Eighteen happened fast! (an F1 celebration)

Cameron is an adult. Crazy. To celebrate his birthday, we gave him a poster of his gift. Free race jersey (Gasly the assumption of course), but redeemable only at the Hungaroring. …And we were off to the Hungarian Grand Prix!

When I visited Budapest years (and years and years) ago, it was my second favorite city in all of Europe. Can you guess my #1? So I was curious to see how it held up. It was great. WAY more Thai massage places than last time, but it is such a beautiful city. I may share a throwback and memory post later, but this trip was for Cameron and about F1.

We had ideal seats across from the pit lane and in the shade (2 of them; we were going to rotate through practice, qualifying, and race). But it got even better. Cameron’s cousin came through with two Paddock Club tix for us, so he and I got to spend race day in the best spot on the track. And we actually drew the “lucky” straw to be able to ride around the track before the race and the drivers’ parade, walk the pit lane (the Alpine crew was running pit stop practice on Gasly’s car a few feet from us), and then pick our spot above the pit lane (to see them do their thing) and and watch the race from the start to Turn 1, where we saw some AMAZING overtakes. Oh, and the jersey? Three days of merch stands and he never found one he liked. We still owe him. (The gift that keeps on not giving.)

Unlimited food and drinks, dope DJ, drivers’ talks (Lando, Fernando, Liam) and just feeling generally bougie. Poor Kate upgraded from sitting race day out to our original, great grandstand seats, but didn’t get to hang with us. She was right across from us though, so we were able to wave at each other.

What a day!