{"id":138129,"date":"2019-04-05T13:41:16","date_gmt":"2019-04-05T17:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fourseasons.com\/magazine\/?p=138129"},"modified":"2023-12-19T15:21:33","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T20:21:33","slug":"mother-daughter-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fourseasons.com\/magazine\/discover\/mother-daughter-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"A Mother-Daughter Quest to Reconnect"},"content":{"rendered":"
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My mother is everything to me. I was born when she was 23 years old. Although we had a small support system, it was mostly just the two of us. But I never felt that I was lacking another parental figure. That\u2019s a testament to how amazing she is: Life was always an adventure.<\/p>\n

She instilled in me a desire to chase experiences instead of objects, whether hiking in the summer, ice-skating in the winter or spending entire days daydreaming at the library.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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As an adult, I\u2019ve often felt that life is like pulling on a loose thread and worrying everything will unravel. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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As an adult, I\u2019ve often felt that life is like pulling on a loose thread and worrying everything will unravel. In the past two years, I\u2019ve had the added pressure of devoting myself to work. I love my job \u2013 but working as a social media manager often goes beyond the standard nine-to-five.\u00a0I feel I must be constantly answering direct messages from clients or e-mails from management.<\/p>\n

A lot of times I feel the need to travel \u2013 it\u2019s that sense of wanderlust and being away from it all.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\n \"Krissy <\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Rediscovering What Matters<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n
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My mindset shifted with a surprise five-night stay with my mother at\u00a0Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Upon landing, we were greeted by Drew Clarke, Director of Marketing at the Hotel, who whisked us away to a handsome VIP lounge. He made our luggage appear within minutes. I knew then that the entire journey to come would be flawless.<\/p>\n

It was impossible not to be excited. And I soon discovered it was impossible not to stand in awe of the Hotel, a restored palace steeped in history, with its millions of mosaic tiles and intricate wrought-iron peacock gate, P\u00e1va Udvar. After settling into our room, I couldn\u2019t help feeling profoundly grateful as I looked out on the Chain Bridge along the Danube.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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After settling into our room, I couldn\u2019t help feeling profoundly grateful as I looked out on the Chain Bridge along the Danube. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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The next morning, at the Spa<\/a>, my mother and I received Omorovicza<\/a> facials using luxurious local ingredients, followed by a traditional Hungarian facial massage. The experience was a firm reminder: Self-care is necessary. The treatments gave me a stretch of uninterrupted time to take a breath and reach for thoughts and ideas that I often feel too busy to dive into.<\/p>\n

That sense of awareness and presence permeated the trip. One night, my mother and I, along with Katalin Czeller, a tour guide introduced to us by
\nFour Seasons, boarded a private sunset cruise on the Danube. Watching from the water as Budapest shifted from day to night is something I\u2019ll always remember.<\/p>\n

Instead of my phone, I held my mom\u2019s hand, intoxicated by the cool air, the grandeur of the Hungarian Parliament Building staring back at us, and the light reflecting on the water.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\n \"Krissy <\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Finding Transformation<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n
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One of the best parts of the city is its ever-present creative buzz. Ruin bars, unused spaces converted into the city\u2019s liveliest places to drink, are\u00a0perfect examples of Budapest\u2019s brilliant ability to rebuild and reinvent itself.<\/p>\n

One afternoon, Drew took us to Szimpla Kert, an iconic ruin bar based in the Jewish Quarter of Budapest\u2019s 7th District. Twenty years after my mom told me not to vandalize anything, she handed me a pen and said I should draw on the wall. I went over to the wall \u2013 already scribbled with thousands of notes \u2013 and left a part of myself there.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n Check Rates & Availability <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I began to notice that my mom was somehow different, too. I\u2019d never seen her so open and adventurous. So much happened on our trip: She relinquished control and let the chef and sommelier at the Hotel\u2019s Koll\u00e1zs \u2013 Brasserie and Bar<\/a> give her a blind taste test of foie gras, Tokaji sweet wines and horseradish ice cream. Drew and Katalin taught her how to greet strangers in Hungarian. At the Workshop, a bar that embodies Budapest\u2019s creativity, she drank shots of Unicum, a dark, bitter herbal liqueur that packs a punch, and relaxed with an artistic, laidback crowd.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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