Budapest - Day #2

By Jeff: June 26, 2009

Well, I am finally here. I left the USA @ 1:30 p.m. on Thursday and landed at about 2:30 p.m. on Friday (Hungarian time - but actually 7:30 a.m. - friday - Rochester time). Here is what has happened so far:

As you read before, my 1st plane was rerouted to Mpls, and then on to Amsterdam from there. That flight was about 8 hrs. Unfortunately, I didn't get much sleep - only about an hours worth - as my seat wasn't too comfy for sleeping. They do have a pretty cool thing, in that they have a GPS graphic of the plane, so you can see exactly where you are in flight - such as when you pass just south of Greenland, for example. It also shows data about the conditions - altitude, distance travelled so far, distance to go, outside air temp (did you know that the temp at 38,000 feet is 59 degrees below zero?).

We finally land in Amsterdam and, sure enough - we did have to go through security again. The line was HUGE. I had almost 2 hrs to get from one plane to the next. After I got through the security line, I had about 20 minutes to get to my plane. I ran like a mad man to my gate - uh, cuz it couldn't have just been next door. No! It seemed like it was about a mile away. When I got to the gate, I asked, "are you boarding for this flight yet" and they said, "yes, we're waiting for you." Glad I ran!

When we arrived in Budapest, we waited for the luggage to get unloaded - only to find that mine somehow didn't make the final leg of the journey. Then again, it's possible that it never got pulled off of the original Detroit flight. My luggage might be visiting the Chyrsler plant right now. I have no idea.

Have now been to my event room to see what it looks like. They should be finished setting it up soon, so I can begin setting my equipment in the morning. I have to go look at it again tonite - and then off to bed.

good night from across the pond, everyone!

JBD