Snow’s begun falling in the far southwest, blanketing fields in a way that reminds me of crisp Canadian winters - quite different from our usual damp Budapest January. With cold weather settling in, it’s the perfect time to tackle those holiday empties through...
It’s 19 December, and Budapest has slipped into that familiar pre-Christmas state where everyone seems to be doing three errands at once. Andrew and I are trying to wrap things up before the pace slows. Christmas Eve will be at my mother’s, as it always is, and...
We’ve just come out of a long weekend of remembrance for the 1956 Revolution, and I ended it with something more joyful - celebrating my mother’s 80th birthday at DNB Budapest, surrounded by family and the kind of food that makes you grateful to live here. The Danube...
I was genuinely surprised when I first learned how inheritance works here in Hungary. Having lived in Canada, the US, and the UK, I’d always assumed that if you left a will naming your spouse as your sole heir, that would be that. Simple. But in Hungary, the law has...
As watch the bins being hauled out this morning - first chilly one of October - I realised our street in Budapest looked a little more alert than usual. Lids properly shut. No artful pyramids of recycling. It’s not paranoia: MOHU waste collection rules 2025 kicked in...
It’s mid-August, and in Budapest we’re still wiping away the sweat after the hottest summer on record. Yet, while I’m watering the plants and dodging tiny flying gnats, my thoughts are already turning to radiators, bills, and boiler checks. Such is life here: autumn...
If you live in Budapest, you might not know that the gas pipes in Budapest are an unexpectedly serious concern in the city’s classic apartments - especially those built at the end of the 19th century. Over the past three years, my whole family has been impacted by...
It’s early August, and across Europe, holidaymakers are settling into summer mode. Here in the Balaton Highlands, where we have a winehouse that doubles as a peaceful retreat from city life, I’m feeling especially lucky. Not just for the sunsets, the slower pace, or...
I’m writing this from the terrace of our little winehouse, with a fan working double-time and my laptop precariously balanced between coffee and sunscreen. It’s another scorcher in the Balaton Highlands, but a cool front is (thankfully) on its way. I’m heading back to...
Splitting my time between Budapest’s buzzing streets and the laid-back wine hills of Lake Balaton, I’ve seen firsthand how Hungary’s property market can feel like a moving target - especially if you’re a first time buyer. The government’s new Otthon Start loan scheme...
I’m Anikó Woods, a Canadian-Hungarian who’s been knee-deep in life here since 2017 - bureaucracy, culture, and everything in between.
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