Day 48 - August 25: Szentendre - Visit to a 101-year-old

Early in the morning, I was awakened by the engine noise of a very long river cruise ship and enjoyed my breakfast in the summer morning freshness. Over the next hour, 3 more passenger ships passed by heading towards Budapest. However, my destination for the day was the tourist town of Szentendre, 15km before the capital of Hungary. On the way there, I rang the bell at the rectory in Vac, but apparently the priest is away and I continued cycling. At Dunakeszi, I had to take two Danube ferries to cross to the other side of the river. The inhabited river island is very popular with tourists. On the other side of the Danube, Szentendrei Duna greeted me with the beautiful cityscape of Szentendre and its numerous churches. In addition to Catholic, Reformed, and Lutheran churches, there are also four Serbian Orthodox churches in the city. Thousands of Serbians settled in the city after the Turkish invasion in Serbia in 1690. Most of them returned in the 19th century, but many of their churches remained. Shortly after noon, I arrived at the Protestant church and the friendly pastor Oliver took some time to present 'his' church, which was built only about 25 years ago and is very simple in design. The volunteer sexton was preparing the hymn boards for the next Sunday service. Because the church grounds are quite small, Oliver introduced me to his 6 children and his wife, explained my presence, and that I would be rolling out my sleeping pad in the community room. A real typical pastor's family, I thought, just as Martin Luther would have liked it.

If I remember correctly, the congregation consists of about 600 people. Currently, about 80 visitors come to the church service. During the school year, it is a little over 100. We had to interrupt our conversation until evening because he had an appointment, and I took the time to explore the small and charming town with its beautiful Danube promenade. I was allowed to join the lively family dinner and afterwards we talked for a long time about the challenges in the daily life of the congregation. For the next day, he invited me to a special birthday visit to a 101-year-old lady. Some other older members of the congregation also came to congratulate her on her special day and to sing and pray. One participant who spoke good German praised Oliver's dedicated work in the congregation.