Euro Mini Trip

After a more than entertaining flight into Amsterdam, I began my “Euro Mini Trip,” in which I visited Paris, Geneva & Budapest over a period of 1.5 weeks. As my creative writing juices do not seem to be flowing right now, I instead decided to summarize this part of my trip in a more consulting-like format (gotta keep those consulting skills fresh in my head so I don’t lose em!)

Paris (5 days):
Reason for visit: Cousin’s wedding & to see the reaction at McDonald’s when ordering “Freedom Fries”

Highlights: Amazing wedding, great spending time with friends & family from all over the world (Australia, Canada, USA, South Africa), near perfect weather, and the joy of 120 straight hours of my mom trying to convince me why I can still change my mind about moving to South Africa (as I am currently on the plane right now to Cape Town, she didn’t do a very good job. Maybe if I threaten the crew I can get a ride back??)

Not-so-highlights: Constantly being told wrong directions by French locals as their way of “sticking it to the man,” walking aimlessly for 3-4 hours searching for the “perfect” place to eat since agreeing on one spot in our family is harder than winning a game of Risk (I still have no idea how to play that damn game)

The Happy Couple

The Fam...

night shot of the Louvre

Eiffel Tower at Night (obv)

Geneva (4 days):
Reason for visit: Mis amigos Emily & Guill… and I love banks

Highlights: Seeing Emily & my old roommate Guill (and you too Jenny), trying Fondue for the first time, Flight of the Conchords (best show on TV), and this Ethiopian restaurant located on the 2nd floor of an apartment building that only serves one dish but it was still amazing

Not-so-highlights: Spending $3,500 on a croissant and a 0.25 liter bottle of water (Geneva could be the most expensive place in the world), trying fondue for the first time (this is a repeat from above, as Guill thought it would be funny if I dipped my bread into vodka first and then ate it… haha Guill, I hate you), Gold Schlager & Tobasco shot (once again Guill, I hate you…), seeing Guill (I changed my mind from above)

Me, Jenny & Guill at some bar (I have no idea why we are smoking... maybe it's the tobasco)

Me and Emily at some Thai restaurant (how genuinely happy do we look? )

Hard-core

Budapest (2 days):
Reason for visit: Didn’t get a chance to fulfill my alcoholic tendencies in the first two locations (be proud of me Mom, be proud!)

Highlights: 3,000 person outdoor club, dancing to YMCA with a overexcited group of Hungarians, hanging out in outdoor pools until our skin practically fell off, Emily running through the Hungarian border like a wild banshee and almost being thrown in jail for it, Goulash.. mmm mmm Goulash

Not-so-highlights: No old naked men playing chess in the pools (I really wanted to play one of them), some labyrinth tour that ended up being a twisted version of “It’s a Small World” as it pretended to say that aliens inhabited this cave and discovered cell phones 40 million years ago (don’t even ask)