In April of 2002 I had the marvelous opportunity to spend ten days on a trip to Hungary to tour with the Cedar Lake Seven Men's Gospel Choir and sing six concerts in western Hungary. Here are a few of the pictures we took during our trip, culled from nearly nine hundred pictures taken by the group as a whole.

You can click on the Hungarian crest or flag above to see a map of the places mentioned below or on the pictures below to see larger versions.

-- Chaz

Cedar Lake 7 Hungary Gospel Tour 2002

	We met at the church before leaving in taxi vans for the airport. Here we are gathering with loved ones and well-wishers for a blessing prayer to send us on our way.
	Once in Hungary, our first stop was Csurgó. There we were treated to a tour of some vineyards, a wine tasting, and a goulash feast. Here, Rick is supervising László as he prepares the goulash.
	On our tour of the vineyards, we met this amateur winemaker. He showed us his winemaking equipment and insisted we taste some of his wine.
	At the wine tasting, our host explained how wine should please the eye, the nose, the mouth, and the ear.
	The inside of the Csurgó Reformed church, where we sang on April 6th.
	Before our first concert (Csurgó) John gets acquainted with the borrowed guitar he would be playing all week.
	Our concert at Csurgó.
	Sunday morning (April 7), we left early from Csurgó to sing at the Kaposvár Reformed Church during their worship service. Most of the congregation had no idea we would be there, and many seemed surprised to hear such energetic music performed in their sanctuary.
	Singing during the Kaposvár service. Note Zoltán (the priest) overseeing things from the pulpit.
	From Kaposvár we went to Balatonfüred, where we would be staying for the rest of our time in Hungary. This group picture was taken on the Lake Balaton waterfront.
	Our accomodataions in Balatonfüred were wonderful, a church-owned retreat center that we called the villa. Being a muscially-inclined group, it was not unusual for us to be jamming at the villa late into the evening. Luckily, there was nobody else staying there for us to disturb.
	The villa at Balatonfüred.
	Monday's concert (April 8) was in Pápa for a large group of high school students from the church-run school across the street. This is the Pápa Reformed Church.
	The audience in Pápa was by far the most energetic and enthusiastic of the trip. John said after the concert that he now understood why the Rolling Stones continue to tour into their twilight years.
	Pápa standing O
	After the concert we were hustled away to the cafeteria for supper by some of the teachers who were very concerned that the kids might get out of hand if we stayed around too long. One of the teachers, Marta (in the blue coat), found us to tell us how much the concert meant to her and the kids, and to assure us that those other teachers had nothing to worry about.
	After supper, we walked downtown to one of the local watering holes to come down from our high. We were joined by a few of the Pápa locals, including Norbi (on the right, with Michael)
	Tuesday evening (April 9) we drove to Székesfehérvár to sing. Székesfehérvár is a large industrial city, and the church there was jammed in amongst all manner of commercial storefronts on a busy thoroughfare. We arrived at the church with barely enough time to set up and rehearse. While Dani and Sanyi were setting up the sound equipment, Michael checked out the view from the pulpit.
	We sang in Székesfehérvár to one of the smaller crowds of the trip.
	This is what Hungarian hospitality, Székesfehérvár style, looks like. What the crowd in Székesfehérvár lacked in size, they more than made up for in hospitality and their interest in talking with and getting to know us.
	These two little girls at Székesfehérvár were too cute not to like.
	One of the younger folks at Székesfehérvár thought we were the perfect opportunity to work on her English skills.
	Wednesday, April 10, was a day off from singing. In the morning we toured this castle.
	These fashionable slippers were required attire for the castle tour.
	After the castle, we had lunch in Tapolca. It seemed like we were always eating. And whenever we ate, we ate well. Here it was goose leg stuffed with dried plums.
	When the restaurant owner learned we were a singing group, he offered to trade us a song for dessert. We happily obliged.
	After lunch, we toured this underground lake just down the street from the restaurant in Tapolca.
	On Thursday (April 11), we sang at the Győr Reformed Church.
	Zsuzsa, one of the pastors at Győr, led us on a walking tour of the city.
	Americans in Győr.
	Győr is big enough to have a McDonalds, though we were surprised to see the golden arches in many smaller communities. Jim and Rick concluded that Hungarian fare is much better than American fast food.
	The other smallish crowd of our tour was at Győr, on account of the late date at which the concert was added to our itinerary.
	This is one of my all-time favorite pictures from the tour ... what we saw while we were singing at Győr. I swear I do not know who arranged the sign like that. Honest.
	Our last concert was in Tata on Friday (April 12). Tata is the home church for our hosts, where Dani is the youth ministry priest. Before the concert a member of the local broadcast media interviewed Greg.
	This is the Tata Reformed Church. The church was undergoing renovation, so we sang in the social hall instead.
	Here is what we saw from the stage in Tata. The stiff-looking couple in the front row to the left of the center aisle did not change posture or expression the entire concert. Another guy slept through the whole thing, but he's hidden in this view by the potted palm. The folks in the front row on the other side were much more appreciative and engaging, so we watched them instead.
	And this is what our audience in Tata saw.
	Greg working the aisle in Tata.
	This group shot of us and our hosts was taken after the Tata concert. Front row, from left: Jim, Andris (interpreter), Ildi, Dani (tour guide and driver), Sanyi (driver and mascot), Rick, and Doug; second row: Michael, Chaz, John, Dan; and Greg on top.
	After the concert in Tata, our hosts were off for other obligations, and a substitute crew of hosts drove us back to Balatonfüred. Saturday morning we left Balatonfüred to spend our last day in Hungary in Budapest. Andris and Ildi met us there and played tour guides. This is a view of the Danube from high on the Buda side of the river.
	Here we are in a group shot, standing below the statue of Saint Stephen and the south end of his northbound horse (Budapest).
	Here we are at another castle (Budapest).
	Back home, the choir rehearses every Wednesday night. After practice, most everybody heads to Old Chicago to quaff a beer and tell some lies. We were looking for a place to eat in Budapest and stumbled across this place. How could we not eat there?
	After a day of walking around Budapest, Andris and Ildi put us on a bus with instructions to get off at the fifth stop and go a few blocks to our right to find our lodging for the night. This was our last view of our Hungarian hosts as we boarded the bus.
	After ten or twelve hours on airplanes, we finally arrived back in Minneapolis on Sunday evening. Having heard of our reception in Pápa, our wives arranged for transportation befitting rock stars to get us back to the church.
	And here we are, back home, travel weary, grateful for our experiences in Hungary, and eager to return ... soon, if possible.
The pictures below are of folks in our group.
	Greg (You'll have to ask Dan why he took this picture).
	That's one handsome man! (Jim).
	Chaz and Michael after the Pápa concert.
	John
	Greg and Ádám (Heavy Tools).
	Sending e-letters home from the Internet Café in Balatonfüred.
	Three Hungarian Viking amigos (Andris, Sanyi, Dani).
	Rick and Ildi in cruise mode.
	Michael on the sound board (at the Pápa concert).
	Greg and the set list board (at the Pápa concert).
	Doug at the villa in Balatonfüred.
	Jim at the villa in Balatonfüred.
	Sanyi on our boat ride on Lake Balaton.
	Jim and Rick on the boat.
	Dan on the boat.
	Dani at the Tata concert (be afraid).
	Before we left on the tour, we knew we would have a couple of van drivers (Dani and Sanyi) and an interpreter (Andris). What we did not know was that the interpreter would be accompanied by his wife, Ildi. It was probably good to have a female presence on the trip, lest the group descend to male group behavior. Not surprisingly, Ildi was soon beloved by the group and became something of a muse. This is my third-favorite picture of Ildi (lunch in Tapolca).
	My second-favorite picture of Ildi (at the helm).
	My favorite picture of Ildi (at supper after the Tata concert).