Arrival - Blogabond

And today's lesson is.................when you change your pin, don't forget to change the note you made of it. Embarrassment at Manchester Airport when the card I had got for this trip back in October didn't respond to the pin I thought it had. When able to think in the cool light of a pint of Guinness, I realised that I had probably changed it to something more memorable and forgotten to note it. A slight hiatus with crossed fingers at a restaurant in Buda having tried the alternative showed this to be accurate.

View of Matthias Church from our room

Although leaving 15 minutes late because some nonce had checked their baggage in but not arrived at the departure gate until 15 minutes after we were due to leave, we actually landed ahead of time some 20 minutes early. Well done Jet2.com! Mind you while seat pitch was quite generous, I got the feeling that travelling light is Jet2's watchword, we had to walk across the tarmac to (in the rain) and from the plane and every opportunity was taken to relieve passengers of the weight of their cash during the flight. I didn't use the toilet as I suspected there may be a charge for that. During the flight we were overtaken by a 4 engined jet; it is the first time I have seen this and it was fascinating.

Arrival at Ferengy was trouble free, a tiny airport everything was compact – about 20 metres from the tarmac to passport control, 5 metres to the baggage reclaim and another 10 to the exit!

Our taxi driver was waiting and he escorted us to the taxi in the pleasantly warm 23 degree temperature. He made purposefully towards the car park and then towards an isolated Lada that had seen better days. I breathed a sigh of relief as he went past. The 25 km trip to the hotel would be relatively quiet being a Sunday our driver told us. Leaving the airport, there were all the signs I had expected of a former eastern bloc nation becoming part of Europe. Areas of timewarped, charming if tired 30's & 40's building with some derelict factories gave way to a huge modern business, hotel and shopping complex.

Evening Meal

I wondered how long the huge grey tenement blocks in the background would stay before someone realised that they spoiled the impression. The road was lined with trees on either side and I was struck by the sheer quantity of greenery around.

At the hotel we checked in and went for a wander in the immediate vicinity. Being in the old castle district of Buda we were high up over the Danube and had a fabulous view over the ramparts to Pest and the Parliament below in the evening sunshine. We found a nice place for our evening meal (11,500 HUFs!!!) and as we walked back saw the Matthias Church opposite the hotel all lit up – very spectacular.