Yesterday we took the coach 2.5 hours to our final destination of the tour, Budapest, Hungary. After settling into the hotel and having a quick lunch on our own, we met our tour guide Paul for a three-hour tour of Budapest. One of the most interesting things about the city is how the Danube river divides the city into the “Buda” side and the “Pest” side (we stayed on the Pest side). We enjoyed a lot of traditional Hungarian food, in which paprika is a popular ingredient (Hungary is known for its high-quality paprika).
Today we had free time to explore the bustling city centre, full of coffee shops, stores, restaurants, and the Great Market, a huge open-air market. We gathered at 17:00 to head to St. Michael’s Church, to give our final concert of the tour. Everyone performed magnificently for a packed church, and the audience was enamored by the choirs’ singing. As our Hungarian concert organizer said, “you had them eating out of your hand the entire time.” The students and I have learned a lot about how to make adjustments to our performances based on the acoustics of our performance venues!
The evening concluded with a two-hour dinner cruise on the Danube on a private boat. The food was excellent and the views were spectacular, but the camaraderie and enjoyment of all of the participants delighted me the most. It was a wonderful farewell to a successful tour. I hope you will enjoy a few photos from Budapest:
Budapest Castle
Julia Zschiesche ’17 and Charlotte Arbogast ’16 at Budapest Castle
Our concert poster
The Colgate Chamber Singers at St. Michael’s Church, Budapest