What would you trade in a grand Baltic drive followed by a two-month trip to India for? Basically I believed for nothing. And then things just started to happen and I realized that I had taken up a project in the midst of summer in Hungary’s capital city of Budapest sacrificing my European and Asian travel adventures to bring back the old-school circus, the bucking bronco and some vintage Ford Mustangs for a night.
One of the biggest, the brightest, the craziest and (…fill in the blank) music and cultural festivals in Europe attracted record number of visitors this year, turning an average August week in Budapest to a colorful, exciting and jaw-dropping 24/7 blast.
Have you heard of the increasingly famous vineyards in Hungary? Probably Tokaj, home of the sweet golden liquid. But you better know that this is not the only notable wine region in the country.
Lonely wine cellar
It was a journey back in time, stepping into a rather hallucinatory universe of young intellectuals, hipsters, rebels, artists. The world of the Beat generation.
The morning of 1st January when most people were struggling to get out of bed, or actually they went to bed at that time I started to feel an inner push, an urge which did kick me out of bed in the early hours. Something repeatedly was telling me ‘what you do today will reflect on your entire year, get up and be productive’. I took my morning shot of coffee, with an unusually fair amount of time devoted for breakfast and went on to immerse myself in a couple of projects I have started have been planning to start recently. My New Year’s resolution for 2014? Stop dreaming about things, get up, get out and just get it!
Printa design shop
If you were a tourist in your own country and were looking for off the beaten track places do you know where would you go? What spots would you hit with a friend coming from abroad to amaze him? These are the questions I asked myself earlier today while taking the public transport to my Italian teacher. Looking out of the window I was like, how beautiful this city is. I studied here for 4 years, then worked here for a few more and actually still living here at the moment but I’ve never devoted enough time to explore Budapest further. I know where to shop what, where to go out for a few drinks or a nice dinner, what are the major landmarks, but nothing beyond that. That’s not good enough. So I decided to add the ‘get to know your home country’ activity to my to do list. I am going to dedicate a full day going around the city where I live and find the hip places, art galleries, local designer stores, small spas, restaurants and side street bars. Sounds like a good starting point.
What about you? Do you really know your city?
Discover Budapest off the beaten track: Design, vintage, art and wine – Budapest side street walks
journeyfiles 