Hamburg, London, Prague. 10 days. Many friends. I had been to all these cities before; this time it was more about cathcing up with friends and family I hadn't seen in a while. And trying to experience each of these places as those who live there do. I was so pleasantly surprised about Hamburg. I never imagined I would like a city in Germany this much. But I did. It's modern, organized, livable, green, half the city rides bikes, there are parks and lakes and channels and as soon as the temperature goes above 20C, everyone is outside, wine festival, beach bars, jogging by the river. One day I borrowed my friend's bike and felt like a local, riding on the many bike paths (almost all the streets I saw have bike lanes on the sidewalks, which are wide enough for bikers and pedestrians to share, without the constant danger of being run over by cars). The suburbs are lovely too: my brother lives in a little town called Buchholz. It's a 25 minute train ride from the center of Hamburg, on a train that looks like it's from a sci-fi (especially being used to New York and Budapest transportation). The town is neat, walkable, cute. From the edge of the forest, you can walk to the center in 10-15 minutes. There is a market on the main square, cute little shops and restaurants and most importantly, it's lively! It's nothing like an American suburb. You don't have to drive everywhere, shop in the mall or even worse, the strip malls! And you can be in the forest in 5 minutes (however, I have to admit that 2 days there was more than enough for me).
London is London. Not much more to say about that. It's as much of a metropolis as New York is. I love the pubs, the buses, the Olympics buzz! I was also busy trying to see as many people as I could fit into 3 days. One of the days I spent there started with a running race, the British 10K. This time, I was a spectator, and was cheering for Daniel (except I only cought sight of his back once as there were 30 thousand runners!). I tried to follow the route as long as I could, through Trafalgar Square and in front of the Buckingham Palace. I have to say, even though nothing can beat the NYC marathon route as it turns onto 1st Ave from the Queensboro Bridge, but this might come close. After the race, we met up with another good friend from Hungary for a wonderful lunch. Drinking cider at a pub all afternoon, while watching Wimbledon was kind of tiring. Dinner with another couple of friends in a different part of town, then off to meet yet another friend, not to waste a moment! And this pretty much repeated for 2 more days. Since when are all my friends in London??
Since I'll be going back for the Olympics in a couple of weeks, maybe I'll write about that later, but oh my god, the whole thing is so exciting! I guess, always having been an athlete, I feel that the Olympics have a special meaning. Being around the Olympic Park, seeing the preparations, some of the athletes who had already arrived there, it put a huge smile on my face. When I started fencing at the age of 7, it was very clear that the goal was to make olympians out of all of us. Of course, not everyone can make the Olympics, but the philosophy used to be just that. It became clear some years later that I wasn't destined for the Olympics; I was not at all heartbroken about that. Even now, being so close to the event, I never think about it as something I could have reached. Nontheless, it's super exciting to be there, just as a spectator, just to see and feel the buzz.
Prague was lovely too. I felt like it was a smaller and more sterile version of Budapest. It's beautiful but I prefer the atmosphere of Budapest. However, catching up with my friend Jana was so nice, her two little girls are so adorable!
What can I say? I could see myself in either Hamburg or London. One day maybe, who knows? For now, sticking to NYC :)
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