Budapest, Hungary is a city full of culture, history, and amazing food, and this last week I got to finally visit it. The circumstances were a little odd, but I am beyond grateful for the opportunity. My host sister, Sofia is a highly energetic, competitive girl who enjoys doing a combat sport called Kempo. She has been going with the Swedish team to the World Kempo Competitions for years, and this year it was being held in Budapest, Hungary. I found out a few months ago that I could possibly go with Sofia and my host mom to Budapest to watch the competition, and of course, I accepted. We took a two-hour plane ride from Malmö to Budapest and arrived around eight on Monday night there. Stepping off the plane was thrilling for me as I always try to make my first steps in a new country special. In this case, I hopped off the final steps from the plane and proudly declared “I’m in Hungary!” After, we took a bus to the hotel, ate dinner at ten, much later than any Swede is used to, and then went to bed. The first two days were free for us to explore the city, and enjoy our short vacation before the competitions began. On Tuesday, we spent the day going down the popular tourist streets and visiting the famous shopping spots. I didn’t buy much, except for some Hungarian paprika to take home with me, and a few Budapest pins to put on my blazer. As we walked through the hot, crowded streets I enjoyed listening to the various different languages being spoken around me. After a fika of ice cream and lemonade, we ventured over to the Budapest Eye, a Ferris wheel that overlooks the river and much of the city. It was amazing sitting in the sun and watching the world become smaller right below my feet. After the Ferris wheel, we wandered around a few more shops before catching the bus back to our hotel. In Sweden, we usually eat dinner between five and six every night because of the families busy schedule, so you can imagine how annoyed we were when we found out that dinner would be served at eight every night at the hotel. Cecilia and I made the most of it, with a fika around the same time that we would have usually eaten dinner. The fika was a strange, but tasty combination of potato chips, string cheese sticks, and hummus. We then went on a small walk exploring the perimeter around the hotel while waiting for our actual dinner. Our second day was probably how I would describe my perfect vacation. After a breakfast filled with coffee, pastries, and fruit, the entire Swedish team hopped on a bus to the famous Budapest bathhouse. We spent the morning swimming, sunbathing, and later me avoiding the sun at all costs because I realized forgot sunscreen. When everyone was ready to leave, we got dressed and ready to head up Gellért Hill. A large hill overlooking the city with The Liberty Statue (not to be confused with The Statue of Liberty) proudly standing on top. Before heading up, we were warned that it wouldn’t be worth it to make the hike up because it would take at least an hour just to get to the top, and the hot weather would make it miserable. We were happy to find that the walk up took exactly ten minutes, and because most of the path was covered with shade from the trees, it was actually quite comfortable. The view from the top was amazing and I could’ve sat there all day watching tour boats sail across the river. Sadly, we had more plans for the day, and we had to go back down.
By this time it was mid-afternoon, so we bought some ice cream again for fika and walked along the riverbanks. The adults decided it would be fun and educational to take one of the boat tours along the river and I was all for it. We boarded a boat with a bar and small snack bar while we waited for the next tour to begin, then we all loaded a slightly smaller boat that would take us for an hour along the river. The tour was in English and German, so every time we passed a landmark or important building, the automated voice would explode over the speakers and explain the history in English, closely followed by the same announcement in German. The tour took us up the river where we got to see some amazingly gorgeous buildings. My favorite was the Hungarian Parliament Building looming over the water and instantly drawing all eyes to it. We also passed by an island in the middle of the river where we had the option to hop off and explore the luxury resorts until the next boat came, but lack of time prevented that. The rest of the tour was even more stunning as the sun was just starting to set, illuminating the water and setting the city aglow. At the very end of the boat tour, I was lazily scanning the other passengers on the boat when a certain hat caught my eye. An elderly gentleman and his wife were sitting to the side when I saw his hat which read “Skagway, Alaska.” I instantly freaked out and pointed the hat out to my host mom who then pushed me to go and talk to the couple. When the boat was docked and everyone was moving to the exit I finally spoke up and asked the couple if they were from Alaska. They were delightful to talk to and very kind, but they were actually from British Columbia, Canada, which is the Canadian district closest to Southeast Alaska where I live. We talked about Alaska and how they often go over to Skagway and a few other Southeast towns for the scenery and fishing. I asked if they had ever been able to go to Sitka and they sadly hadn’t but had wanted to for quite a while. When everyone was off the boat and back on shore I wished them a happy rest of their trip and they did the same, confirming every Canadian stereotype of being incredibly nice and we parted ways. I thanked my host mom for pushing me to talk to them, and we chatted about how small the world really is, and how amazing it is to find people close to home on the other side of the world. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and enjoying the city before we would have to wake up early for the three-day competition starting the next morning. Despite being the same trip, the Kempo Competition was a whole other story.
Words of the Week
Swimming pool- Simbassäng City- Stad River- Flod Island- Ö