Budapest Duel - hungarian girl vs. guy from New Zealand

Last friday I was invited for a duel with one of the Ambassadors of the Budapest Tourist Office.  The „new colleagues” are requested to represent their country/ nation/ culture and help for their arriving compatriots with tips –where to, what to  etc.


My  partner in the duel was Scott from New Zealand after working in London, Auckland, Buenos Aires, Florence, Beirut, Vancouver and Seoul, he told that his  favourite city of all was Budapest. It always touches me, when someone from abroad just falls in love with Budapest and has decided to move here after living such a great cities….


For him – and I hope for everyone!-  Budapest offers the unbeatable combination of a rich historical background mixed in with a very up-to-date urban pulse.

The duel was in the Tourinform office at the Deák square, where we welcomed the travellers and tried to give them the most useful/ appropriate info about our beloved city.
 First we had only some Hungarians, coming for program magazines. – Well I could better serve them than Scott who doesnt speak a Hungarian word. – a good point for meJ
Afterwards a young guy came and asked for a Hostel at the Szív utca. Wow, Scott from NZ knew where that street was…to be honest I never heard it. – Surely he was a taxi driver before… - a good point for him :)

Our biggest challenge were a couple of Belgian students. They came for a brunch of information… they are in Bp. to organise a weekend for 47 student in March. So they needed info about accommodation, places to see, places where to go eat & drink & have some party… and also asked for some activities.

Scott know the city very well and he show them (on a map) the district of the ruinbars, the soho of  Pest, the castle area and suggested them where to spend their free time. I’ve just add some small details to his complete presentation and Im sure the Belgians were more than satisfied after the twenty minutes we talked to them.

Both of us gained a lot from that morning…I’d say Scott is the winner, as he is a Bp. expert from NZ!

From the beginning budapestUNDERGUIDE have always stood behind/ assisted the Budapest Ambassador Program, we were one of first partners who had joined to the action. Till today we believe that the personal experiences and tips of the Ambassadors are fantastic, so personal and really useful for the travellers of different nations. We do agree that in case of a request/question from Munich, a German knows better where to find for example the best “lager beer” than a Italian.., don’t we?!  For more info about the program: http://budapest-ambassador.blogspot.com/



Vilma, co - founder of the budapestUNDERGUIDE