Fall Colors and Cityscapes

 October 21, 2024

Last week, I learned from my university students that Monday and Tuesday were fall break. (This does not coincide with fall break at the vocational high school  which is for a week starting next Monday or the high school which is for a week starting next Wednesday) With an unexpected holiday, a friend in Budapest suggested a hike on Gellert Hill to look at the fall colors. 

I almost missed the train. I was up at 6:30 for my daily Bible reading with the gang in Shanghai, which we finished quite early this morning and all my picnic preparations were done last night, but 8 o’ clock still creeped up on me and caught be by surprise. I had to look for my letter from the university that gives me a 50% discount on train fares and my ID. I also looked for my charger to make sure my phone would have peak performance. Somehow I had it in my mind that I was taking the train at 9:44, but I had told my friend 8:44. I stopped at the ATM on the way and arrived at the train station at 8:39. At the ticket counter, a woman gave me a ticket for a reservation, but I still needed to buy a ticket. I didn't have enough time to pull out my letter, so I paid full fare and ran  to the train. I jumped on at the back, followed by another passenger, who stepped on just as the train started to move. The seat my benefactors reserved had a plug. 

This morning, two of my classes had a cream tea. (The third class was planning a one, but there was an assembly for the October 23 Revolution that preempted our plans.) Some of the students were brave enough to try milk in their tea.  In both of the classes, too, a student made scones. They tasted good. We made them the Cornish way, just like my friend taught us. 

I shared the pictures from yesterday's hike and asked the students to tell me where they were taken. I also took a rose that my friend rescued from the garden clippings so that  my students could involve their senses of touch and smell as well.