Sibs and Sips Hodgepodge

All my living siblings in 2003 in age order left to right, oldest to youngest. I’m in the middle.

Time once again for the Hodgepodge questions from Joyce!

1. Egg on your face, putting all your eggs in one basket, a good egg, walk on eggshells, nest egg, or a tough egg to crack…which eggy idiom currently applies to your life in some way? Explain

This one wasn’t easy for me. I’ll go with walk on eggshells because of my whole Plantar Fasciitis episode in 2025. I try to walk lightly and I don’t jump or run or stay on my feet in general for long periods of time. I threw caution to the wind on our latest trip in Europe and England where we walked and walked and were on our feet every day. So thankful that my feet survived.

2. April 7th is National Beer Day…are you a beer drinker? If so do you have a favorite?

I do enjoy a good beer once in a while and especially on a sunny day. (Don’t tell my mom…oh never mind she’s in heaven now and she doesn’t care anymore.) Speaking of my mom, today was her birthday when she was on earth. She was a good Russian Baptist…no drinking, no smoking, no dancing, no gambling, no cussing. 🙂

IPA’s and Dark beer, like Guinness, are favorites.

These photos, above and below, are from Bratislava, Slovakia. These are the two beers that are brewed at Bratislava Flagship Restaurant, a Slovak beer hall housed in an 18th century monastery.

I’ll have a full post soon about our time in Bratislava.

Beer battered fish, beer bread, beer can chicken, beer brats…which one sounds good to you? Have you made any of these?

Beer battered fish and beer can chicken sound the best to me.

3. Do you have siblings?

I have/had eight siblings. Our oldest sister died in Persia/Iran when she was only two. I have seven living siblings, three sisters and four brothers. Four of my siblings still live in Southern California. Two (the twins) live in Texas. I’m the only one in the state of Washington.

Here is our oldest sister, Kathy, who died in Persia and what our Pop wrote about her in his life story.

On April 25, 1944 our first daughter was born. She was the ideal baby – beautiful, happy, loveable. Then in early 1946 she contracted dysentery and died. Our hearts were broken. In addition we as parents were blamed for her death because we didn’t have a dedication ceremony for her when she was born – neither in the Baptist or the Molokan church – because we could not agree as to what church should conduct it. This guilt added to our grief. But fortunately, it was mitigated with the birth of our second daughter, Kathy, in May of 1946.

Yes, they named their second daughter Kathy, too.

What’s the best thing about being your sibling? If you don’t have siblings, what would you say are the pros and cons of being an only child?

I keep in contact and check up on my siblings. On many occasions, I’m the communication link for us all. Over the years all of my siblings (but one) have stayed in our home for an overnight or longer visit.

My older brother has chosen to separate himself and his family from the rest of us for the past twenty or more years. It is hard to understand and sad for all of us.

4. How do you feel about floral scents in products? Do you have a favorite?

I’d rather enjoy real flowers with their scents. I’m not a big fan of manufactured scents in general. Subtle fragrance in candles are okay. I like a clean light citrus scent. If I was to pick a floral fragrance, I’d choose lavender.

5. What’s one thing in your home that begins with the letter G that you would say is a keeper, something you’ll hold on to? Tell us why.

I could have said the Grand Piano but that is slated to go to our daughter in the future.

I’m going with goblets. I like a nice goblet to set a table with. When we moved I scaled down on my goblets but I still have a nice collection in different colors and clear glass, too.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

It has been so beautiful here the past several days.

I finished this very hard puzzle yesterday. It was a challenge and it felt good to put the last piece in!

I’m still basking in the celebration of Easter and my wonderful Savior who when I repented gave me immunity with his own life and not just immunity but I was delivered by God from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

Leaving Budapest

Our boat set on it’s cruising course on the evening of Sunday March 1st. The captain let us know when we would be traveling past the Parliament building so we could get the night time photos. It was during our dinner that we sailed past.

Below is a fold out map of the parts of the Danube that we would be traveling on.

Our first stop would be at Bratislava, Slovakia.

We would then cruise beyond Vienna to Melk, Linz and Grein returning to Vienna for a two night stay before we returned to Budapest.

On this first evening on board we had a welcome cocktail with the captain of the ship for his mandatory safety briefing.

For our cruise the heads of the departments were from Spain, Romania, Indonesia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Poland, and the Philippines. During our briefing we met some of the heads.

Dinner on the first night was open seating and we sat at a table of eight and enjoyed learning about the different people we ate with.

Most days breakfast was from 7:30 – 9:30 with a bistro option from 6:30am-10:30am for early or late risers.

Lunch was served from 12:30 until 2:00

Dinner was from 7:00-8:30 (some evenings dinner started later when excursions were longer)

There was a sip and sail cocktail hour every evening and after dinner entertainment, too.

Late night snacks were available each evening.

On this first night of our journey I woke and looked at my phone to see what time it was. It was 2am and I noticed a message from our credit card company about possible fraud on my card. After a call to the credit card company to verify that I did not make the charge, I was advised to destroy my card and they would issue me a new one. What a bother that was so early into our trip. Thankfully we would still be able to use Greg’s card. Next time we travel I’ll take a back up card, too. Oye! Needless to say there was no going back to sleep for me and when I made the call to our credit card company Greg was up, too. After a couple hours we ended up going in search of coffee. Coffee pods were available in our room but we preferred going to the machines on board that were available 24 hours a day.

Next river cruise post will be about Bratislava, Slovakia.

Back to the present: What beautiful weather we have been enjoying since Saturday. The highs are reaching 60 and beyond with lots of sunshine and blue skies. We even got outside to clear some of the thousands of branches that are strewn across our yard from the major wind storm that developed while we were away.

Our kids gathered the largest branches while we were gone but there are many more smaller branches that still need gathering.

Our unprotected daffodils finally opened up on Easter.

These tulips that we bought at Trader Joe’s this past Saturday are Peony Tulips. They make me smile.

I’ve made good progress on my Easter puzzle and only have the very hardest dark part left.

That is all the up to the minute news from our house to yours. Hope all is well in your corner.

Jesus Prepares to Die…

On the Thursday of Easter week we remember the Passover supper Jesus had with his disciples and the washing of the disciples feet. Some of what Jesus shared with his disciples on this day in history is copied below.

Excerpts from John chapter 13…

It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Artists have tried to depict the last supper and we’ve seen some of those attempts in person over the years in our travels.

While in England in 2014 year we saw two amazing paintings of the last supper, one in the Parish Church of St. John the Baptist in Windsor and one in the chapel of Magdalen College.

Above the stalls in the chapel hangs Giampetrino’s remarkable 15th copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, on permanent loan from the Royal Academy. In view of the bad condition of the original fresco in Milan, Magdalen’s copy on canvas is a piece of increasing historic and artistic significance.

This photo is a life sized artist’s depiction of the night Jesus had the Passover meal with his disciples, the event we call the Last Supper. This was taken at the Monumentale Cemetery in Milan Italy in 2013. “Do this in remembrance of me”

There seems to be only 11 of the 12 disciples which makes me wonder if the artist depicted the scene after Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, had left the meal.

The sculpture of Jesus washing Peter’s feet at the top of this post was taken in Thousand Oaks California at the Gardens of the World.

“Come, my heart, rejoice in the immunity that your Redeemer has secured for you, and bless His name all day and everyday.” C.H. Spurgeon

Easter week, remembering what was accomplished by Jesus on the Cross and in His resurrection, our redemption, is celebrated every week and every day for true believers!

March Was Lovely Hodgepodge

Thank you, Joyce for keeping the Hodgepodge questions coming.

1. March is rolling on out of here. Sum up your March in ten words or less.

Budapest, Bratislava, Czech-Republic, Austria, Cambridge, Seventy-Five, Nine…Travel and Birthday Joys!

2. Are you afraid of heights? No

When was the last time you found yourself dealing with a height, and did it make you nervous?

Besides flying at whatever thousands of feet, the highest was climbing with our own two feet to the Panorama Look-Out at St. Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest last month.

It did not make me nervous until we started down on these stairs.

3. What’s a word you struggle to spell on a regular basis, and sometimes need to double check before writing it down?

Occassion , Ocasion, Ocassion, Occasion whew…finally I got it right.

Use the word in a sentence that tells us something about your April calendar.

We are looking forward to several occasions to celebrate in April starting with Resurrection Sunday and then two more family birthdays.

4. Love ’em or hate ’em, with Easter comes the sweet treat known as Peeps. So… do you love ’em or hate ’em?

I neither love them or hate them, I ignore them.

Speaking of peeps, what’s your favorite way to have chicken?

Chicken pot pie is a favorite.

5. This week’s Hodgepodge lands on the first day of April, which happens to be National Poetry Month. Do you like poetry? Share a favorite line or two from one of your favorite poems. What makes this one a favorite?

The form of poetry I love are old hymns by people like Fanny Crosby, John Newton, Wesley, and others. I’ll share a stanza and refrain from Fanny Crosby’s, Like a River Glorious;

Like a river glorious, is God’s perfect peace,
Over all victorious, in its bright increase
Perfect, yet it floweth, fuller every day,
Perfect, yet it groweth, deeper all the way.

Refrain:
Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest
Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest

This has been a favorite for years. It was a hymn we sang often at Bethany Baptist church in L.A. and in other churches we’ve been a part of. It has a great four part harmony and the alto part comes back to my memory easily when singing it with the congregation. The longer I’ve been following Jesus as my Lord and Savior, God’s peace gets fuller and deeper.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

It’s Easter week and this is another hymn that speaks of Jesus Christ and what the cross, Good Friday and Easter are about. Happy Easter, Hodgepodgers!

Lamb of God, We Fall Before Thee

Lamb of God, we fall before Thee,
Humbly trusting in Thy cross.
That alone be all our glory;
All things else are only dross.

Thee we own a perfect Savior,
Only source of all that’s good.
Every grace and every favor
Comes to us through Jesus’ blood.

Jesus gives us true repentance
By His Spirit sent from Heav’n;
Whispers this transporting sentence,
Son, thy sins are all forgiv’n.

Faith He grants us to believe it,
Grateful hearts His love to prize;
Want we wisdom? He must give it,
Hearing ears and seeing eyes.

Jesus gives us pure affections,
Wills to do what He requires,
Makes us follow His directions,
And what He commands, inspires.

All our prayers and all our praises,
Rightly offered in His name—
He that dictates them is Jesus;
He that answers is the same.

When we live on Jesu’s merit,
Then we worship God aright;
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Then we savingly unite.

Hear the whole conclusion of it:
Great or good, whate’er we call,
God, or King, or Priest, or Prophet,
Jesus Christ is all in all.

Words: Joseph Hart, 1759

Hero’s Temple and Jewish Museum ~ Budapest

We continued our tour of the Dohany Street Synagogue and other buildings on the grounds on Sunday, March 1st.

The Heroes’ Temple has become an inseparable part of the Dohány Street Synagogue.
The arcade and the Heroes’ Temple, designed by László Vágó, seats 186 people. It was built in 1931 and is used for religious services.
The Heroes’ Synagogue commemorates the 10.000 Hungarian Jewish soldiers who earned glory on the battlefields of World War I and died heroes’ deaths.

The museum was the last area we would visit.

The Stained glass windows featured Moses, David and Saul and the last one pictured also featured Daniel in the Lion’s Den.

Speaking of Moses…

We left the Dohany Synagogue property and walked back to the hotel.

On the way we saw a few interesting doors and buildings.

We stopped to exchange our dollars for some Forints, Hungary’s currency.

Hungary has not bought into euros.

The Hungarian forint (HUF) consists of six banknote denominations (500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, and 20,000 Ft) and six coin denominations (5, 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 Ft). Banknotes feature famous Hungarian historical figures, while coins are used for smaller transactions, with the 200 forint being the highest-value coin. A 200 forint coin is what you need for public restrooms.

2000 forints converts to about $5.94.

We wanted to leave a tip for our room housekeeper at the hotel. It was hard to wrap our heads around such large sounding currency actually being such a small amount in our own currency.

We caught our AmaWaterways shuttle to take us to the boat for our embarkation. I took a video of us walking on to the boat instead of taking photos and never took photos of our room. I took a video of our room. Sad but true I cannot add those videos here.

We had a warm welcome when we arrived and made it to our room where we found our luggage waiting for us with welcome notes and other items.

Our room was one of the least expensive rooms and on the lower deck but we were impressed with the size and the conveniences it afforded. The bed was very comfortable and it was larger than a queen. Another notable thing is how quiet our room was. We never heard any noise from the rooms next to ours. We never heard load engine noises and anything of that kind while in bed for the night.

Our windows were at water level.

The journey would commence on the Danube as we were enjoying our first dinner aboard. We sat at a round table for eight and enjoyed getting to know total strangers that would become more familiar by the end of our seven day journey. We were told that the Captain would tell us when we were passing the Parliament Building in Budapest so we could go up on the upper deck and get some nice photos. I’ll share those photos in my next River Cruise post. This was more of an off season time and there were only 130 passengers on this cruise. The boat could have 190 if full.

Back to the present:

It is the last day of March and we are going full speed ahead to Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I finally brought our Easter Bin in. I started a new puzzle this week that Josh and Laura brought last weekend and I don’t think I’ll be able to complete it by Easter. It is a tough one because of the coloring. I’ve done the easiest parts, ha! I’m using my new puzzle mat that Andrew and Katie gifted me for my birthday. It is one of those that you can roll up with the puzzle intact if you need to move it before finishing.

The Empty Tomb!

Thanks for stopping by. Goodbye March and thank you, LORD, for a wonderful month filled with blessings galore!

Panorama Look-Out, St. Stephens Basilica

To get to the panorama views of St. Stephen’s Basilica and Budapest, there was an elevator option and stairs. We took the elevator up but when it was time to go down again we chose the stairs. Thankfully there were good railings and it was an open airy space so we didn’t get claustrophobic.

Saturday February 28th was a beautiful sunny day. We were so thankful.

This view is of the square in front of the Basilica with the pedestrian street beyond that takes you to the Danube. Looking beyond small slice of the Danube you can see the Buda side of Budapest.

On our way down to exit the Basilica we stopped at the Treasury. This painting of Peter and the Rooster caught my eye, “the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times“. This experience of Peter makes me emotionally as I consider times that I’ve denied or not stood up for my Lord and Savior.

The “Holy Family” was painted by Murillo (1682).

An artistic depiction of Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the well.

Not quite busts but these circular heads of all the apostles were on an arched ceiling as we left the Treasury.

It was a narrower exit and walkway and I wasn’t able to get photos of all the apostles because of other people pressing in.

We exited the Basilica and found our way to the Jewish District for our lunch meal at Mazel-Tov. I wrote about our eating experience in Budapest and this restaurant in an earlier post.

This was a day that we were up on our feet and walking for the majority of the day. I was thankful that my Plantar Fasciitis was not an issue for me during this trip. I thanked the LORD several times. I did manage to get a nasty blister on my baby toe, though, that I had to doctor and pamper the next few days!

St. Stephen’s Basilica

On Saturday the 28th of February we broke away from our excursion group to buy tickets to visit the inside of St. Stephen’s Basilica situated centrally in the Pest side of Budapest. This is a photo heavy post!

St. Stephen’s Basilica is a Roman Catholic basilica in Budapest, Hungary. It is named in honor of Stephen, the first King of Hungary, whose right hand is housed in the reliquary.

It was awe-inspiring to see this finished work of art.

It is one of the grandest buildings we have been in.

This is kind of creepy to me. This is the right hand relic of King Stephen of Hungary. King Stephen died in August of 1038.

Not being Catholic, this Basilica was not a point of worship for me and in fact holds some areas of veneration that are against my beliefs. I did appreciate the beauty and the grandeur of the building. The way the architecture and artwork draws your eyes upward is appreciated, too. It is an amazing collection of artwork and treasures but not something to be worshipped in itself.

I’ll share the views from the panorama look-out in another post since this post is already photo heavy.

It is going to take a while to share much of our Danube River and Cambridge adventures.

Eating in Budapest

On Saturday February 28th we walked from St. Stephen’s Basilica to the Jewish District looking for Mazel Tov. We had reservations for a meal at 4:30 but we wanted to see if they would slip us in at 1:30 instead since our dinner reservations at Retek Restaurant were for 7:30 on Saturday instead of Friday. (Did you follow that?)

The area had a lot of interesting murals.

We arrived tired and thirsty from our 1.6 k walk in the sunshine. They graciously changed our reservation and we joined the crowd of diners for our meal. We met someone from Costa Mesa, California who is studying abroad. That was fun.

Our meals were both delicious. Greg ordered the DIY Falafel Sandwich and I ordered the spicy lamb shank ragout, couscous with root vegetables, raisins and red onion chutney.

We had another long walk (1.6k) ahead of us to get back to our hotel. We were entertained by interesting buildings on the way.

Our dinner reservations at Retek would be a 1 k walk so we opted for a taxi ride to the restaurant and then we’d walk back to the hotel after dinner.

We went traditional at this very popular restaurant.

Hungarian Beef Goulash with the fresh bread.

Chicken Paprikash

Cottage Cheese Dumpling and Grandmother’s apple pie for dessert.

A delightful all around experience. This was all my kind of comfort food.

This statue was the beginning of history we would learn all through our cruise about the Habsburg empire.

The year 1795 saw Archduke Josef, son of Emperor Leopold II and brother of Emperor Franz, being appointed Palatine of Hungary, a post he held for more than half a century. As such he was the deputy of the King of Hungary – who was of course none other than the Emperor in his capacity as the head of the house of Habsburg.

The streets we walked at night in Budapest seemed safe.

I’m saving St. Stephen’s Basilica which we visited on this two restaurant day for another post.

Budapest Pre-Cruise

We arrived in Budapest on the afternoon of Friday February 27th. There was an AmaWaterways Kiosk just outside of the baggage claim area where we checked in and met a few of our fellow river cruise passengers before it was time to board our bus to the hotel. When making our arrangements for the cruise we chose the 2 day pre-cruise option and we are so glad that we did. On our bus ride to the hotel we were able to get our first glimpse of the Danube.

When we arrived at the hotel we were pleasantly surprised at the luxury level of the hotel.

The Matilde Palace is a luxury hotel and part of the Marriott properties. This is not the type of hotel we would book for ourselves. There were automatic buttons for everything including the curtains and sheers.

Matild Palace, an iconic gem of Budapest, was envisioned in 1902 by her Imperial and Royal Highness, Maria Kotild of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as part of the twin Kotild Palaces, a beacon of the Bell Epoque Era. Standing proudly beside the Elisabeth Bridge, these two majestic landmarks were designed to inspire and sere the social heart of the city. Over the decades, Matild Palace has borne witness to profound historical moments. From the grandeur of its early days to the trials of two world wars and the Hungarian revolution. Following a meticulous restoration, it emerged reborn in 2021 as a masterpiece within Marriott’s luxury collection.

Today, Matild Palace invites guests to immerse themselves in art nouveau inspired rooms and suites, and dine in exquisite venues led by the globally acclaimed Chef Wolfgang Puck.

Before dinner we had a meeting with our Tour Director for some general information. I thought I had made dinner reservations on Friday evening at a restaurant in town but come to find out it was for Saturday night instead of Friday night. We shifted our plans and headed up to the rooftop bar in our hotel and had some charcuterie and lovely views of the town at night.

Saturday morning we woke up early. Breakfast was included with our pre tour package. The hotel puts on an amazing buffet along with items you could choose off of a menu. We were really impressed with all of it and with the honey comb that was part of the buffet.

The breakfast view of the Elizabeth Bridge.

We had an early morning walk on streets next to the hotel. We tried to get some local currency at a bank ATM and the transactions would not go through. We hoped this was just a local issue.

So many grand buildings with impressive architecture.

The back entrance to the Matilde.

There was a excursion on Saturday morning that we were part of and into the tour we broke off to be able to buy tickets to see the inside of St. Stephens Basilica. I’ll share those photos in another post. We had time on Saturday to be on our own and also on Sunday before it was time for embarkation on the AmaMagna.

Back to the Present:

Monday afternoon was JJ time here while Addy was at dance lessons. While we were away he had to go to dance with his mom and Addy which was quite boring for him. He kept asking how many more days until we would return.

Today is St. Patrick’s Day and we will be enjoying a corned beef and cabbage meal later in the day.

We are still in recovery mode and I’m forcing myself to stay awake till at least 8pm. Hopefully sleep patterns will return to normal, soon.

Land Legs

“Land legs” refers to, the ability to regain balance and stability on solid ground after being on a ship, boat, or in motion for an extended period, essentially reversing the effect of “sea legs.” It is the process of readapting to a stable environment, which often leaves travelers feeling as though the ground is still rocking or swaying.

We are in the process of regaining our stability.

We made it home from Cambridge after a 2 hour bus ride to Heathrow, a 9 hour flight into Seatac (Seattle) and a 1 hour hopper to Spokane. Our son was waiting for us when we got off the plane a little after 9pm. The back seat of our car was decorated for a happy birthday greeting for me with crepe paper and balloons and there was a card for me from Addy and JJ. Such a sweet hello. Dan left his truck at our house so that he could drive us all the way home instead of us dropping him off at his house and then us continuing on home. Very thoughtful and very much appreciated since we were very tired after starting our journey 9am England time. (8 hours ahead of our Pacific Standard Time) If I’m figuring that out correctly, it means we were traveling for approximately 22 hours!

These are the sweet cards waiting for me when I got off the plane.

We got our hugs Sunday morning at church from Addy and JJ. It seems like they grew 6 inches since we saw them last!

We had a great trip but it is always so lovely to return to all the comforts of home and family.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: Travel