The last half of October 2011 brought with it our annual Automattic company meetup in Budapest, Hungary. I went early with a few friends, and we had a blast. I call the edges of trips like this “buffer.”

My favorite things about Budapest were the cityscapes, archery at the castle, views of the Danube and its bridges, scary cassowaries (the closest thing to velociraptors I’ve seen in real life), photo walks to Fisherman’s Bastion, walking by the opera house at dusk with the lights glowing, movie sets complete with stallions and pretend rain, more photo walks, ruin pubs, music, pansies, and of course really excellent company.

This meetup was also particularly fun because I worked on a team project involving Trac (yeah baby). Every single time I attend an Automattic event, I think about how very much I enjoy being around people who are crazy smart. I appreciate them so much!