An eXtremely Fun eXperience

I got a sneak preview of the new eXbox! No, it’s not a video game console, – which is pronounced eex-box in Hungarian – it’s much better. It’s an indoor extreme sports palace that opens today in Budapest!

When I say extreme, it’s just my kind of extreme. Challenging, but not over the top. The kids started with rollerblading, whizzing around the huge track in this 4,500-square-meter fun park, located in a warehouse in district 11. I went for a “ride” on the bungee trampoline, where you get strapped into a harness and can bounce almost as high as the 8-meter ceiling. I even did somersaults, yay me!

Then there’s a climbing wall, with real climbing shoes to rent and a qualified instructor, and a huge indoor ropes course built by the folks at Orczy Kalandpark, another one of my fave Budapest destinations. I’ll be back to try climbing and navigating the ropes course, but most of all, I want to learn to freeline skate – these are like two tiny skateboards, one for each foot. Here’s a pic!

And I haven’t even mentioned the awesome retro-Budapest buses that serve as snack bars. The seats have been taken out and set up outside, with more retro-cool seating on the roofs of the buses! Could not be cooler, in my opinion. Which, in the interest of full disclosure, is not unbiased. Friends of mine came up with the idea and made it happen, and I did the English text for their brochures and website. But since they’re friends of mine, that makes it even cooler, right?

So, the problem of what to do with kids in the heat, the rain, or the cold is SOLVED. And not just the kids – the coworkers in need of a break or a team-building event, the family reunion or corporate party… the retro-bars have a full menu of beers and cocktails. We stuck with lemonade, homemade and wonderful.

Oh, and don’t tell my kids, but I might even head over there for a skate, a jump or a climb one day when they’re at camp, or school, or at their grandparents’… but heck, I’ll teach them all I know.

Check out eXbox on http://www.exbox.hu/en/ and https://www.facebook.com/#!/eXbox.hu!