Dinners on "Restaurant Row" in Budapest

Hi guys!

I have had some FANTASTIC dinners here in Budapest with my crew the past couple nights, and I just have to share them with you! The food has been excellent, the service is very polite which easily creates a relaxing atmosphere, and I've had priceless quality time with my other crew members to get to know them better and hear about what fun layovers they've all had!

As I mentioned before, Vennie and I ventured out for our late lunch on Monday and found Cafe Vian. It was so good and we were so impressed that we decided to go back for dinner on Wednesday night!


Restaurant Row at night is SO cute. They have cafe tables set up outside, and everyone wants to sit at them. When it gets chilly (which this night, it was about 45-50 degrees?), they turn on the tall silver heaters to keep the entire overhang warm, and each seat at the table has a red fleece blanket waiting to wrap up in or just keep on your waist to drape over your legs. I, personally LOVED that idea... I ALWAYS prefer to eat outside on patios if I can, and this made it so comfortable!
To drink, I stuck with my favorite... red wine! Cheers to Cafe Vian!
And for my main course, I ordered the '2 cheese sauce' pasta which was a mix of creamy blue cheese and a hint of goat cheese! Those are my two absolute FAVORITE cheeses in the world... It was so yummy and I know my Mama would have LOVED it. :-) (You really would have Mama! Hahaha!) Of course they serve it with their signature leaf of basil on top, and it actually gave it a nice flavor. I also had a cup of Hungarian mushroom soup which was a vegetarian creamy tomato with HUGE sliced mushrooms in it! I honestly could have just had that for dinner and been satisfied! But I loved my pasta...
After dinner we wanted to go down to the hotel bar and have another drink. This is the bartender, Gergehy, who we met the day before and he asked us to come back! Why not? He is so cute- he lived in London for 4 years so his english is very good... He's really smart and has so many stories to tell! Not to mention... he makes the BEST mojito I have ever tasted in my life! ;-)
This is the "cigar room" that leads into the fabulous hotel bar. It is SO upscale and fancy, yet still not intimidating. People sat down here every night and read books and had drinks. We met so many people at this bar- my favorite was Daniel, a 32 year old film writer from Los Angeles that is here until March working on Nicolas Cage's new movie. He's staying in an apartment behind the hotel (thats actually still part of the Corinthia). He was such a great guy to get to know- he really fit in with our crew so well, I felt like he WAS one of us!

The girls sitting around the table on the right are Vennie, Jill, and Marla. Jill ordered a 'grey goose' martini straight up, and GUESS how much it cost. $40!!!!!!!! Hahahaha- we just had to laugh... her husband actually looked at her bank account the next day and was like, "What is this $40 bar bill!?" She said he would have KILLED her if he found out that that was only for 1 DRINK!!! Hahaha- Its our little secret! I stuck with my red wine at about $5 a glass. Not too bad! And plus, the bartender liked me so I always got an extra swig 'on the house'... :-)

On our second to last night here in Budapest, we all decided to go out for a nice dinner as a crew on Restaurant Row. We chose this place Thursday to switch it up from Cafe Vian... It was called Buena Vista.

This was AFTER our big meal... We were all full, happy, and COZY! We stuck around the lobby for a little while and just hung out and chatted more... we really do love taking our time around here!

I didn't take a picture of my food this night and I wish I would have, but I'll describe what I had. To drink, I had a tall Hungarian wheat beer that was DELICIOUS and a nice change of pace from my standard red house wine. I'm also on a soup kick since I've been here, so I ordered the chicken and asparagus soup to start. Again, it was hot, FULL of veggies AND chicken, and it was so creamy. Also served with bread... I was almost full AGAIN by the time I was done with it. YUM. For my main dish I got a bacon-wrapped chicken salad that had a ton of veggies on it as well... and the bacon-wrapped chicken breast was to die for. SO good. And get this... my meal was only $19. I can't believe I got all that plus tip for $19! Maybe thats why people go out to eat here every night? That would almost be cheaper than if I went to the grocery store and get all the ingredients! Hahaha!
Here is our group + a couple extra flight attendants from other crews that joined us. From left, they are (clockwise from left) Kim, Vennie, Patrick, Elizabeth, Amanda, Andrea, Me, and Shelley.

CHEERS to more great dinners and great friends in Budapest!

-Lisa :-)

KUWAIT TRIP: Bringing 67 U.S. ARMY soldiers home from Afghanistan

What a day!

There are very few things in life as rewarding as bringing home 67 U.S. ARMY guys from Afghanistan after they had been there for an entire year. Go ahead, think of where you were last year at this time, mid-September-ish of 2007, and just try and recall all the things that have happened in your life since then. Seems pretty insignificant when you think about these guys that worked 12 hour days (at least) 7 days a week IN IRAQ from sundown to sunup (yes, they have an even WEIRDER schedule than I do, believe it or not...), completing missions, losing guys along the way, fighting for our country, trying to end this war, and never knowing if they would make it to see tomorrow. We took 145 men and women over there today and brought 67 back. Let me tell you, when I re-read my last blog entry and saw that I suspected the flight home would be different than the one going there, I got chills. Boy was it ever!

These are 2 U.S. Air Force guys that are stationed in Kuwait for 4 months to guard our planes when we are grounded. Javian and Jesse! They were extra friendly and LOVED hanging out with us in the galley while our plane got cleaned for our soldiers... we ate pizza, talked about their home bases, and asked what they do In Kuwait in their free time! They were both ridiculously cute... couln't help but smile at them the entire time. :-)
Just a handful of the 67 soldiers we picked up in Kuwait to begin their long journey home to the U.S. They were an EXTRA fun bunch... loved helping us out with the demo, getting drinks for other soldiers in the galley, and just saying 'Please and Thank You, Ma'am' every chance they got! Absolutely adorable.
They loved our lead Amanda! She really catered to them and made fun announcements, let them stand in the cabin during flight, and basically let them take over "B ZONE." It was non-stop fun and laughs!
And it helped that my entire crew got along so well together as if we'd known each other forever! (Clockwise from left), Vennie, Marla, Amanda, Jill, Mame, Kim, Me, and Patrick.
AND our beloved U.S. ARMY passengers... who were all LOVING the fact that flight attendants can be FUN and still work hard to serve them! (It's the LEAST we can do considering they're serving our country.)
"Captain Morgan" pose. Hot stuff!
They asked us to do it, as well... I, being one of the youngest, shouted out, "What's the Captain Morgan pose?? How do I DO it??" Hahaha... ROARING laughter from the crowd, lemme tell you. Oh well, I play that 'young and innocent' card often and it seems to work quite well on certain people. Especially a group of guys like this. :-)
Can I get you a beverage???
Brandon showing me how to shoot his weapon. YES, they DO have weapons on our flights but NO they are NOT loaded. Brandon told me today that he was going home after being gone a year, and they weren't allowed to tell their families they were coming. How COOL is that? Can you imagine your soldier just showing up at the door as a complete surprise? Gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. Like those guys that have surprised their sons and daughters in their classrooms at school and they've shown the clips on the news...
Robbie LOVED little Vennie. He was such a cutie... he was only 20! He said after this mission he wanted 'out' of the military and he just wanted to go to college and get his degree. He was hoping not to get called back to duty, but he said he probably would in about 7 months.
Another group shot... couldn't have had more fun 'working' today!
SO sad to see them go! We all exchanged email addresses and when we got back to the hotel, some of them had already emailed us from the wifi internet connection at the airport. I hope we stay in touch with some of these guys... they were definitely a group that will stand out in my mind forever!
We called them the 'Band of Brothers...'
After what they've been through together... they'll always be close, and you can just FEEL it in their presence on the plane. I was SO lucky today to witness this wonderful bond between people that are fighting for our country, putting their loved ones on hold for duty, and won't stop until it's over. Absolutely amazing. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. I admire them!

Cheers!
-Lisa :-)

Authentic Hungarian Coffee Shop/Restaurant at 4pm on a Monday

HI GUYS!

So... Vennie & I were STARVING this afternoon and decided to venture out and find a new local Hungarian restaurant. This one in particular caught our eye... about 2 blocks away from our hotel in a "Row of Restaurants"... had a cute outdoor patio (that was, unfortunately, too rainy to eat on), and a HUGE red velour curtain as you walked through the door. AND a catchy "20 UNIQUE SALADS" written on the chalkboard out front... YUM! I'm sold! Let's go!


We "people watched" for about 2 hours... we got there at 4 and didn't leave until after 6! Groups of friends came and went, girls, guys, and EVERYONE ordered coffee and cappucino. How fantastic is that... just sitting, relaxing with an old or new friend, catching up on a comfy couch and not being bothered by pushy waiters? And that's all they order. No food, just coffee. And seriously, the waiters know that people that go out to eat and have coffee here like to take their time. You have to ask THEM for the bill when you're ready. Also, people always order dessert, if not an after-meal drink.

But WE were there for lunch/dinner... I ordered a DELICOUS Greek salad that was, honestly, the LIGHTEST salad I have ever had in my life. Greens, Feta cheese, tomatoes (that were peeled from the skin, beautifully), olives, basil, onion, tossed in an olive oil dressing. Delicious.
And Vennie got a GREAT chicken sandwich panini with basil and tomato and a side salad! It was so warm and served on fresh whole wheat bread... delicious!

Posing by my salad... why not?? Ha!

This meal was only $17 with tip... Is it just me or is Budapest getting cheaper and cheaper??

Cheers!

-Lisa :-)

"Bad in Budapest" -as quoted by Shelley

When we have an entire 24/7 day off in Budapest, we LOVE to go out and have some drinks with our crew (and other crews that are on layovers as well). And by golly, we DID! It all started at this cute little Mexican place, famous for it's margaritas... called "IGUANA".

I got the 'pesto quesadillas' that were DELICOUS, and had 1 margarita and 1 beer. And my bill was only $15! I was thinking... am I in Budapest or at Taco Bell??? :-) (Thank goodness I'm in Budapest!)
LOVED the bar & the ambience... the other crew was there with us too sitting at the table behind us so we were bustling back & forth between the two all night. And it was a SUNDAY! That's honestly what I love most about this job... every day can be a Friday or Saturday if you make it out to be...
Here's my fantastic crew! From left, Marla (love her, senior flight attendant who KNOWS her stuff and LOVES us young girls just getting into the business!), Vennie (my little buddy from training), Me, Mame (who looks like she's possessed... hahaha I know you're laughing), Jill (such a cute little Harley Mama and laughs as much as me!), Amanda (our responsible lead, fantastic), and Patrick (Who is THE NICEST guy/Dad you've ever met and ALWAYS looks out for me!)
Eric Gonzalez from the other crew LOVES his girls... "Just another day on the job!" (clockwise) Me, Vennie, Eric, Camila, Kristi, and Sherry!
Drinks at the Hotel InterContinental? Why not?? :-) Vennie & Me... with red wine= my fave.
Yeah Eric! My long skirt is very restricting and conservative! Just like me!
Phillipe (Their lead, who I KEPT calling "Phillip-ayy" until they corrected me) was like, "I want a pic like that!"
But HE wanted to hoist HIS leg up on ME! Ha!!! Laughing nonstop! Love this guy!
Yeah girls! We are all young, single, traveling the world, and getting PAID for it. Of COURSE we can smile about it! Kristi, Camila, Rio, Vennie, Eric (not a girl but LOVING his job equally because of us NEW flight attendants), and me!
And we love our boys! Me, Phillipe, Eric, & Vennie
Get ahold of yourself, girl! You are TOO HAPPY! "Is there any such thing as being TOO HAPPY?" "NO!"
Oh Phillipe! He is the most INTERESTING Lead flight attendant. He ACTUALLY announced on the flight over to Budapest that the meal choices were, "Icelandic crepes served with fresh maple syrup and Idaho potatoes, or an Atlantic omelette with glazed honey ham. Both are accompanied by a fresh fruit cup and a roll served with butter and strawberry preserves." With a little creativity, you can make ANY meal sound appetizing! And he SURE does have what it takes to be a lead! Love him!

Flying tomorrow to Kuwait and back... I have a feeling the flight home will be entirely different than the one going there! I can't wait.

Cheers!
-Lisa :-)

Pictures of the Corinthia: Grand Hotel FABULOUS-O Royal... Fantastic!

Welcome to the Corinthia! Grand Hotel Marvelous Fabulous-0...
The breakfast bar is up there... tons of people there every day!
The fantastic chandelier in the main lobby...

SUSHI bar... MIGHT have to check that out today... :-)

Cute little restaurant with rooms overlooking the courtyard!
HELLO, closet space!



The shower is on the right...
The bathrobe is hanging on the door...
And the bathtub jacuzzi is on the left, naturally... :-)Don't forget... the coffee maker is in one of the closets! :-)
Good morning, Budapest! I love this courtyard outside my window. :-)


On our way to dinner! Vennie & I... walking downtown arm in arm!

The cathedral... beautiful! Had to stop & stare.
And on our way back home for the night... it was even better! Gorgeous!

Cheers! I love Budapest!
-Lisa :-)