We flew out of the Ukraine and into Hungary on the fifteenth of June. Sundayfundayz was ecstatic as we had been told that this country was the home of magnificent architecture, a distinctive culture and tons of vibrant nightlife. En route to downtown Budapest, we passed numerous different districts which presented us with a variety of activities to take part in for the duration of our stay. The most memorable place we passed was a skate park with a few rails, quarter pipes, some fun boxes, a bowl and a few sets of stairs. After being in South East Asia and Ukraine for many months, I hadn’t experienced or even really thought about skating, so this encounter brought back many childhood memories. This is when it occurred to me that buying my own skateboard would be a fantastic idea for many different reasons. We could improve our skills, get exercise and it would give us the ability to improve the way we film our videos. Oh, and it’s super fun! After presenting my idea to the other three, Parker enthusiastically stated that “yes, of course [he would] buy one!”
On our way to downtown Budapest via public transportation!
We woke up after a night out on the town and decided we should head out into the thirty-two degree Celsius heat to sweat out the toxins we had consumed. Parker, Ryker and I ended up running for about an hour and fifteen minutes, with only a short stop where we explored a gigantic shopping mall. This is where we found a skate shop, however all of the shops were closed, so Parker and I were forced to return the following day.
Walking into the shop was an unforgettable experience. The two of us were radiating excitement, as if we were kids in a candy shop. After picking out the decks, trucks, wheels and bearings, we once again officially became skateboarders! Both of us had massive grins on our faces while leaving the mall and skating back to our hostel. It had been years since I had ollied, manuelled, or zipped through a crowded sidewalk on a skateboard.
Parker with our new boards!
Max trying out his new board!
We spent our evening out in front of our guesthouse, in the “Old Jewish District” where we honed our skills by practicing ollies, kick flips, varial flips, manuals, pop shove-its, shove-its, 180′s and an assortment of other tricks. The following day we hung out at the skatepark downtown Budapest. It was awesome to hang out with the locals and watch some really talented skaters, rollerbladers and BMXers throw down. We both skated back to our bunkbeds that night and agreed that our day had been packed full of excitement, enjoyment and exercise.
Pec practicing his boardslides at the skatepark
Since then, we have pushed and kicked our way around Vienna and Prague. I’m stoked that the use of the skateboards has not been limited to just Parker and myself. Since departing from Budapest, we have all used the skateboards for filming our videos on a number of occasions (both as props in our film and for getting silky smooth shots).
Buying these skateboards was an unreal idea and gives us a new opportunity to enjoy the streets of new cities, make friends, exercise and film. Although these luxury items add a few pounds to our backpacks and are awkward to carry around, they were a fantastic investment!
