Amy and the Great World

Writing

Behind the Scenes: Instagram (Volume 3)

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This photo says…aren’t we the cutest travelers? We like to imitate the statues we find!

Meanwhile, behind the scenes…Me: Look! That statue is awesome. Go stand by it! E: Oh, okaaaaay. Me: No, do what he’s doing. E: What? Me: Like, do exactly what he’s doing. E: Like this? Me: No, make the same face. E: Like this? Me: No. Stop laughing! He’s way more serious. No teeth!…and so on.

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This photo says…Romania makes me dance.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes…I was slipping on cobblestones (which, for something so picturesque, can be little death traps), hence the arms-askew pose. But Romania does make one dance. Go there and see it for yourself!

 

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This photo says…on our beautiful jaunt around the Western Irish coast, we happened upon this iconic vista, the perfect spot for a little brooding.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes…the first time I went to Ireland, I bought a postcard with this pier on it–and now that I was traveling around Ireland with a car, I was determined to find it. We did! Although it wasn’t easy–and we did have to clamber up wet Irish grass to get to this spot, which is most definitely not conducive to climbing.

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This photo says…another perfect day on the Irish coast!

Meanwhile, behind the scenes…this was the first time I’d seen the sun in about six days of traveling around Ireland. I was so excited to get down to the cliffs, I immediately sprained my ankle when my feet hit the ground. This “angle” was achieved because I sprained my ankle so badly, I had to sit on the ground (for a long time) before I could put weight on my leg. C’est la vie.

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This photo says…Budapest is truly BudaBEST! Look at the ruins around every corner!

Meanwhile, behind the scenes…I got lost on one of the hottest day’s of summer, and in misery, took a “shortcut” through a park. I found this! And I didn’t appreciate the novelty until I was home, with a fan blowing directly into my face.

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This photo says…oh, the joy of teaching kids about the world!

Meanwhile, behind the scenes…being trapped in this part of an aquarium with 40 kids under the age of 8 might be one of the loudest things I’ve ever experienced.

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This photo says…Slovenia will take your breath away at every turn.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes…Um. Slovenia will take your breath away at every turn. Even on the side of the highway…by a dam.

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This photo says…aren’t we the cutest? Let me just leap onto my husband’s back in front of this gorgeous castle.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes…Finally we got a photo with both of our eyes open, both of our mouths smiling, no hair or scarves in faces, both of us looking at camera, both of us in the frame, and not totally awkward. It only took about 20 tries.

Tell me…

Does the behind the scenes of your Instagram look a little different?

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM HERE.

VOLUME ONE // VOLUME TWO // originally inspired by this post

 

Expat Life Hungary

Eleven Months in Budapest: By the Numbers

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Eleven months! I can’t believe a year ago I accepted my job and we started scrambling, buying plane tickets and packing up all of our stuff to move to Budapest. Hard to believe that my one-year anniversary with Budapest is approaching fast and furiously.

The eleventh month has been a whirlwind, in the best kind of way–because it’s almost Christmas!

Eleven Months in Budapest: By the Numbers

ONE NIGHT in the little town of Eger, Hungary! We had to visit their little Christmas market while we were there, of course.

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FIVE (ish) glasses of wine in the cellars Eger’s Valley of Beautiful Women, aka Hungary’s wine country. The cellars are right next to each other so you just walk in-between, sampling as you go.

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FOUR visits to the local Christmas markets so far, not counting the smaller ones in parks I’ve randomly stumbled upon. And it’s just the beginning!!

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TWO (very light) dustings of snow. Can you see it?

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SEVERAL (more than I’d care to admit) hilariously awkward interactions with co-workers this month. I’m not sure what my deal is right now, but pretty much every time I’ve spoken with a Hungarian adult lately, and it’s turned weird quickly. This one made me laugh, mostly because it was in response to a long email of mine asking about fifteen questions.

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THREE HOURS celebrating Friendsgiving with some friends and a co-worker of mine. Of course I only took a picture of the flowers our friend gifted us, but it was a great night and E, the main cook of the event, did a spectacular job!

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LONG DAYS working at my job. In some ways, this is the best time of year to be a teacher: fun Christmas lessons, gifts from the kids, a decorated school, happy people. In other ways, it’s also the worst: kids are insanely hyped up with excitement and sugar, the schedule is a mess, a lot of teachers/students are sick, and there is so much going on that it begins to feel stressful.

img_4446img_4396This kid has some big wishes from Santa: including laser vision. 

MANY DAYS where the temperature is getting truly cold (cold enough, I think, for snow, so let me just ask: where is it?!??) but this also means the coziness is going off the charts.

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THREE Christmas-themed donuts from our new favorite donut shop, the Donut Library (please excuse my horrid phone picture…).

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ONE jury-rigged Christmas tree in our flat! (Aka a bunch of branches that we shoved into a bucket, that E wrapped to look festive).

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TWO HOURS at a festive trivia night, which needed holiday outfits, of course (okay, I’m not particularly festive in plaid, but it was a Scottish bar so I still earned some points).

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Ten Months in Budapest // Nine Months in Budapest // Eight Months in Budapest // Seven Months in Budapest // Six Months in Budapest // Five Months in Budapest // Four Months in Budapest // Three Months in Budapest // Two Months in Budapest // One Month in Budapest // Three Months on the Road // Twelve Months in Prague

Hungary

24 Hours in Budapest

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When I was invited to join the AccorHotels blogger competition for “24 Hours in…” with a post about my favorite city, truthfully no one city came to mind immediately.

So, I enlisted my husband to help me. We have this travel game we play, where one of us will say two locations, and the other has to choose which one they want to visit most. As you can imagine, this game doesn’t really have an ending, and it’s not black-and-white, so I came down to two choices: Prague or Budapest.

It might be cheating to write about 24 hours in the current city I’m living in, but I haven’t given Budapest much love on this blog yet, so I couldn’t resist!

(For more about Prague: 5 Day Trips from Prague, a Prague Bucket List, A Guide to Teaching English in Prague, and my Love Affair with Praha).

24 HOURS IN BUDAPEST

The first thing you must do is hit up Deryne Bisztro for breakfast. It’s a bit out of the way but so worth it.

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After breakfast, take a walk up Castle Hill and head to Fisherman’s Bastion for the best views of the city you’ll be exploring for the next 24 hours! IMG_0138IMG_0102

Visit the Matthias Church, since you’re right there after all. It’s gorgeous.

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Head to a fancy café for lunch/coffee. I love the Alexandria Bookstore on Andrassy avenue, but the New York Café is billed as the most beautiful cafe in the world if you’re up for the prices that go along with that tagline. If you’re not in the mood for fancy, head to Ruszwurm, supposedly the oldest café in the city, and conveniently right next to Matthias Church and Fisherman’s Bastion.

Take the metro to Varosliget (City Park) and walk through, making sure to visit the Vajdahunyad Castle.img_1497

At the other end of the park, hop into the Szechenyi Baths for a relaxing soak and spa treatments. There are tons of other baths in the city, like Gellert Baths and Rudas, but Szechenyi is literally in an old palace. How could you go wrong?

After a soak, head back to your hotel/Airbnb for a quick clean up. Then…

Head to DiVino Wine Bar for pre-dinner glass of Hungarian wine–spoiler alert, it’s delicious–and a gorgeous view of St. Stephen’s Basilica.

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Walk along the Danube to see the Budapest skyline showing off at night, especially the Chain Bridge.

Eat a late dinner at Menza for traditional Hungarian with a twist.

Save some energy for at least one ruin pub! Ruin pubs are one of my favorite things about Budapest. Szimpla is the most famous, and a must, if only to sit in the bath tub. My favorite is Anker’t. Here’s a list of more here. Most of the pubs are close to each other, in the 7th district, so it’s easy to hop between them.IMG_6272IMG_8495

Budapest turns all the lights out at midnight, but really the party is just getting started, so you can stay out all night if you want. My teacher schedule usually has me in bed by midnight, so I’m not an expert, but try out Doboz–a ruin pub and a club in one!

Go home, knowing that 24 hours in Budapest was just enough to leave you wanting more.

Have you been to Budapest? What would you squeeze into these 24 hours, if you could?

 

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