In pictures: Hungarian family's 'virtual trip' to Edinburgh after axed holiday

WHEN, at the end of last year, Hungarian László Bóna promised his 12-year-old son Misi the trip of a lifetime to Edinburgh, he had not factored the Covid-19 lockdown into his plans.
Lszl Bna had promised his 12-year-old son Misi the trip of a lifetime to EdinburghLszl Bna had promised his 12-year-old son Misi the trip of a lifetime to Edinburgh
Lszl Bna had promised his 12-year-old son Misi the trip of a lifetime to Edinburgh

He explains, “Misi and I had been planning the April trip since Christmas. We were to visit some nice places over seven days and as we are not a ‘travelling family’, this would have been my son’s first flight - the trip would have been a real milestone in many ways and Misi even attended English classes for it.”

In January, László bought the tickets, booked the accommodation and devised a daily itinerary... then the coronavirus struck and the father and son found their flights and accommodation bookings cancelled. Determined not to disappoint his son, the 41-year-old decided to make sure the trip went ahead regardless. Using his graphic design skills, the advertising agency Head of Art dreamed up an ingenious plan to ensure Misi had a memorable week.

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“Despite the prohibitions we decided to go and we started to post images to Facebook about our travel; our flight and our sightseeing tour in Edinburgh...”

He adds, “Of course, this travel didn’t happen, all the images were taken in our Budapest apartment. I didn’t want this great preparation of ours to just disappear without a trace, so I thought, if we can’t really go anymore, at least we can travel virtually.”

Visiting the Capital from the comfort and safety of their own home, László and Misi recreated the situations they would have found themselves in on their travels, took photographs and then super-imposed themselves onto images of the city, including shots ‘taken‘ at Waverley Bridge and The Sheep’s Heid.

“Taking the pictures was a lot of fun. Sometimes we waited for the sun to come out for a picture, sometimes we waited for it to be overcast. We also tried to make sure our clothes and accessories were consistent as well.”

László even managed to capture the realities of Scotland’s unpredictable weather. “I had a shower in a raincoat to make my stay as authentic as possible,” he laughs, adding, “We posted the pictures on Facebook in real time as if we were on our journey, we even adjusted for the time shift during the One O’Clock Gun shot.”

A delighted Misi reveals, “One day during our ‘travel’ we prepared fried Mars bars as well, because we saw it on Youtube as typical Scottish food.”

His dad adds, “When I think back, because of the amount of preparation and image selection, I sometimes felt like we were really there. So I managed to manipulate my memories, not just the photos.”

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