carriage ride | The Traveling Overeducated Housewife

When Bill told me he wanted me to go to Budapest with him on his work trip, I was excited. But I also knew that it meant I wouldn’t be choosing our hotel. From past experiences on Bill’s work trips, I knew the place we would be staying would probably be as low frills as possible.

Bill found a hotel near the river that was going for 250 euros a night, which seems surprisingly expensive to me. He would have liked to have stayed in the InterContinental Budapest, which is a block away. It was completely booked, because Bill was asked to go to the conference at the last minute. So we were booked at the three star “superior” D8 Hotel, instead.

Bill told me to book a business class plane ticket. I know that may seem strange, but when Bill travels on business, he has to sit in the cheapest seats possible. Even if I had booked an economy class ticket, there is no guarantee we would be sitting with each other. We would have separate bookings, and his didn’t include a seat assignment. So, since I’m sensitive to a lot of things, I booked a round trip business class ticket on the same Lufthansa flight Bill booked.

On Saturday, September 6th, Bill took Noyzi and Charlie to the Hundepension. Then, on the 7th, Bill got me up at 5:00AM, and we took a taxi to the Frankfurt Airport for our 9:05 AM flight. Below are a few photos of the sunrise. We were up too early.

A bunch of Bill’s current and former coworkers were there, also going to the conference in Budapest. For some reason, my nose was unusually sensitive to perfume smells, and I seemed to keep running into clouds of strong scents, no matter where I turned. Because I had a business class ticket, I could have waited in the lounge. But I preferred to hang out with Bill and his colleagues, as we waited to board a bus that would take us on a 20 minute odyssey to our plane.

Seriously… the plane going to Budapest was way out in the hinterlands of the airport. Maybe it’s because it was a Sunday morning. The flight was fully booked, though, so I’m not sure what that was all about. Once we got to the plane, we had to wait another fifteen or twenty minutes on the crowded bus, because the maintenance crew had to check the plane to make sure it was safe to fly. A bird hit one of the propellers on the flight from Budapest to Frankfurt, and they were required to inspect it afterwards. I had a free seat next to me, because I had hoped Bill would have gotten on the bus, but he was on the one that came after mine.

A middle-aged lady sat in the aisle seat nearest mine, while her husband was in the opposing aisle seat. We had a trouble free flight, complete with business class food and some pictures of the sky… Naturally, I was sitting behind the one person in business class who felt the need to recline for the less than 90 minute flight. He was apparently asleep, and when it came time to land the flight attendant had to wake him up to get him to close his shade and sit upright. 🙄

*Cold cuts, some kind of salad, cheese, and bread. I had orange juice, too.*

We landed at about 11:55 AM or so… a little late, because our flight was delayed, thanks to the bird strike. We went to baggage claim and waited a long time for our bags in a very crowded area. Lots and lots of people were arriving in Budapest on September 7th. From what I could tell, a lot of them were taking bus tours or cruises. We finally got out of there sometime after noon, then got a taxi to the hotel. Unbeknownst to Bill, the cab driver handed him a 1000 forints bill that was old and no longer has any value. I later discovered that fact when I tried to spend it. More on that in a later post.

Bill checked in, and we were immediately assigned room 510. It was nice that we were allowed to claim it immediately, but the room itself was tiny (15 square meters). It reminded me a little of the old Microtels that were around in the late 1990s and early 00s. I discovered that Microtel is still around, but I’m not sure if it’s the same concept as it was when we stayed in one, back in 2002 or so.

The D8 hotel was built in 2010 or so, after the building that was there before it was demolished. It appears that the designers aimed to make it “comfortable” with as little space as possible. I wasn’t all that impressed, but at least it was air conditioned, which we needed in Budapest last week. It had a decent sized shower, too.

*The bed took up most of the room. A large flat screen TV was mounted on the wall and got many channels.*

One nice thing about the D8 Hotel is its very convenient location. It’s a block from the river, and right next to the Chain Bridge. Last time we were in Budapest, we were in an area that wasn’t that close to the river. The D8 Hotel also offers a pretty decent breakfast and a bar, where one can order sandwiches, goulash, and drinks. I drank several draft beers there, myself.

After we dropped off our bags, we went looking for lunch, which we found at a Lebanese restaurant at the InterContinental Hotel called Arz. Lunch was pretty good, and I especially enjoyed the Soproni (local) beer and hummus.

After lunch, we walked back to the hotel and prepared for a longer walk and lots of photos of the Danube and surroundings. We ended up walking over four miles! Below you can see some scooters that are apparently all the rage in Budapest. I saw so many of these during our visit. They seemed like an incarnation of Segways, only people sat on them instead of standing.

You can also see the gorgeous sunset, as well as the sad exhibit of shoes by the Danube bank near the famous Parliament building. The shoes represent those left by Jewish people who were forced to remove their valuable footwear before they were shot by the riverside and fell into the water, to be swept away by the currents. Unfortunately, a lot of people have polluted the shoes with their trash, stuffing it into the shoes instead of putting it in a trash can.

As the sun was setting, we decided to find dinner. We stopped at a place that looked promising. It was a Hungarian restaurant called Tulipan Bistro. We decided to sit inside, which was okay, except I was in the path of the air conditioning. I liked the way the restaurant was decorated, with lots of kitschy stuff like old car radios, instruments, and Coke memorabilia. The food wasn’t that great, but there was nice local wine. Bill had beef goulash, and I had what turned out to be an overcooked schnitzel with mustard sauce and lots of “funions”… I couldn’t finish it.

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel, and got our first glimpse of Budapest when it’s all lit up at night. It really is a sight to see.

Once we got back to the hotel, it was time to retire for the night, which we promptly did. Stay tuned for the next installment, in which I describe my six mile power walk from Hell.

I booked our appointment at Aire for 12:00pm. That left us with our morning to wander around Seville. It was Monday and Bill was starting to fret about how we were going to get out of Spain and make it back to Texas in time for his leave to end at 11:59pm Texas time on Thursday, the 23rd. I, of course, was annoyed with Bill for not arranging for leave through the weekend. He later explained that he wanted to get to the office to take care of some stuff for a briefing with his boss. But as we watched the flights leaving Rota Naval Base in Rota, Spain, it wasn’t looking like we’d be able to get out of Spain in time for Bill to get home before his leave ended.

Breakfast!

Because Bill is hyper-responsible, he was super stressed out. So we went for a walk and ended up passing a bunch of guys with horses and carriages. One of them approached us and asked if we wanted to take a carriage ride. They started at 11:00, when the cathedral opened. I asked how long the ride would take, since we had the hammam appointment at noon. The guy said it took an hour. I said we’d have to do it in the afternoon because we didn’t have time at that point.

Alphonso XIII… A very expensive hotel…

As we headed toward the Guadalquivir River, we were accosted by a pushy woman wanting us to sign up for a Hop On, Hop Off tour. I was immediately turned off by her approach and also realized that for us, the bus tour would not be a particularly good buy, since we like to walk a lot. I listened to her spiel and finally said, “I don’t think we’re interested.” That seemed to piss her off, but at least we were able to cross the street.

We walked past the naval museum and along the river, then crossed into the beautiful park near the palace. Bill and I were engaged in conversation when I got bombed by a pigeon of some sort. Then I spotted some swans and ducks, so we turned toward there, just in time to see some guy hastily zip up his pants. Apparently, we had interrupted him as he took a piss.

Rental bikes in Seville…

Naval museum

We walked along the street in front of the palace, then headed back toward the hotel, so I could pick up my bathing suit. We went looking for Aire and, of course, got a bit lost in Seville’s narrow streets. I think we might have been a little late when we finally found the place.

Aire offers two hour sessions in which you can get massages or other treatments and soak in one of five pools or sit in a eucalyptus scented steam room. You’re supposed to speak in a low voice, drink lots of water and tea, and relax. It was just what Bill needed. Of course, it turned out that many staff members at Aire didn’t speak much English, so we had to rely on our crappy Spanish skills to figure out what to do. I actually could understand a lot of the Spanish, but my ability to speak it is almost nil now.

The outside of Aire…

I wasn’t completely understanding what we were supposed to do, but managed to get into my swimsuit and found my way around the peaceful facility. The lights were dim; there was relaxing music; and had it not been for a couple of chattering Spanish ladies, it would have been a very calming experience. Bill and I only got fifteen minute massages. I kind of wish I’d gotten a longer one, but I’d read on TripAdvisor that the massages weren’t all that great. I ended up with a pretty good masseuse, though. We rotated around the salt pool, jetted pool, and warm, hot, and cold pools until we heard the chime letting us know our time was up.

After we went to the hammam, we visited what turned out to be a chain restaurant called Robles. Once again, we ordered too much food. The restaurant was pretty quiet and I noticed a manager type walking around, looking like he was proctoring an exam or something.

Where we had lunch…

Bill’s avocado and goat cheese starter. I skipped this because I don’t like strong cheese.

My starter… fried prawns!

Bill’s beef and potatoes.

Chicken and garlic.

Dessert! Everybody loves a parfait, right?

After lunch, we took our carriage ride, though not from the guy who had asked us if we wanted one. Our driver did not speak any English, but we were able to understand much of what he said. He had a grey mare who seemed a little nervous in the heavy traffic we drove through. As he was pointing out places of interest along our route, the driver got a call on his cell phone. Bill and I chuckled, since the guy’s ringtone was a horse neighing. The driver insisted on taking pictures of me and Bill in his carriage. I’m grateful they mostly turned out okay. I hate the way I photograph. When we got back to the starting point, I managed to tell the guy that I used to have a horse. We bonded and he told me his mare’s name is Rosilla. I petted the horse and we went on our way.

That evening, we ended up at this great bar near our hotel. Bill and I wanted some wine, though we were still pretty full from lunch. Our server was a fatherly man who was intent on teaching me how to order shrimp fritters. I was enjoying the music in the bar, which was all from the 80s, so we sat there and drank a shitload of wine. The second bottle was from Jerez de la Frontera, which is where Harvey’s Bristol Cream sherry is made. The quality was excellent and the bottle wasn’t too expensive, but it packed quite a wallop at 15% alcohol.

I ended up getting pretty hammered… and when a bum came in looking for handouts, I ended up in a funny exchange with him. He flirted with me as a means of mock begging. I laughed in response and Bill gave him a couple of euros. Later, when he continued to engage, I laughed again and told him to “beat it”. He took his leave with a courtly bow. Sadly, I don’t quite remember the end of the evening… at least until we got to the hotel and my body kicked out some of the booze.