Budapest

It was a blazing hot summer in Budapest. Stepping out of the thermal pool left me lightheaded—who plunges into 36°C water in the middle of a heatwave, after all? Later, Björke cooled off in a city fountain, while I stayed on the sidelines as a spectator. The second half of July had been spent enduring November-like weather in Norway, only to be met with the opposite extreme in Hungary. In the end, we made up for the summer we missed with a brief but intense burst of late August heat.

Old building with peeling yellow paint and multiple windows, surrounded by green foliage, in an urban setting.
Two people standing in front of a weathered white wall with peeling paint and three small arched niches. They are partially hidden behind a row of leafy trees, with only their legs and torsos visible. The person on the left is wearing a black top and a mustard yellow skirt, while the person on the right is dressed in a black top and light blue jeans. The scene takes place outdoors on a grassy area with soil and fallen leaves.
A bronze statue of a man on a horse on a decorative pedestal, with a large, bright moon in the cloudy sky behind it, and a dark leafy tree on the left.
Colorful mural on the side of a building featuring abstract and cartoon-style illustrations, including a smiling person with gray hair, a black cat, a blue water pitcher, and the word 'DRAFT' written vertically in bold letters.
A woman with tattoos on her arms and sunglasses is smiling and holding the hand of a young boy with a backpack. They are standing in front of a large mural that depicts a scenic outdoor scene with women, animals, and water, with some people sitting and standing in front of the mural inside a building.
A man with blond hair and tattoos on his arm looking at black-and-white photographs on a gallery wall with information plaques underneath, in a dimly lit art gallery.
Close-up of the top part of a historic building with a dome and decorative medieval-style battlements, with birds flying in the cloudy sky.
Nighttime view of the illuminated Hungarian Parliament Building along the Danube River in Budapest.