We had a special guest recently. Timmy, the world-traveling teddy bear - who has previously visited South Korea, Italy, Japan, Hawaii, and also flew on the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet - embarked on another great adventure: he came to Hungary to see us. (Hungarian version here.)

The first thing you should know about Timmy is that he is the mascot of the American Youth Center where Manda went to daycare and summer camps for years. He knew the teddy bear very well, who also a kind of traveling ambassador: he has accompanied the institution's children or employees (sometimes their parents) to distant regions.

A few months after we moved back home, the school management came up with the idea of welcoming Timmy in our home, who would visit Manda (as known as Zsofia in US). Of course, we immediately said yes. The teddy bear was originally supposed to arrive for Christmas, but instead of a week, its journey took a month (if we can trust in the tracker he spent the holidays in the customs at New York's Kennedy Airport). So Timmy didn't travel to the far east with us during the winter break - as we originally planned - instead we decided to show him some nice places in the Hungarian Capital and he will stay with us until Manda's 8th birthday.

Besides, Timmy was not only waited by our daughter, but also by his cousin named Jimmy. He is a smaller, white teddy bear that Manda received as a farewell gift from Midway Manor on the last day, and who has been her inseparable friend ever since. He reminds her of friends left behind in US.

Timmy accompanied Manda to school during the week. He was able to meet our daughter's Hungarian friends and teachers, as well as the mascot of her class here, Maja the bee. But on the weekends we show her the sights of our capital - at least some of them.

It is said that Budapest has two faces: one by day and one by night - and both are beautiful. That's the way it is, although we wished a few times that Timmy had arrived in the summer, or at least in the spring, because then we wouldn't have shown him the capital city in the freezing temperatures.

Due to the cold weather, we only selected a few - but all the more lovely – places to show him, as we knew that Timmy's adventures would also be followed by Manda's American friends.

Moreover, most of these places were new to Manda also. It was an interesting experience to become a tour guide in our own. Our first trip took me to my personal favorite: Vajdahunyad Castle. I have always been enchanted by this fairy-tale little castle in the neighborhood of the Ice Rink and Hősök tere - which we also visited. Of course, we can't miss the "real" or „big” one, that is the Buda Castle. Around the Fisherman's Bastion and the Matthias Church (both are in Buda Castle district), the tourists are back in full number after covid. It was worth looking around, anyone could enjoy the breathtaking view.

Timmy even stayed with us for Manda's birthday. It is a family tradition that instead of expensive gifts for birthdays we try to give each other an experiences, adventures. This is why we spent Christmas in Scotland on the shores of Loch Ness (the weather wasn't nice there either), or in New Orleans (at least the weather was nice there), we celebrated a birthday in Washington D.C. in the Capitol, in Kentucky in the KFC where Colonel Sanders first fried his famous bucket chicken and taste Kentucky Bourbon at the Jim Beam factory. The point is to be together and let the day be about the person being celebrated. This time, the family expanded with Timmy and Jimmy, and we visited the Parliament together. We toured the most beautiful building in our country not only from the outside, but also from the inside. Next to the crown, the greatest success was the Constitution and the surrounding monumental stairs. We ended the program in a downtown Japanese restaurant, because - wherever we go in the world - sushi is Manda's all the time favorite.

On our last weekend together, on a cold - but crystal-clear - winter evening, we took a tour of the city again to show Timmy the night face of Budapest. We also returned to the Parliament and the Vajdahunyad Castle.

Of course, we documented our adventures for Manda's friends, former teachers and tutors, with whom we regularly speak anyway.

We recently said a tearful goodbye to Timmy, he is already waiting "home". Let's hope his trip won't last a month this time.

Let's go Timmy on to next adventure!