Good morning from Budapest, Hungary. The last two days (Wednesday/Thursday) were long travel days. The car picked me up at 5pm on Wednesday for my 8:30pm flight. After an uneventful wait in the Business Class lounge, I boarded the plane for the 10+ hour flight to London.
I had read that British Airways was stopping dinner service in Club World class for flights leaving after 8pm, but we did get our 3-course meal.
Then the main course of spare ribs, potatoes and veggies.
Dessert was a yummy chocolate, caramel mousse.
It wasn’t long after finishing dinner that I laid my seat flat, snuggled in my blanket and slept for over 6 hours. Given that I won’t get to Budapest until after 11pm on Thursday, I’m so glad I got some sleep.
Breakfast was fresh fruit and waffles.
We got to Heathrow on time so after going back through security, I headed for the lounge where I hung out for almost 5 hours before heading to my next gate for my 7:45pm flight.
After having so much room in the Club World class on the big aircraft, the business class seat on the smaller aircraft felt very cramped. The amount of leg room was about the same as in coach but the middle seat was blocked off with a tray so it was still a bit roomier than coach.
We ate, again. This time I had a mushroom/leek pie accompanied by tomato and mozzarella salad, cheese and a tiramisu mousse. Even though I don’t like coffee, the coffee flavor was so mild that even I couldn’t taste it. It was actually very good.
After only 2 hours, we landed in Budapest. I was 2nd person off the plane and through immigration in about 30 seconds. I only had carry on so I was at the meeting spot for my pre-arranged car about 5 minutes after deplaning. And then I waited for 20 minutes in the cold for my car. I’m not sure where he was hiding but I wasn’t very happy. Then it was a 25-minute drive to the Hotel Oktogon where I will spend the next 3 nights. I got here at midnight, exactly 24 hours after the car picked me up at home in Arizona.
It’s 8:00am and I had a good night’s sleep so I’m looking forward to seeing the sites. I was in Budapest the summer of 93 so I remember almost nothing of the city. It will be fun to explore.
I’m off for some breakfast so I’ll report in later today. Love to all.