Passport collector

My Dad travels all the time. I am sometimes jealous of him because it seems so glorious to be in Chile one week and Singapore the next. He goes all over, for business of course, but always manages a little sightseeing or touring while he is in these places. He prefers public transportation when he has time to use it, and never uses a tour guide. He walks the streets himself, perhaps with a map just to point him in the right direction, and goes. The man is awesome and I whole-heartedly blame him for my love of travel.

Day 8 is about a place I've traveled too. In my sweet, short life time, I have had the privalege of going to a lot of different places. Romania, Belgium, England, France, Italy, Costa Rica... but my favorite, for a lot of reasons, is Budapest.

I can't say that I ever really wanted to go there before the Summer between my junior and senior years of high school. Not a lot of high school students think of Hungary as being a cool place to visit. Not when they could see Paris, or Rome or London. But after the summer of 2007, I desperately wanted to go to Budapest. Why? Because I met a boy. Duh. So for thanksgiving of that year, The World Traveler (my dad) and I boarded a plane headed for Budapest. We stopped in France, we ran about the Charles du Galle airport, hopped on that connecting flight and landed in Hungary 14 hours after we left the United States. I waved goodbye to my Dad as he headed to catch another flight to Romania and I was left, alone in the heart of Eastern Europe. That is, until I saw Matt. Then all was well in the world. (minus stupid Air France loosing my bag... idiots.)

Budapest is beautiful- filled with old buildings, old history, old hills and my personal favorite, bridges over the Danube. There is something to be said about walking through a city with someone you love, who loves that city. Part of what made me love Budapest so much was how much Matt loved that city. He showed me his favorite spots, took me to "touristy" places, but in an untouristy kind of way. (My dad would have appreciated it). He let me take pictures, let me buy souvieners and he let me see his world. [Like I've said before, I think I loved this boy from the beginning.]

The best part of the whole of the city (in my humble opinion) is a view you can see from atop Gellart Hill. (in Budapest there are 2 "hills" that are on one side of the Danube. Gellert and Castle Hill.) Matt and I walked up Gellart Hill- in the cold and the wet and the rain, classic Budapest November weather. We got to the top, sat on a bench and watched the lights come on in the city. As the sun goes down the lights come on. The buildings twinkle with lights in the windows, and the bridges- Oh the bridges- covered in lights across the expanse of the river. It's beautiful. And its better when holding a cute boy's hand.

Budapest is my favorite. It was the best collection of stamps I have ever received in "all" my travels. Give me a plane ticket and I'd go back in a heartbeat. Then again, I might be going back in May...