“Special Encounters
Last October a French lady drifted beside me in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. When she learned that I was Hungarian, she told me that her son was studying in Budapest and she really liked our capital and Hungary. Then she squeezed my arm and said, “Take care of Hungary, Budapest and yourself”. Of course, I guessed what she was thinking, but now I know exactly, since yesterday. “– wrote a friend on Facebook, Tamás Tóth
Special encounters …
Three nights ago, on the 15th of April 2019, I was singing at Vörösmarty Square, here in Budapest. Two young men from the audience came up to me. They thanked for my song with gratitude and told me what a great time they were having, this city is so wonderful and they love it.
When they told me that they were French, for a moment I felt a strong urge to ask if they have heard what had happened and to express my sympathy for the Notre Dame. It wasn’t even three hours before it was set on fire; in those very moments, the firefighters were still battling with the flames. However, when I saw the shiny, happy eyes and smiles of these two boys, I knew they haven’t got the news.
So I suppressed my own sadness – I didn’t want to spoil their happiness. After all, they have traveled here to us, to our country, to relax and have fun. I have no right to ruin that. It is not me they should find it out from…
Thanking me gratefully, they continued their walk with a nice memory, and went on with their journey.
And as I struggled with my tears, I started the next song, to sing beautifully and make the evening of other people even happier …
To help keeping this city a magical place…
On the picture, my “stage backdrop”, where I was singing that night, a fountain.
And this is also Budapest:
The little video is part of my project Travel With A Song – Utazás dallal; visit other cities, too!
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Thank you!
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AndreaGerák (also spelled as Gerak) is a traveling artist from Hungary, mostly known as a singer. She is also photographing, dancing, writing, sometimes acting or modeling, and forever learning through her journey in the world. Her attention turned to health matters after a cancer surgery in 2008. Proud mom of a big boy.
Andrea Gerák 