In Budapest

I have been in Budapest for six days now, and it is wonderful. I did some fancier activities and food with my mom for the first few days before she flew back to England for a cruise, and have since finally been able to think about what I want to do, rather than managing her things.

The ratio of pretty people here is highly disproportionate, with a walk down the street typically being very pleasing to the eye. It has been nine years since I last had an extended stay in a European city, and one aspect I have noticed is that I have some insecurities about my age. I gave up my 20s for medicine, and an aspect of this reality is that if it comes up, I am no longer regarded as a fellow young traveler, but rather am asked things like whether I am there on business or for pleasure.

The weight of age and my current professional insecurities all weighed upon me yesterday when I went on a free walking tour, but I fortunately got drinks with some Australian travelers afterward, and it was a day well spent, with us drinking our fill of the local beer and discussing cultural, linguistic, and geopolitical differences.

Tomorrow, I will likely head north to a smaller town that, like Budapest, is a melting pot of a few very different cultures. Then I will potentially hop over to Bratislava, because Slovakia is quite close to here, and I am told that one day is plenty to spend there.