"Finding my roots" Hungary by ingridf_nl

This was a really significant trip. My mom is originally Hungarian and has now lived in Canada for 50 years.

My mother was the best travel companion I could have ever hoped for. She took such joy in being in Hungary and in explaining things, and was the best possible interpretor.

We spent the first week in Budapest and were truly tourists. At the time, I traveled with a "to do" list (a practice which has lessened) and while we successfully explored so much of this beautiful city, I could have easily spent another week.

While in Budapest, we also did a few day trips north. We went to St Andras (sp?) and a few more of the small towns along the way which I can't pronounce let alone spell. But all of this to say "WOW". It was really really lovely countryside and the villages were also very nice.

The second week of our trip, we went to the region of my mothers birth in the south. We went to the village in which she was born "Gyonk" as well as some close cities such as Pecs.

Hungary is beautiful. It was a profoundly meaning trip for me.

• Pros:beautiful, great city for walking, wonderful music culture
• Cons:hard to get meals with veggies, not everyone speaks english and hungarian is a very hard language to learn!
• In a nutshell:A country that shows both the glory and pain of its history.