After the last, somewhat cryptic, post we figured it as about time to get this show on the road! So lets start with introductions; my name is Rupert, and I am one half of what we are calling Puffer and Sauce, try not to think too hard about the names, they are not as complicated as you might think and their meaning will disappoint you. My other half in more ways than one, Vanda, is the Sauce in this pair. As I write this post we are just over a month away from getting married with all the laughs and joy* that comes with preparing for one of the happiest moments in a persons life**.
To quickly summerise how this all began, we met in London by chance just over a year and a half ago and after a series of coincidences and choices we ended up living together. After a happy year of this we decided between us that we would like to take the next step and were engaged on the 13th September. Here comes the fun part. Vanda is Hungarian, she hails from Debrecen on the Hungarian border with Romania. I am a native Londoner from Battersea, South London. For all intents and purposes this isn't a problem. We live in modern times and the ideas of nationality and nation-states are not a concern in our lives (despite what 51.9% of British voters might have you believe). But it does pose an issue in regards to organising a wedding, with two sets of family and friends who don't speak each others languages and live roughly 2000km away from each other. So after some careful consideration and lots of wondering how the hell we don't piss off literally everyone, we decided on a very small private wedding, with just a handful of friends as witnesses, in a separate country, to be followed by a series of celebrations in Hungary and the UK. We chose Prague in the Czech Republic (or Czechia for ease-sake, but i have a feeling that won't catch on) for its relative distance to both our countries and its stunning beauty. This comes with its own set of predicaments but these will be discussed on a later post.
The wedding is the first chapter of what we hope will be a year of adventures as we set off from our flat in East London to explore what Europe has to offer us. We are in Debrecen for a few more days before we fly back to London to close the last doors (for now) on our life there. When we are done and have said our goodbyes, we will be setting off, on a Triumph Bonneville T120 Motorcycle (that is yet to be officially named) on the first leg of our journey, from London to Debrecen via the Germanic and Low countries. On the way we are hoping to see and do local things, meet local people and, as I am a shocking chef, learn to cook local foods across Europe. In-between these trips we will be focusing on learning all the things we wanted to but a hectic London lifestyle didn't allow such as language, music and craft while also attempting, some may say fruitlessly, to work out and live healthier lifestyles. Along the way we will be documenting as much of this as we can here, and on our Instagram page [@pufferandsauce]. So feel free to follow us on this journey and we hope to enthral you on our tales of wonder and adventure***.
Puffer.
*There are few laughs and very little is to be enjoyed about organising a wedding, it is hell incarnate.
**People experience happiness differently. For some a wedding isn't something that would remotely make them happy. For others, sharpening a pencil might have the desired effect I'm trying to portray. Sadly this blog doesn't covered sharpened pencils. If that is your preferred path to happiness might I suggest a look at https://woodclinched.com/ as a source for all your lead or carbon-based desires.
***Please keep following us, my life choices require validation.
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| Us, looking like we didn't spend a week in Morocco sharing a toilet basin. |
