Glitches and Glitz

Well, it has always been my belief that the more you plan in advance, the more you mitigate potential problems.  However, sometimes no matter how much organizing you do, things just don't work out.  That was today!

It all started when I got a text from Kath (who is still annoyed at being robbed in Portugal) saying her flight to Budapest has been cancelled.  So, there she is, stranded in Lisbon with nearly no money, no credit card, and no chance of getting out of there in time to meet me as planned in Budapest.  Why Lufthansa would email her in the middle of the night telling her that her flight was cancelled and she was re-booked on one leaving at 7:15 is lost on me.  By the time she saw the email, the flight had gone!  This (below) is Lufthansa's solution to her problem which, of course, means we will not be meeting at the airport as planned and she is now arriving close to midnight.  What a big mess!
 

In the meantime, things were going relatively okay for me.  I got to FRA at 9:40 for my 12:20 departure.  Baggage drop and security went quickly and then I had a nice cooked breakfast.  I got Kath's text while I was eating and immediately jumped into "problem solving" mode.  I emailed the property manager and arranged for a driver to pick her up close to midnight and bring her to the apartment.  That was sorted - well as much as it was going to be.  However, when I got to my gate, I bumped into my first glitch, albeit a very little one, of the day.  It was announced my flight was delayed due to some mechanical issue.  It turns out the problem was with one of the plane's tires and when they changed it they found a screw was missing so that had to be taken care of.   We left 40 minutes late and the flight was fairly bumpy.  I smiled when the pilot came on to apologize for the delay saying he prefers to fly with an aircraft that doesn't have any mechanical problems.  Whew!  Good to know!  

We arrived about 1 hour late.  I had been told I was going to be met by a driver holding a sign with my name on it.  There were plenty of men with signs but none saying Maureen Taylor.  I waited for about 1/2 hour and still no one appeared.  Then I noticed there was a group of young women all holding little white boards with peoples' names written on them in small lettering.  Lo and behold, I found my name there on one of them.  Apparently, the drivers can't park in front of the terminal so the gals call the driver once you have identified yourself.  Then they pull up, come in to meet you, and take you to the car.  Well, if I'd been told that, I could have saved quite some time.  However, compared to what my sister was going through - using up18 hours to get here - I have nothing to complain about.

So, about 3/4 hour after getting into the taxi, I was dropped on Raday Utca at the apartment where I stayed several years ago and will be for the next 6 days.  Now, I have to admit the entrance isn't much to write home about and it doesn't help that just inside the big doors going into the inner courtyard are all the garbage bins which absolutely stink.  Why does garbage smell the same everywhere?  However, once you are by that, take the elevator to the 4th floor and walk down the open hallway, you get to a fabulous 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment that is quite luxurious with lots of gold leaf everywhere.  Quite glam!

The kitchen with its red glass counter and sink

The sitting room - red leather sofas

The master bedroom with a king size bed and gold leaf headboard.  The second bedroom is similarly decorated.

The master ensuite

The dining table

The sliding glass doors separating the kitchen from the living room

I've arrived, finally, I thought to myself.  Now, if only my sister could say the same thing!!  As I write this, she still has just over 5 hours to go.  She is going to be exhausted, poor thing.