How to maximise your time off!

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How to maximise your time off (2)

Part of what I am proud of is that we manage to hold down 2 full time jobs, run a household, look after 2 house rabbits and travel as much as we do.Yes, we don’t currently have any children so it is a little bit easier but it does take some pre-planning.

Come January my first job is to sort out what time off we want in the following 12 months to get the most out of our days. In the UK we have a statutory minimum of 20 days, if you’re lucky you get bank holidays on top of this and if you’re even luckier you will get more than the minimum.  I understand that some jobs come with a requirement for holidays to be at certain times which can make it a little tricker but it’s all about making travel the priority.

If you really want to travel put it at the top of your list.

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The peninsula named Tihany

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Tihany

While spending some down time in the Lake Balaton area of Hungary we made a small side trip to a small peninsula called Tihany. It was about an hour’s drive around the lake from Siofok and was pretty easy, Hungarian roads make lots of sense and are easy to navigate! You do have the option to take a ferry across the lake instead but it didn’t fit in with our timings.

There are several things to do on Tihany, most famously is the Benedictine monastery and the Tihany echo. One was more impressive than the other. First off though we decided to check out a Lavender museum as Tihany is known for is lavender farms.

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Thought of the day

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On the 5 year anniversary of me being at my current job I think this is very apt!

It’s a balance to get the most out of life whilst holding down a job, sometimes we get this balance just right and other times we don’t. But I guess that’s part of life!!!

never fade

Siofok & Lake Balaton

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After spending a few days in Budapest the second part of our Hungarian adventure was about to start. We picked up a car and headed down the M1 to the Lake Balaton area. Lake Balaton is the largest freshwater lake in Central Europe (not the largest in Europe as Stuart had spent a large portion of his life thinking) and is beautiful. Its one of Hungary’s hot spots for holiday makers, we were early in the season so it hadn’t got too busy but we could see why it was so popular!

The drive down was straightforward and enjoyable despite Hungary’s crazy drivers and I was so pleased with the idea of some downtime and seeing a part of the country not a huge amount of Brits see.

We stayed in the town of Siofok…which we found out from a Hungarian colleague that it was the Ibiza of Hungary. We were on the outskirts of the town in a wonderful boutique hotel, The Mala Garden. It was modelled on Bali and Thailand with a Thai menu, soft furnishings and a small onsite spa. The hotel is on the shorefront of the lake with it’s own jetty and sunbeds.

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Memento Park – home to communist leftovers

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Memento Park (sometimes called Memorial Park) is based just outside of central Budapest on the side of a hill in a very unassuming place. Created in 1991 by Ákos Eleőd as a result of a competition the site contains many many statues, or parts of statues from Hungary’s communist period.

“This park is about dictatorship. And at the same time, because it can be talked about, described, built, this park is about democracy. After all, only democracy is able to give the opportunity to let us think freely about dictatorship.” – Ákos Eleőd

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9 Things to do in Budapest

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A change in my normal roundup’s of trips. I will come back to our time in Budapest but after 2 trips here is my list of 9 things to do in this wonderful city!!! (in no particular order!!)

1. St Stephens Basilica

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St Stephen’s catholic church is in the middle of Budapest that you kind of stumble across when walking around the city. The church is named in honour of the first king of Budapest, Stephen, who Hungarians do have an odd obsession with him. They adore him so much his mummified hand is kept in one of the crypts…you can put a forint in the box to make it light up!

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Hungary 2017

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So it’s been a while since my last post. We’ve been to Hungary and we’ve been to Plymouth, UK which means I’m a bit behind in my posts. I guess I’ve had a bit of writers block and a bit of being busy with being an adult! Stupid life getting in the way.

While I do intend to catch up with a different post to normal for my Hungary coverage here is some pictures of said trip for the meantime. 🙂

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