07:00 Wake up, bright eyed, bushy tailed. Savor a few moments of quiet contemplation before seizing the day.
08:00 Bag packed (Skins, MacBook, map, camera, water & sunnies), out the door with a brisk 200m walk to the bus stop.
08:30 Arrive Bikram Yoga Kozpont for 09:00 class. Chat with a few yogis, then enter the studio for some pre-class stretches. If I loosen up before class, the little voice whispering “What the F*#% am I doing here?” as I strain into Arda Chandrasana, isn’t as loud, especially during a morning class. Today doesn’t disappoint and I have yet another powerful class - amazing really and I have to pinch myself, why is my practice so strong? It’s day 19 in Budapest and every class has been unbelievable!
11:00 With a cheery koszonom (thank you) & sziasztok (hello/goodbye) to Linda, Rob (aka RAM) and I make our way down back streets towards the VII district. We joke about “sexy platform fairies“, “two plucky ladies”, “don’t worry” and any English sounding Hungarian dialogue during class that we have absolutely no clue about. For a westerner the practice here is unique: we follow the class in union, in tune, by feel alone. For me, this may be the reason for my strong classes: I know what I need to do, letting the unfamiliar dialogue wash over me rather than getting hung up on each instruction to be followed or the style of delivery.
11:30 Meet Harlon, a Budapest local, at Frici Papa’s for brunch of 2 boiled eggs swimming in luke warm creme of spinach. The conversation circles around Harlon’s bmx tricks, Rob’s apartment renovation, Hungarian life & how beautiful the women are here with anything idiosyncratic passed off as “This is Hungary”. We follow the meal with an espresso chaser.. life in Budapest is good.
14:00 A quick look at furniture shops with Rob before arriving at his apartment for some wifi time: reply to a growing list of emails (very cool, thank you), book flights to Zurich, research raising money for the Fred Hollows Foundation and add another Bikram Yoga studio to the Global Bender Challenge in June - my goal is to get 50 studios signed up.. c’mon yogis!
16:00 Back out on the street to meet with Tank and Anthony for coffee at Liszt Square, top up phone credit and purchase a travel adapter.
18:00 Back to Rob’s. More wifi time, sort through photos and realise how many I have and that I should be uploading them to flickr for everyone to see. I stress about not doing enough.. soon, I promise!
19:00 Tank arrives home and whips up a dinner of salad, macaroni cheese and pork. I pass on the pig but wolf down the rest, always craving fresh fruit & veg since leaving Oz. They settle down to watch a DVD and I keep fluffing around on the internet, then..
22:40 Shit, my last bus to Buda is about to leave! I say goodbyes and set off down dimly lit streets, my smile lighting the way. I’m lucky to have met Rob and his cool mates. It’s nice to spend some “bloke” time again, hanging with the boys.
00:30 Fall asleep wondering where the day went..
