City Break: Kecskemét

I took a train an hour south of Budapest because I waited too long to book a cheap plane ticket anywhere else.That Friday the sullen gray skies were a mirror of my mood. But the disdain I had been harboring for my Hungarian surroundings was really only anger towards myself. I was mad that I had stayed put during one of the only long weekends that opened up travel possibilities. That I had given so much time to indecision. That I had made excuses out of fear and listened to them.I dodged puddles in Kecskemét for an hour, face kissed by rain as I craned my head back to look at the cheeky buildings.  

This small, sleepy city had more quirk than I’d glimpsed for a long time. The fresh sights had me smiling. Simply because it was different than the city I’d grown familiar with, Kecskemét was both less and more than Budapest at the same time. But even after an hour I was itching to get back to the capital. Standing on the train platform, chest still heaving from my sprint there, I wasn’t sorry to leave. But I wasn’t sorry that I had gone, either.