My oldest daughter, Eleanor, and I have just completed our first trip abroad. I typed daily trip reports and sent them by Blackberry to a list of friends. I am recording them in my blog for more public consumption and posterity!
Photo is the view from our hotel window at the Art'otel Budapest.
Tuesday/Wednesday, July 10-11, 2007
My eventful Tuesday and Wednesday--tapped out on a Blackberry, so you know I love you!
We got to the airport on Tuesday about 3:00 for a 5:00 flight to Detroit. Eleanor almost hyperventilated when she saw the security line for the main terminal. Luckily NW doesn't operate that many flights out of Bham so we went out of the overflow terminal which is tiny...about 7 or 8 gates. We were the ONLY people in that line for a few minutes.
The first leg was easy and uneventful. Detroit's airport was very nice. We had time to go to the bathroom and buy a bottle of water. By the time we arrived at our gate, they were already boarding. We were seated 1 row behind the exit row in the 2nd section of coach. The seating config was 2-4-2 (Airbus 330) and we were in the lefthand 2. There were moms with babies flying in the center bulkhead in front of us and an older couple seated in the 4 config next to us. We got lucky. He decided he didn't want to be behind the babies and they got moved to the forward cabin. I moved over and Eleanor and I each ended up with some room to spread out.
We only got about 2-1/2 to 3 hrs sleep but managed ok. Got to Paris and on a shuttle between terminals and to the right one with no difficulty (bypassing passport control entirely the way they took us); made our connection to Budapest with plenty of time to spare and I napped for most of that segment.
We got the 1st stamp in our passports in Budapest. Took the airport minibus to our hotel and checked in. I unpacked and showered; Eleanor freshened up and off we went for a walk to find an ATM and dinner. We also found a little neighborhood market and we enjoyed seeing the similarities and differences to home. Bought a slice of Sacher Torte and some water and snacks using smiles and hand gestures. The Hungarian phrase book is still sitting on the shelf at home--whoops! The bill at the grocery store was about $5.
We went to bed early; Eleanor woke both of us for about an hour at 3AM and now I'm up at 8 something tapping this out. I'm going to get my shower and then wake her so we can start our day. I am attaching a picture I took from our hotel window after dinner last night. We are headed up to that castle to start our day at the National Gallery.
Love,
Kellye and Eleanor
P.S. I found out that the "castle" from our window wasn't a castle at all, but the Fisherman's Bastion, once a fish market. Wow! We went there too, but I wanted to clear up my misunderstanding of where I was.
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