Natacha Guego, an expat who has lived in Budapest for the past eleven years, has had her fair share of different educational systems. Both natives of Paris, she and her husband, both native Parisians, have been relocating across the globe for the past twenty years, as her husband works for a …

Recently moved to Budapest and looking for the perfect décor for your new home abroad? Been here a while but a bit bored with your bare walls?  Then no need to worry; the works of some of the city’s newest and most talented artists are readily available … but not permanently.

Expats on the …

Last summer did us in.  Five transatlantic tickets, two weeks of car rental, one U-Haul and a loop-de-loop track up and down the East Coast had the cops looking for us. Not because we were lost. The officer left a message at a friend’s place, asked if my husband could please not flee from gas …

Laws regulating pharmacies differ from country to country.  Calling in a prescrition over the phone is common practice in the US, but the doctor cannot call in, fax, or email an order in Hungary; a physical prescription is necessary.  The pharmacist can honor the prescription for a month from the date it was written, and …

Farkasrét cemetery is the biggest in Buda, playing a strong symbolic role in Hungarian history and culture. Officially opened in 1894, at a semi-forested, sloping sight, it gained its name –Wolffield– from a competition during the Reform-époque, where German place-names were rebaptised into Hungarian. Veres Sándor’s winged griffin (griffmadár), greets visitors …

One of the most disheartening feelings is arriving back home after a short trip or extended vacation, only to find that precious keepsakes have been stolen and your house has been ransacked. Not only does this create a sense of vulnerability, but it also lends to a distrust in your …

This is not You Bet Your Garden.  The host of the Philadephia public radio show can answer it all: from black spots on tomatoes to repositioning your rutabaga.  I, on the other hand, am working on growing tomatoes.  At all, period.  Though I’ve personally tilled small family allotments for the past 15 years, in four …

It makes sense that Budapest, one of the world’s great spa destinations, boasts some 200 caves within the city limits.  The thermal spas are fed by thermal springs, which have carved out much of what lies underneath.  That, you’ve probably heard.  Now’s the time to go see it.  If the weather were a bit nicer…or …

More often than not, expats who accompany their partners abroad are a complex and ambitious sort.  Many have left behind professional opportunities to make the transition for their families as smooth as possible, yet only start contemplating what to do about their own employment after everyone else has settled in.  Regaining traction in a career …

Budapest International Airport is well-connected.  There are direct flights to most major destinations in Europe, and with the addition of a layover in, say, Munich, you can get just about anywhere in two hops.  Adding Vienna International Airport into the mix, at a mere 230 or so kilometers away, expands your layover-free travel options …

What is postpartum depression?
The majority of mothers experience mood fluctuations after giving birth. While some degree of sadness, irritability and weepiness, colloquially known as baby blues, in the days or weeks immediately following birth is completely normal, there are other, more serious forms of postpartum mood disturbances that respond best to some kind of professional …

Yep.  It’s that time of year again.  As a seasoned expat who’s spent thirteen years in Budapest, it’s safe to say I’ve had my fair share of farewells.  Each year, I cry through at least one big tissue-box-worth of goodbyes. 

The annual IWC Food Festival is back this month!
Join your fellow expats for a fun-filled day of delicious global culinary delights!  Bring the whole family, there will lots of activities for the little ones. 

In Hungary, the colorful rituals, traditions and customs associated with spring reach back into the mists of time, many of them rooted in pagan ceremony.