Melì

02/03/2026

This is how we say goodbye…

We bid farewell to our troubles — and hopefully winter too — by the bonfire at the magical Wekerle Estate, only 30 minutes away from the centre of Budapest. Slightly witchy and perfectly approachable, this was a community experience for young and old alike. And what did we burn on the bonfire? Find out here:

https://www.melimarvel.com/allstoris/winter-farewell-wekerle-bonfire-budapest

I forgot my phone even existed. In Budapest’s Wekerle estate, a bonfire, singing neighbours and an old Hungarian ritual helped us say goodbye to more than just the cold winter months.

18/02/2026

Cabin fever called. The Busós answered.

After weeks of sickness and grey skies, colour finally returned. Wooden masks. Rattles. Slightly inappropriate poking sticks. And socks you simply cannot ignore.

Busójárás — Hungary’s joyful, chaotic winter tradition — doesn’t just scare away frost. It reminds us that light always comes back. Sometimes you just have to shake a few rattles to help it along.

Have you ever experienced Busójárás — or a carnival tradition that felt completely wild and wonderful?

Tell me your favourite winter ritual :)

Read the full story here:
https://www.melimarvel.com/allstoris/carnival-cure-for-cabin-fever-busjrs-in-martonvsr-hungary

Experience Busójárás in Hungary — a vibrant winter carnival of masks, folklore and mischief designed to chase away frost and cure cabin fever.

20/01/2026

Trying to understand what it feels like to live in Hungary, one of the biggest questions is whether it is East or West.

What does it feel like to you?

Photo by Melì

19/01/2026

Living in Budapest as a multinational has been one of the most fascinating experiences of the past few years. What is it really like to live in a place where your culture’s core ideas about freedom, rights, and opportunity clash head-on?
People outside Hungary want to understand what is happening here.

Hungarians themselves often feel the urge to explain either how good life is — or, at the complete opposite end, how difficult it can be. The contrast is striking.

This week, I’ll take you on a deep dive into what it feels like to live at the very centre of this ongoing collision between East and West — through my personal lens, as a Dutch-Hungarian who has been part of the European international community for over 20 years, and who calls Budapest home.

I took this photo of the Hungarian Parliament lit up for the 20th of August — the country’s biggest national holiday. On this occasion, the celebratory lights cast a very different glow. A powerful way to tell, and reshape, a familiar story...

15/01/2026

❄️ What do we think of this snow? It sure slows you down. So grab a cuppa and let's go to Narnia! Oops, no, I mean Budapest... :D

https://www.melimarvel.com/allstoris/welcome-to-narnia-in-budapest-but-make-it-quiet

Were winters always like this? Do we love or hate the snow? As sub-zero temperatures settled over the city and Budapest turned into Narnia, I grabbed my kids, my memories, and a moment of silence I didn’t know I needed.

13/01/2026

Skidding home on four wheels to the kids, errands half-done, January cold in my bones, I still couldn’t not stop. Snow has a way of slowing down the city — and the people in it.

It’s a bit controversial, because as beautiful as a winter wonderland is while it’s falling, the days after can be… less poetic: whites turning into greys, perfect little snowflakes into heroic amounts of slush, and those annoying, hidden islands of ice under our feet.

And yet, there is something undeniably sentimental about snow. Something that makes everything softer, quieter, calmer.

So in Haller Park, Budapest, with only five minutes to spare, I grabbed my camera and took a few shots, completely mesmerised by these big, slow, floating snowflakes doing their tiny, silent ballet in the orange grace of the streetlamps.

Photos by Melì

08/01/2026

What happens when you stop flinching at yourself long enough to really look? A night in Budapest that shifted my perspectives.

The story is live. 🥳
You can read it here:

Photos by the one and only Anna Joyner

https://www.melimarvel.com/allstoris/finding-my-voice-self-acceptance-budapest

A reflective personal essay on self-acceptance, live music, and finding my voice after years of silence, set in Budapest

06/01/2026

This isn’t a pretty picture.

At least I wouldn't have thought so even a year ago.

This is a slice of me — proof of healing, and an unforgettable night in Budapest.

After a phenomenal, music-filled New Year’s Eve at Lámpás Pub, I received these beautiful photos of myself, taken by the wonderful photographer Anna Joyner (Anna Joyner ).

A few years ago, I would have almost hated this picture.

Looking at it now — for the very first time in my life — I didn’t criticise how I looked, what I was doing, or why I was there.

I was just… deeply, unmistakably happy that this moment was captured.
Getting here took time.

This image holds a story — for both you and me.

Coming soon.