Not all was bad
When you remove yourself out of a situation where you aren't happy, you can look at things from a distance and often see things from a new perspective, which is great. This is the case with our time in Budapest as well for me. Although I was far more unhappy there than my partner, since the home office days, quality of life declined so badly for him as well that he too could not see any future perspective there anymore. Although sad that this was his feeling too, I was also happy that finally we were on the same page again and not going back and forward to explore tons of options, thinking that we found the right one for us moving forward.
It drove me nuts knowing that he didn't really see how we'd end up long term there but also could not commit to going back to Spain at first either. All the options we explored in the meantime all seemed to be the right choice for a brief period but this was also partially affected by the fact that he was still working for a huge company that had departments in these other parts of the world. Thankfully for us, with all these options, different questionable things appeared over time while it was just an idea and not really something we'd put into action yet. It just wasn't meant to be and I'm personally happy that this happened because I lost my heart to Spain in these first 14 months we stayed here.
Not my typical holiday location
The fact that I lost my heart to Spain is quite remarkable considering the fact that I only went on a holiday here twice in my life many years ago and that I didn't even like these two holidays. From my teen years, I lost my heart to Turkey, going on more than two hands full of holidays there for many years. The beauty of Turkey, the people and the food stole my heart and when my partner and I went on a holiday there, he felt what I felt all these years.
We found back ourselves in hard times while being there and extended our trip to 3 weeks, just in time for the airport to close end of season. Yet I never considered moving there for several reasons although I knew quite a few other girls moving there for love in my younger years.
When we chose Spain as our volunteering country upon leaving our home country, there was something about Spain that I loved deeply. It was not our ability to properly communicate because we barely spoke a few words Spanish and relied much on our translator app, but the warmth of the people we met during our journey of starting over was probably the thing that locked in my heart.
Warm Dutch people
Not only did the Spanish make me feel welcome and at peace, something I hadn't felt in years in my own country, but also the few Dutch people we met did more for us than they probably can imagine. Not just their willingness to help us start our own lives and help with the logistics of that, but just being there for us when we really needed a friend is what did wonders for us.
We learned along the way that our Dutch people that take the dive to move to another country are made from a different breed than those we left behind. Although we know quite a few entrepreneurs, the mindset of the Dutch we meet here is so extremely different.
Late summer in Budapest four years ago.. Look at how cute my mini-me was <3
The beauty of Budapest
Looking back on Budapest, I more and more remember the good things we did and shared there. For 6 years or so, the negative things overshadowed the positive ones but now I browse through old pictures and feel the happy feelings again thinking back of these precious memories we made.
One of the simplest things to find joy in Budapest if you don't have a car but rely on public transport is either go to Városliget, the city park of Budapest OR take the tram to Margitsziget which is the island on th Danube between Buda and Pest. We were lucky to live next to the bridge to the island upon our arrival in Budapest which meant that we could walk to the Parliament building in minutes or in most cases, walk to the island in minutes as well.
That whole area sucked in terms of finding affordable places to eat but looking back from a distance, I appreciate the fact that we had access to two of such big tourist spots within walking distance. By the way, you can easily get there by bus or tram as well, Budapest's public transport system is amazing, even with metro lines being closed for years for reconstruction, there's always a connection by bus and or tram to get there, it will just take more time than it usually would.
Winter in Budapest, walk on the island, found this huge leaf
Winter walks on island
The picture I shared in the header was a huge leaf we found during one of our walks in the winter. It was January which means it's cold in Budapest, I can see my boyfriend wearing his winter coat there as well. The climate is so different from the one where we live now.
I was curious if this leaf is a maple leaf or another one, tagging @kerrislravenhill here as she probably knows. You can see the leaf isn't fully intact so therefore I wonder if I identified it correctly, I have the feeling it's a bit torn on the left, the top and the right but the leaf reminded me of my maple leaf silver round so maybe I'm right.
Precious metals talk
Finally, as @silversaver888 gave me the tip to check for Mercury or Roosevelt dimes, I took her advice and found a seller offering them for spot + 10% yesterday. I checked for other options but these were the best so I asked him if I could buy a few of both and he said he's going on holiday tomorrow so if I wanted to buy it before he left I should arrange it today so he can ship it beforehand.
I asked him if he had some that looked ok as I also some some (I think it was) rusty ones in the pictures and with that I asked him to pick different years without making too much fuzz about which years because I can imagine that could put him off and I rather have another connection where I could turn to for these dimes if I want more.
Hopefully, these arrive next week but it could be faster because last week I had an order from there arriving the next day, which I guess was just pure luck.
I hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane today..
All pictures above are mine..