49th Country Hungary and Spectacular City of Budapest

First installment - Budapest
 
            For years, I have been drawn to explore the city of Budapest and there has been no reason for me not to in the past other than just not putting forth the effort. Earlier this year, Tom and I initially made a plan to travel back to the island of Roatan to see friends of ours tie the knot. We talked about going even though we weren’t cordially invited (by all means that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t want us to come, they are ‘the more the merrier’ type of people, we kind of invited ourselves). Tom and I discussed it and opted out so we would be less stress on them having to accommodate, and we would go see them in the future when things settled down. Our plan became no plans, but Tom’s employer gifted all employees two free, guaranteed space, tickets to all their destinations which needed to be utilized by the end of the year, so back to drawing board we went.
 
            We wanted to go somewhere new where we could use our points and miles accumulated over the years to ball on a budget. Budapest had been recently added to the list but only as a once daily seasonal destination out of one departing gate – Philadelphia. What started out originally as a few days, turned into six nights in Budapest, from six nights in Budapest turned into two weeks with a week in Michigan after. We did some research and found two great hotels within our budget, points, and miles, [nice hotels mind you]. From there, we booked our tickets on the flight, and bada bing bada boom, it was set.
 
            I met Tom in Philly from San Diego while he flew in from Chicago. Our plane was set to take off at 6:20pm and due to the long line taxiing to the runway, the plane ended up overheating. We were literally on the runway when the captain decided we needed to abort the mission just seconds after increasing thrust, quickly scurrying off the runway. He informed us the plane had excessive heat and they either needed to investigate the situation right there or return back to the gate to get engineers to dissect the problem.  Due to the lack of declining heat, we returned back.  Luckily Tom being a pilot, explained to me what caused the over heating and why.
 
 
            The capacity of rising heat in our particular type of plane has a limited shelf life to handle increasing temperatures. Combined with a prolonged line of planes getting to the runway, it struck out in the ability to take off without a hitch. These particular planes need to get started, push back, journey a short taxi out, and get in the air in less then thirty minutes, especially in such a heated climate. Luckily, with only a two-hour delay (could have been worse), no malfunctions to the computers, an ample amount of fans to cool the system, semi-patient full flight of passengers, it was rebooted, and all systems go. Shortly there after, we were en route to Budapest. (A normal civilian passenger POV)

                 ‘To elaborate, the captain had to return to the gate due to a FWD E & E overheat message on the display. It’s the area that contains all of the essential electronics for flight – from autopilot to navigation equipment. The fault will only reset once the area cools (or is cooled). The normal and alternate fans within the equipment bay couldn’t handle it due to the heat coming from the equipment and the outside air temp.”  (El Capitan Tom Huitema, 787-Dreamliner POV)
 
                Upon arrival into the city, we noticed the stark difference from the bustling exuberance of Pest to the seemingly more antiquated allure of Buda across the Danube, decorated with a historical cache of monuments perched alongside the hill.
Driving up to our first hotel, I mentally took note of where I wanted to lay boots on the ground [as Tom often refers to in regards to my nomadic wander] of all places that pique my curiosity. The one way road carved up through the small town nestled at the base of the hill towards the top passing Matthias Cathedral, and to our sweet benefit, situated just a few steps away, was the Hilton Hotel Castle District. Tom and I checked in, tired from the trip we opted to engage in a siesta before meandering around in the afternoon.
 
Stay Tuned for the 2nd installment and a few more photos!

Desiree 

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