but very different because it isn't expected of anyone, the silence is just given respectfully by all. 

The next room was the family room. There were about 12 families pictured on different hanging pillars. A family picture, a map of their journey, information about the family and profile pictures of each family member coupled with a statement about where and how they had died or if they had survived. There was a map in the room showing where all the families had come from. To my surprise, the families were from all over Europe. No jewish european family was safe. 

The next room had one person's name projected on all four walls while it read their story aloud in english and in german. When it switched to the next person, their name would appear on all four walls. There were benches in the room to sit and listen. There was also a small section on one of the walls with informative text. I don't think i'll ever forget the last sentence. "To read all 6 million victims names and stories would take 6 years, 7 months and 27 days." It brings tears to my eyes. 

The final room was on the concentration camps. There were about 8 concentration camps they focused on and had pictures or sketches of. They also had telephone booth type things in this room. I sat down and had a hard time figuring out how to work the simple device and when I figured it out. I almost wish I hadn't. On the other line was the voice of a person telling their story about their experience in a concentration camp. Halfway into the first story, I found myself unable to move. I listened to all 8 stories. I will not recount any of them. 

Once I was done listening to the stories I felt like a zombie. After about 5 minutes I started questioning whether dying was worse than surviving from something like the holocaust. I've never thought negatively about living life, but I don't know how those who survived, survived life after the holocaust. I wonder what victims of the holocaust think about life and about death? 

If only i had enough discipline to pray for 6 years, 7 months and 27 days...

Abbey

Doner

So you can get a Doner Kebab anywhere in Berlin. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doner_kebab

There are stands everywhere. It is technically a Turkish food, but they were even in Budapest, so I'm assuming they are all over Europe. The one I had in Budapest was better than both of the ones i've had in Berlin, I'll let you know how they compare in the one I will be eating in Istanbul. 

I was really hungry after working on the boat and couldn't resist. 

I was really proud of myself because I managed to do the entire purchase in German without the people switching to english. Was equally as excited to eat it, clearly.

It was massive. 

And so incredibly delicious. 

Even the pigeons were after me. 

<3 Abbey

Day 4

Day 4 in Budapest!

Day 4 brought us to the national museum. We had a guide but it all seemed to be a little to dry for me. That or I was just tired. There were some really cool displays of older clothes that I enjoyed but other than that it was hard to get into because it was all Hungarian artifacts, (duh) which meant that I knew very little about them and their context. There was also a group of maybe 4th graders who were sitting in this one section of the museum and the woman teaching them was fastening an old item of clothing onto one of the students. It made me super happy to see that type of education and thankful I got to experience some of the same type of education in going to greenfield village amongst many other places.

I was digging this old poster though. (I don't know how Maria manages to end up in so many pictures lol)

Another Shareen photo. We both really loved this artifact. 

After the museum we went to a Turkish bath. A place that I think used to be known for healing and is now like a spa type place. It has many hot tubs and pools and saunas with sulfur water and natural water and all kinds of fancy things. Although there is something nerve wrecking about public pool spaces, you cannot help yourself but be so at ease. After becoming familiar with the place I followed the instructions they had posted about what to do. I got in the sauna for two minutes, jumped in and out of the cold water and when to the roof to lay down in the sun. (It was not very warm but warm enough to be in a bathing suit and still feel warm in the sun) As soon as I laid down in the sun I immediately became completely relaxed. I don't remember ever a time were I have ever felt that level of relaxation in my life. Writing about it makes me want to go back right now. I wish. 

After the turkish bath, Shareen and I went to the opera with Lysan and Spencer. We saw The Barber of Seville. Yes that is the same opera I saw in Berlin. It was so amazing to see the drastic differences in how the story was depicted. Costumes, set, cast and all. It was completely different. It really helped me direct my scene for my Brecht class. It is the first thing I've ever directed. I actually really enjoyed directing. So many new experiences and skills i'm acquiring. 

Shareen and Spencer had plans that interfered with the opera so they left at intermission. That left Lysan and I to watch the rest of the show. After it was over, Lysan and I went and had soup at a cafe around the corner. We sat and chatted for 2 hours. It was awesome. After our soup, we were planning to meet up with some other people at a bar but we ended up at the wrong bar, so we had a drink together and chatted another 45 minutes. This picute of an old man sleeping in the corner with his book, water and wine is from the bar. I saw him take his last drink before he dozed off. They let him sleep the whole time we were in there. That is something I admire about Budapest. Letting people be. I was walking down the street there one day and came across two beds made on the street with stuff around them. They were unattended, perfectly tidy and undisturbed by everyone that walked by. It is so beautiful. 

The escalators in Budapest are fucking insane. Not only does it look like we are on a mountain but because they are so long they have to go fast. This think flies. Talk about hesitation in finding the right entry point.

Another look. Hope you're not afraid of heights. 

This is a picture from the hostel. I thought it was cool. 

A great place Budapest. Fond memories of a magical city. 

Abbey

Buda/Pest

Budapest day 3!

We had a tour of the parliament. Yes, this is the parliament. I couldn't get the whole building in one picture because it was so big.

The building is gorgeous though! I love that it is gothic looking.

So many windows!

This is the right side. The building is symmetrical so it has the same wing on the left side.

Going inside to find all of the windows stain glass. Or maybe not, the tour guide said that they were had painted. I don't know that I believe that. It is inconceivable to me.

So much gold.

This is the main part of the building. The arch in the middle is where a king, president or any other superior person would make an appearance.

I cannot get over the windows.

Looking into the very middle of the building under the dome.

The floor.

The dome. Almost all of the lightbulbs were out but those are not easy lightbulbs to change. The tour guide said two people go up at a time on the two ladders that give access to the lights.

This is where parliament meets. The people you see are a group of students who were being taught about government.

A better shot. Kudos if you spotted the photographer.

Check out that gold.

These trays were right outside the parliament room. They each are numbered. They are no longer used but they were cigar holders. When there was a break, cigars would be waiting outside to be smoked.

Even the in painted/stained windows were astounding.

This is a model of the parliament building that is sliced open so you can see inside. We say maybe 10% of the building.

After our tour, we went to Margaret Island. It is a big park with lots of other things to do! Here is some of the gang riding a 'bike.'

An awesome tree.

The same tree.

More amazing trees!

After lunch at this cool pizza place where you poured the sauce over the pizza yourself, we went to a different park. I thought this statue was super cool. 

This one intrigued me. It looks like a basketball hoop

Loved the angles. 

A unique fountain

Can you see the brown roof? wait until we get closer. 

How amazing is that? One of the people I was with said it reindex them of hansel and gretel because it looks like you can eat it. It is a church and it is sooooo cool!

This was behind the candy topped church. It is called the Fisherman's Bastion. 

For those of you that don't know Budapest is formed out of combining Buda and Pest. I am on the Buda side looking across the river to Pest. Our groups Hostel was in Pest.

The patterns though!

The view was unreal!

Check it out

Look at that roof, seriously

And look at the view. 

I could've stayed up there for hours. 

We stayed up there for a long time. It was a great place to be. 

We followed the wall down a ways and checked out a different spot. 

The parliament across the way. 

A weary artist. 

An endearing elderly couple

They captivated me.

She got up to express a story. He was so amused. She sat back down when she was finished. It was like they were the only two people in the world. 

Off to a different place. We were now overlooking the rest of Buda. 

It was a beautiful day

Back to Pest. So many bridges connecting Buda and Pest and all so incredibly different. I captured this lion because he looks frightened. It's something you don't usually see. Maybe it is just my angle. 

Shareen at it again. Capturing the beginning of a new friendship. Meet Lysan!

Looking back to where we has just come at the castle in Buda. 

Shareen and Pete at the Basilica. 

Another gorgeous building.

Inside and out.

I really felt at ease in this space

So much to be felt

This is a jewish memorial. It is a tree made of metal. It was closed when I walked by and I was really disappointed because it was so breathtaking.

The beauty of Budapest never ends. Taking it in.

Pete and Abbey