Came to Budapest from the US after a cruise to Baltic countries to visit my ancestors' homeland. We booked 2 tours - one to experience a real home-cooked meal with a Hungarian family, and one to visit the town our grandparents came from. Our tour guide, Andras, took us to his family's home, and we thoroughly enjoyed meeting his parents and having a wonderful meal! By the time we left, it felt like we were saying goodbye to family!
My cousin mentioned he would really like to try the Hungarian blood sausage he grew up with. Andras offered to meet us on another day to take us to a butcher to get the real thing. He genuinely wanted to show us the best of Hungary and Budapest. Unfortunately our schedules got messed up and we were unable to meet with him, but his offer to take us was incredible. This was not a tour; he just offered to do something above and beyond to ensure we were making the most of our visit. I can't even put into words our experience on the second tour, which was custom-made. Andras not only drove us to the town our grandparents were from (which in an of itself was AMAZING), but he proactively contacted the town hall in advance of our visit to find out if anyone could help us find out more information about them. When we arrived, through a series of miraculous encounters with locals, we met a woman who knew a lot about the town. We were greeted warmly by her and invited to her home on the fly. Neither my cousin nor I speak Hungarian, so we relied on Andras to translate all conversation between us. She immediately started researching on the computer, and long story short, I found out she and I are related through my great great grandmother on my mother's side!What an incredible moment for both of us! She took us to the cemetery where we found the graves of more ancestors as well as her own grandparents and parents. It was hard to say goodbye, knowing I had family in another part of the world! But we hugged and kissed and exchanged contact information. And my cousin learned some very interesting facts about some of his relatives. We would not have had such an emotional visit if it was not for Andras's determination to find answers for us and his genuine love of his country. I can not put a price tag on this amazing and incredible experience!