It's Good to Be Back!!! - Part 1

Finally! After weeks of going from here to there…I’m back in my base office and in a new desk location! This is sort of a fresh start for me after a very busy month.

Anyway, here’s where I’ve been and what I’ve been up and about the last few weeks:

Budapest, Hungary

I was in this beautiful city for 10 days supporting a project for one of our big customers. At first, I thought that I will just be doing remote planning support from England ( as what I have been doing the past year) but it turned out that the project manager wanted me to be in Budapest for the whole duration of the project. So after availing myself of a business visa, even before I can prime myself to the idea of travelling, I was off to Budapest on the 29^th of May.

It was not really a smooth travel for me as I was only accommodated in the late evening flight and as expected, it was delayed by another hour which meant that I will be arriving in this unfamiliar city way past midnight. While in the plane, I was worried that I might not be able to find a taxi going to the hotel and indeed I was right! There was not a single taxi in the airport and there were about 15 people ahead of me in the queue. Worse, I had no idea which part of the city my hotel was located and I had not a single clue about Hungarian language. Good thing though that I decided to try my luck getting out of the queue and wandered around the arrival entrance and found out that they have this airport minibus which brings passengers to downtown Budapest at a cheaper price. I just told the driver that I need to be dropped by my hotel and that’s the only place I knew. So off we go and I shared the ride with 5 other people all talking Hungarian and myself not having a single idea where we were heading to. I just can’t explain the relief that I felt when I saw the Ramada neon lights from afar.

The rest of days were spent at the Budapest office finishing my planning document for the said project. I was seated next to the PS Core Planner and he was very helpful in all my logistic needs and most importantly, in my technical queries regarding the project. Since it was getting dark quite late in the evening, I’ve been walking around every after office hours and trying out different restos each day. Food was great and heavy and the city ambiance was definitely striking as they have preserved pre-war structures and architecture but sometimes it’s quite frustrating to be walking around without having any idea what the people around me are talking about.

Traditionally Budapest:

Towards the weekend, I got a little homesick and missed hubby so much that I even thought of going back to England and just come back by Monday. But after his convincing me not to cause anymore hassles to our secretary who is doing all the plane and hotel bookings, I decided to stay and discover more of the city. So, when Saturday came, after a light breakfast, equipped with the city map, I decided to roam around the city. Luckily, it was a sunny and warm day despite hearing some rain forecast the previous day. Walking around, you can see that the city is both peaceful and bustling. It is a big metropolis but people are laid back and friendly and the historic structures blend with the modern ones. For me, the highlight of this city is the river Danube which flows through the city with hills on one side harmonizing with it. Towards the afternoon, I just found myself walking along Vaci Utca. It is one of the famous streets in Budapest where upscale and fancy shops, cafe and restaurants lined up with very interesting façade and stunning architecture.

The following day, a Filipino colleague based in the city, invited me over to his superb place for a barbecue. He lives on the quiet and hilly Buda side of the city. It was a fun afternoon spending time with his friendly wife and kids. It was very uplifting talking about their life and experiences in Hungary, England and Philippines. On the way back to the hotel, we decided to drop by Citadella. It is located in Gellert Hill which rises high and offers a great view of the whole city, the Buda side and some parts of the Pest side, the banks of the Danube and the majestic Royal Palace and the Parliament. From there, we went to Heroes’ Square for a few picture-taking as it is one of Hungary’s famed spots. It was only during the drive to his place and back that I discovered the other parts of the city which was simply impressive.

among the Hungarians. :)

overlooking Budapest and The Danube

Elisabeth Bridge

Szabadság Szobor (Liberty Statue) with Roselyn and Alex

Budapest at night

Heroes' Square

Museum of Fine Arts

It was indeed a beautiful city and I was thankful that I was given the chance to explore that part of Europe. At the end of my stay and the completion of my planning task, I can say that I enjoyed my short stay in the Budapest office and city as a whole and can’t wait to go back to England that has been home for me for quite a while and of course looking forward to see my dear husband whom I terribly missed.