Xmas in Hungary

December 2018
I hate Xmas. So to flee the commerce of it this year, I decided to travel to Hungary and meet my school friend Adrienne there. Read more
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  • Day 1

    Lights of Berlin

    December 22, 2018 in Germany ⋅ 🌧 5 °C

    My flight to Budapest would go from Berlin. As one of my dear friends, Gülshan, studies there, I had the idea to visit her. She picked me up from the train station, and we went out for dinner to one of the million veggie restaurants in Berlin. I actually quite liked the Indian food, especially the dessert at the end. I also liked Gülshans nice little student's flat with its green atmosphere downstairs in the hall. After our stomachs were filled, we headed out to see the beautiful Xmas lights of Berlin. I always liked the capital city of Germany, as it usually gave me a feeling of freedom. But today it was especially beautiful. We really enjoyed ourselves even though it was quite wet and cold. And when I saw a huge Xmas present made of lights, I had to ask Gülshan to take a picture of me.Read more

  • Day 2

    Lights of Budapest

    December 23, 2018 in Hungary ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    Today I flew from Berlin to Budapest and checked into my hostel where I would stay one night before getting on a train to my friends' hometown the next day. As I wouldn't get much time, I immediately took off and discovered the enlightened streets of Budapest. Everywhere, there were Xmas lights and the atmosphere was amazing. I usually hate all the stress and consumerist trouble, Christmas brings, but here I was free and had nowhere to go except where I wanted to. So I bought myself a Lagos and strolled through the Christmas market. When I discovered one of my absolute favourite types of dessert, chimney cake, with ice cream in it, I couldn't resist. Completely overeaten, I had to wander off the calories and found myself at the Danube river. Suddenly, I realized a bunch of stone shoes beside the river and read the sign next to them, interested. They embodied the deaths of Hungarian Jews losing their lives in WWII. A little thoughtful, I went on to explore the city some more.Read more

  • Day 3

    Christmas Eve

    December 24, 2018 in Hungary ⋅ 🌧 5 °C

    I got up early to explore the most of Budapest before getting on the train to Adriennes hometown. So I climbed up the Buda (hilly) side of the town (pest means flat) to the Royal palace and had an amazing view over the city. As it became too cold in the wind, I quickly decided to go back down to the Danube river. Wandering a bit up and down the river, I stumbled upon a church service happening in the St.-Stephans-Basilika where I warmed my cold feet. When that was over, I hopped on the next train to Ács, arriving there in under an hour. I was greeted warmly not only from Adrienne, but also her mother and brother. We gathered around the beautifully decorated Xmas tree and I even got a gift from them, which I haven't expected at all. Thankfully, I could hand out some presents as well. Although I've never met Adriennes family before, they welcomed me to this traditionally family based holiday, as if I've always been there. I was quite thankful for that experience.Read more

  • Day 4

    My first party abroad

    December 25, 2018 in Hungary ⋅ ☀️ 3 °C

    After waking up, Adrienne and I went to see her grandmother, a couple of houses down the road. I had to admit that the houses were everything but in good shape and that it seemed to be a pretty poor part of the town. But as I've heard lots of times before: "The poorest people, are the kindest and more than willing to share the little bits they have" - it turned out to be true in this part of the world, too. Her granny was just adorable, not speaking a word of English, I communicated with her either through Adrienne, or with my hands, feet and smiles. We got along pretty well. After a yummy soup for lunch, Adriennes other family members, including cousins, aunts and uncles, all gathered in her grannies home and exchanged presents quite unceremoniously. It was still a big happening for her little cousins.
    After all the Christmas traditions were put to a rest, Adrienne told me her idea to go partying. Don't understand me wrong, she can do whatever she likes. But I honestly couldn't think of anything I wanted to do less. I hate partying. The one time my friends lured me to a disco was a horrible situation for me. Loud music, loads of weird, drunken strangers around and the need to embarrass myself whilst dancing, is just not for me. But I wanted to be a good guest and honestly, there wasn't so much to do in Adriennes town anyway. So I decided to try the night-life of Hungary. As my flight would leave early the next morning from Budapest, I decided I'd have to sleep on the plane so that there wouldn't be a hassle.
    Adrienne was quite pleased, put make-up on my face, and we got onto a train to Györ, the next bigger city to Ács. There were also the festive lights everywhere. We walked through the town to the one disco they have and Adrienne knew from her school days, and immediately met four guys in front of the doors. As Adrienne is a very open person, we started to talk with them and I got off on the right foot of one of the guys. I have to admit, I can't remember his complicated Hungarian name, but as he reminded me so much of Nico Santos, I will just call him that. So after we passed around a bottle of alcohol (was it Wodka?), we entered the disco where it was loud, stuffy and smelly. Nico saw my uncomfort and didn't push me to dance with him, but rather placed me in a more quiet corner and talked to me in his broken English. We talked and laughed, and suddenly his hands were on my hip, knee or shoulder. I really enjoyed his calm aura and soft eyes. And believe it or not, I'm usually not that type of person, but somehow we began to kiss each other and snug around. Adrienne thought it to be very funny and winked at me whenever our eyes met. After a while, Nico asked me if I wanted some fresh air. I agreed, and we went out into the freezing cold night. We sat down next to a river, sitting on his jacket, and began snogging again. When I felt his hands wandering under my jumper, I honestly thought a bit too long whether we wouldn't freeze to death if we'd fuck outside, on Christmas day. Luckily, my brain restarted itself a second before I could decide differently, and stopped me from putting my life on the line, telling him to stop. He immediately accepted my decision and kept his hands to himself. Then I looked at my watch, realizing that I had to get back to Adriennes home to get my stuff to actually catch my flight back to Berlin. I jumped up in a hurry, dragging Nico along, trying desperately to find Adrienne. When we found her, she was relieved too, as she had searched for me as well. Both stressed, we got back to the train station and had to wait for the next train. We had missed the train that we wanted to take, so it would be a close call whether I'd be able to gather my things. To comfort me, Nico decided to stick with us and held my hand, trying to calm me down. He was such a lovely guy! An hour later, our train arrived and Nico actually got into the train as well, although he lived in Györ, just to make sure, we'd arrive at home safely. A couple of minutes and we arrived in Ács. I kissed him Goodbye and he wished me Farewell. That would have been the nicest Christmas love story, I'd ever live through myself. But there was no time to swell in memories just yet, as we had to run to Adriennes home, gather my things and get back to the next train to Budapest in under 10 mins. Luckily, her home was just 2 mins from the train station. She wished me luck and said, "See you in school next year", then I was gone.
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  • Day 5

    Flying back home

    December 26, 2018 in Hungary ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C

    I arrived at the airport in Budapest just in time and got on the plane back home. I couldn't sleep during the flight, having too many shadows of Nicos hands on my body that kept me awake - daydreaming.

    Song of the trip: Calma -Remix by Pedro Capo, Farruko
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