Ice hockey:

If you don’t quite know what it entails let me paint you a picture. Imagine graceful ice dancers, spinning and gliding across the ice. Got it? Okay. Now instead of skin tight leotards and slim shoes imagine them with ten pound pads and a baggy jersey. Oh and turn them into toothless maniacs… almost forgot that bit. So instead of achingly beautiful and perfectly trained dancers you’ve replaced them with toothless maniacs with ten pound pads. We’re almost there. Now instead of dancing and embracing each other lovingly imagine them pummelling each other into large plastic sheets while hundreds of shouting fans scream for more. Oh and one more thing, add a tiny black puck they hit into small nets protected by a Texas chainsaw massacre looking guy.

So now that you’ve been caught you should probably know that the United Kingdom is playing in the HIHF (Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation) 2013 Ice Hockey World Championship Division 1 Group A in Budapest. You didn’t know? Well you should probably find out a bit more about it.

I don’t think anyone has come away from an ice hockey match without being just a little bit excited at one point. So for you patriots out there our first game is against Hungary on Sunday the 14th of April. In a division packed with Olympic style talent the players will need a lot of support to make it through this divisional round and beat out teams like Italy and Japan. But if you aren’t fussed about the team you can just yell at whichever one is winning because come one, you have to root for the underdog. Stiff upper lip and all that.
If you’re the only hockey lover in the family then that doesn’t mean you have to drag everyone kicking and screaming over. There’s a lot more than just hockey in the stunning city of Budapest and while you’re eating your weight in hot dogs and chips your family can be taking slow river boat tours and wandering the streets in a stunned daze. If you’re part of a family you can go to the Komor Marcell for their family matinee that offers spaces for children to work and play in the museum while parents can be guided in a tour of the current exhibition. So leave your car at the Stansted airport parking facilities, jump on a short plane journey (which can be seriously cheap if you find the right airline) and embrace all the city has to offer. Just make sure you don’t get wrapped up in all the fun and miss your flight.