It was going to be a long day for me today.  The night before I asked the hotel front desk worker how long to allow to get to the airport for a 9 a.m. flight.  He said that I should allow for 90 minutes because there could be a wreck or some other delay that could make me be late for the flight.  He said he had personally missed a flight because he didn’t plan enough time.

So I sat my alarm for 5:15 AM to make for enough time to actually leave by 6AM.  Google Maps stated I should use a combination of 2 buses so I planned accordingly.  I had spent a few minutes the night before packing so that I would not have to attend to packing in the morning.  As I was trying to lock my door, the front desk attendant exited the floor bathroom and asked if needed help.  I said “Oh I’m just trying to check out.”  He said “Well, I can see that.”  He then helped me lock my door.  I felt so stupid as I had been staying at the hotel for 5 nights, but suddenly I couldn’t lock it this last time.  I gave the hotel attendant my key and made small talk with him.  He was the same front desk worker who was there last night.  I felt sorry for him and wondered what he did all night long.

I walked about 10 minutes to the bus stop.  The bus arrived a few minutes later, but the bus driver pulled over the bus, locked it and walked away.  I figured he arrived early and just wanted to take a break from driving.  He arrived and unlocked the bus for us to get in.  I didn’t show him my ticket because during other times I showed my ticket to the bus driver with very little reaction from the driver.  I figured showing the ticket to the driver was not a requirement.  After I had sat down the bus driver made a very stern announcement in Hungarian to the passengers on the bus and then sat in the driver’s seat.  I figured I’d better show the driver my ticket just in case.  I tapped on the driver’s window and showed him my ticket. I asked a fellow passenger if she spoke English (which she did) and then asked what the announcement was about.  She said the driver stated that I didn’t show him my ticket.

The bus proceeded on its route.  I was to catch the bus to a particular stop then catch another bus which would take me to the airport.  Although Google Maps is good about telling you the names of the stops in between, you can miss the stop if you aren’t paying attention.  This almost happened to me.  But I managed to get off and catch the 200E bus to the airport.

After I arrived to the airport I had difficulty finding which terminal I should go to.  I figured Lufthansa was in that terminal therefore I should go to that particular terminal.  I waited in line at the Lufthansa desk, but they said I should instead go to the other terminal to check in.  This was because I was flying on German Wings to Dusseldorf and not actually Lufthansa.  I finally found the German Wings desk at the other terminal and waited in line to get my boarding pass.  This was because I could not print my boarding pass at the self service kiosk.

I got through security without any problems.  Why is it that European security doesn’t have passengers take off their shoes, while TSA is very adamant about making sure this happens? Since I had an hour to wait for my flight I decided to get breakfast at Burger King and to use up the last bit of Hungarian Forint before leaving the country.  I had 1000 HUF and this provided with enough to get orange juice and a breakfast burrito.

After getting to my gate I found a plug for my phone to charge and sat down on the floor to babysit my phone charger.  I sat in front of an older American couple from Seattle who had taken a Viking Cruise from Germany to Budapest.  The husband was very excited about traveling while the wife wasn’t too enthusiastic. (Usually it is the other way around)

I caught my flight to Dusseldorf.  In Europe I’ve noticed that more often than not passengers are put on a tram bus and actually board the plane outside and away from a sky bridge. On the flight they served a cheese sandwich and a chocolate covered rice bar – a very unusual combination.

In Dusseldorf I cleared German customs and found my way to the gate.  Passengers were to hold their boarding pass with bar code up to the reader in order to board the plane.  However many people were getting rejected.  I too was rejected from boarding.  I found that I needed to have some information from my passport entered into their computer system in order to clear me for travel.  This was unusual as I had already entered this information when I first purchased the ticket.  I got back in line.  The man in front of me tried entering his ticket several times on the reader and it kept rejecting him.  He must not have been watching the screen when it said “Please see attendant.” It was almost like seeing a person repeatedly ram his head into a brick wall.

I sat next to an older Polish couple who immigrated to the United States in the 1980s.  The husband had immigrated with his daughter and then had to wait 3 more years before his wife and son could immigrate.  I asked if they had been to Budapest.  They said they had been there on their honeymoon when they rode on a motorcycle from Gdansk, Poland, to the Black Sea.  They tent camped along the way.  I inquired if Poland was safe for tourists.  He said that it was very safe and every other person speaks English.  I decided I’d better put Poland on my short list of future destinations.

I would have loved to spend more time with this charming couple who must have had alot of stories to tell.

I managed to watch “Mad Max Fury Road” and part of “Little Miss Sunshine” on the way to Newark.  I never got any sleep on planes as it was much too uncomfortable.  It was a middle aisle seat.

I’ve noticed the closer you get to America the more like America it becomes.  I was able to get ice in my drinks on this flight. Plus when we landed it seemed like the attendance spoke clearer English.

Customs in Newark was okay.  The first line was for the customs official to stamp my declaration of enty.  The second line the female customs official asked me what kind of souvenirs was I bringing back. I had never been asked this before and the question caught me off guard.  I said a few t-shirts and a hat for my niece.  This seem to satisfy the official.

I had gotten an email from the airline stating my flight to Nashville was delayed until 6:15 p.m.  I checked with the airline and found there was a flight leaving at 3:15PM.  It was already 2:50PM so I made a bee-line to the terminal.  Had I not had to go through TSA screening again I could have made it.  It always makes no sense.  I had already been screen by security in Budapest.  Why be redundant with screening in Newark.  By the time I made it to the gate the airline attendant said the flight was long gone.  After I found out, I did what every good traveler does.  I called my mother.  Actually I called her, not to complain or for sympathy.  Rather i was just checking and catching up.  While I was talking to my mother I was trying to find a way to get from terminal C to terminal A and was walking back and forth in the terminal.  While I was doing this some guy carrying his bad hit my suitcase pretty hard trying to get around me.  I gave him a dirty look and probably would have said something like “Watch your bag!” had I not been on the phone with my mom.

I caught the bus to terminal A and surprisingly did not have to go through TSA screening again.  My flight was really delayed by at least an extra hour.  I was very thirsty and ended up paying $3.10 for a 20 oz Fanta.  I decide to pass on a meal which I might have had to take out a bank loan to get.

There was a pigeon loose in the terminal, but no one seemed to mind.  I tried to get a photo of it, but decided against as it started flying around instead of just walking on the carpeted floor.

I sat down in a quiet place and composed yesterday’s blog entry by voice to text.  Google’s voice to text is a life saver for those traveling without a keyboard.

The plane to Nashville was very small and had only one stewardess.  I felt somewhat sorry for her.  She tried to sell food during the flight, but no one was buying.

My mother picked me up at the airport and we traveled home.  I had survived my first real solo vacation and expected there to be many more to come.