my time in romania & hungary was spent with a deep sense of gratitude. when i would catch glimpses of old barricades & watchtowers, i would shudder at the thought of what those now-abandoned structures used to mean. we all need to jog our memories from time to time, because as the years pass, it is so easy to fall into complacency, especially when life is good & trials are few.
in remembrance today i offer more 'snapshots on the journey'~~ this time from budapest, hungary, which is my very favorite european city, for me second only to venice, italy. our border crossing was met with friendly guards who took our passports & offered us americans condolences on the passing of michael jackson...
we were welcomed with such kindness & fields of sunflowers...
& a sunset over the danube in budapest...
this is a city of great beauty~ even the subway stops are gorgeous...
we decided to start our first day with some persective for the younger folk traveling with us who were not old enough to remember the cold war...
a visit to the terror museum was a sobering event...
every face on the walls in the atrium represents a victim...
we moved from this tragic reminder of the past into the beauty of now...wandering first around pest, visiting sights like heroes' square...
enjoying something a bit lighter~ the zoo...
before deciding to brave the climb of buda & see the city from a different angle...
we crossed the szechenyi chain bridge...
hopped the castle hill funicular (vertigo, anyone?!?)...
to enjoy the view from the top of castle hill...
& after walking many, many miles that day, an awesome meal (hungarian goulash...ohhhhh, those noodles. carb-loading perfection!.), some of the best food on our entire 5 week trip!!...
the next morning we dashed to the train; our short weekend in budapest had come to an end...it was time to head back into western europe~~ next stop vienna, austria...moving on, but not forgetting...
it seems so fitting to me that my 
during november this directive to remember death is not so difficult for me to follow...
last night at the All Saints vigil Mass, fr. T's encouraging words reminded me that for most of my days i do not spend enough time thinking on the 
does what i am thinking, doing, creating in my everyday life matter toward this end?...
in other words, am i doing what i am supposed to be doing right here, right now. i so often find myself looking down~ looking at the nitty-gritty very small picture...
forgetting my purpose, forgetting to look up~ keeping an eye on the end of our journey...
this feast reminds me of where i am going...
& it reminds too that we do not navigate this alone; we have 
a secret tidal creek that shoots off our bay...
to learn this secret one must watch in the early summer twilight, the way which the egrets fly at the end of their day...
to enter this secret cove that varies from year to year...
one must hush & let the tide have its way...
but the reward is great as the sun falls...
soon gentle wings caress the air & the trees are ornamented...
as the egrets of our marsh & bay yield to twilight's yearnings & find a roost for the night to stay...
as graceful night sweeps the sky, one's soul is refreshed here in the last bit of the light of day...
D. & i met on the last sigh of summer & spent the whole of that first autumn together, falling in love surrounded by swirling red & gold leaves & the scent of campfires, hiking through morning mists while the first light touched our childhood fields...
in our early years together, autumn always heralded a special feeling of the thrill of those first days together. even though we were creeping toward a pennsylvania winter, i still reveled in all of its glory...then we moved south...warmer autumns with equally beautiful light were fine by me...
then we moved to the coast...& autumn brought a new friend - hurricanes! i didn't realize until this very equinox, i have spent the last few autumns holding my breath, praying that we would be spared a major hurricane. no enjoyment. none. this year we have been blessedly spared an active tropical season & i have once again fallen in love with this glorious season...
last week we walked on the beach in the perfect twilight, fished under almost-full moons, gathered wildflowers, & sat by campfires. & i have learned a lesson~ no more missing the beauty in worry over something that may or may not happen. now certainly, if we were to have a hurricane land here in our bay, i am sure i will have a different focus, but in the meantime, i am once again reveling in autumn's awesome beauty! :-) & may this beautiful day find you enjoying its blessings...
mesmerized by the beautiful old churches & the communist-era buildings...
i was so grateful that the old way had not been completely destroyed. my heart could not comprehend the events that my mind knew had transpired there in the last century. how i would have loved to join these two gentlemen on that park bench to hear the stories they could tell....
but there were sobering reminders that spoke without words, like this memorial to victims of nazi occupation...
an entire room just outside the 
a short distance from this church was the 
where we had the sweet pleasure of meeting the sacristan who spoke fluent *english*! (the first time in nearly a week we heard our native tongue outside our little group)...
he told of history, both sad & joyful, of those who gave their lives so readily in order that this time may be what it is. & he showed us the great treasure held in his church...a first class relic of St. Nicholas (some of his bones). 
eventually leading us to this painted monastery...
a place so incredibly beautiful & so peaceful...
one was utterly removed from the world in the enclosure...
the place has settled into my dreams now that i am home...
as i organize & upload these photo reminders, i tell myself it is no wonder i am dreaming of 2010's travel possibilities!!
