Hungarian Wedding Crashers and Happy Hour in Budapest

Out for a stroll on a Saturday afternoon... and we came across this gorgeous wedding taking place at St. John's Basilica. Had we not been in scrubs and hooded sweatshirts... we would have attended the ceremonies no doubt! But Philippe was just wanting to know... Where was the reception? Hahahaha... :-) That's a BIG family if you ask me...

The St. John's Basilica square... gorgeous!


The size of this church is unbelievable...

And I thought 'Holy Family' was big..." Ha!
Time for a cocktail... it's Saturday at Happy Hour, why not? We headed back to the main square and sat at the 'Cocktail Bar' in the heart of it all. We LOVE to people-watch.

BRR! It got cold. Thank goodness for the blankets and heaters that all restaurants provide for guests at night... we could have stayed there forever!

Mmmm... big glasses of wine, street traffic, hilarious company, and warm fleece blankets... what else could a girl ask for?? (Another glass of wine, please, probably! :-)
"Let's take a pic of us with the lights: It's like we're in Vegas!" Hahahaha... he seemed to think that was REALLY funny...?
I didn't think I'd ever get to say this, but the time to go home is coming up so fast! Budapest is fantastic- On our way to Germany tomorrow and Philippe is my lead... Can't wait to see more! (And be home eventually on Tuesday... )

Cheers!

Lisa :-)

My 'Le Ballon Blanc'

LE BALLON BLANC!!! This is the funniest story ever... Philippe found this random white balloon in his deluxe room and he didn't want it, so I decided to take it home with me for the night. Le ballon blanc ended up following me around everywhere! I woke up with it the next day by my side above my head, and after that I took it with me the everywhere I went for the rest of the day as a joke!

We thought it'd be funny to watch the real version of "Le ballon rouge" on YouTube to remember the famous french tale of the little boy that has the red balloon follow him everywhere, no matter where he goes... and since Philippe grew up in France and still speaks french fluently, he translated the entire 30 minute movie to me... "Go, balloon, go away!" Ha!
The boy originally finds the balloon stuck on a pole, gets it down, and carries it around with him, but then he gets in trouble at school for having it and he tries to get rid of it.
The balloon won't go away, and he keeps following him through the streets of Paris, until other kids get ahold of it and eventually deflate him. Then the boy gets sad, but immediately, other balloons from other kids all over Paris get yanked out of their hands and they all band together to form a hot air balloon (of sorts) to carry the boy away into the air high above the clouds! So unrealistic, but so cute, and so laugh-able when you find random white balloons in hotel rooms in Budapest...

Me, Philippe, and my beloved le ballon blanc...
Philippe & I went out for a walk down the street and I took Le Ballon blanc with me... Philippe and I just laughed as people came up to me and said, "You found a very nice balloon." THANK you! But he found ME... :-)

Cheers!

-Lisa :-)

How can I convince you to work for us??

Ohhhh boy. Just when I thought this 'job' couldn't get ANY better... it does. Philippe, my new favorite lead flight attendant, 'accidentally' got put up in an A-MAZING 2 bedroom suite at the Corinthia Grand Royal when he got back from a quick Keflavik turn, for 3 nights. My crew and I were all out to lunch on Thursday at Iguana when we got the call, "GUYS, you've gotta see this. Take the walk- you won't be disappointed." It kinda looked like it was going to rain and, the group didn't feel like making the 15 minute walk from the InterContinental to the Corinthia to hang out... but for some reason, I felt the need to go check out what he was raving about. So I did. UNBELIEVABLE.
He had the rooms 1204 AND 1205. He said, "Knock at either door, I'll answer." 1204 was the bedroom side of it and 1205 was the hallway leading into the 'living room area' with the extra TV and the extra HUGE window overlooking the streets of Budapest. (Notice the clear string/fishing wire hanging in the left corner. That was a random white balloon that was left in the deluxe room for NO reason that seemed to follow me around wherever I went... )
When he checked in late to the hotel the night before after a long flight, he sat down in his suite and got comfy on the couch, and looked over and noticed this massage chair. He told me he dropped everything he was doing and 'tested it out' for about an hour... haha!
He even had access to a private balcony overlooking the front of the hotel... that we just had to pull up a chair and sneak out onto when the other guests weren't looking. (Hahaha--- Did he REALLY have access, or did we just make that up?) Either way- it was fun! And a gorgeous view!
Look at this bedroom- huge bed and a balcony- can't get any better!

"OK- We want you to be a flight attendant for Ryan. Here's what we can offer-it's not much, but just hear us out. We'll give you 10 days off a MONTH. (Most 9-5 jobs give you 10 days off a year?) On top of that, we'll send you to places that you will NEVER get to see on your own dime, and we'll also put you up in surprisingly nice luxury hotels from time to time just to show you how much we care. In return, we'll only make you work about 3 or 4 flights a week, basically only about 4 hours each. STILL not convinced??? We'll give you $75 a day to be working for us. WILL YOU WORK for Ryan??" Hahahaha... sadly, this is the honest truth... And we love it...

Overlooking busy Budapest from the balcony in the afternoon... so nice!
Just living the dream... I love that he's been a flight attendant for Ryan for almost 10 years and he STILL thinks of every layover as a vacation! "I'm just gonna do it until it's not fun anymore..." It's obviously still fun! :-) How can it not be??
We had this balcony all to ourselves that afternoon... and we loved every minute of it! Kept looking at people on the train looking at us with wine in our hands and laughing our heads off in public... Should we be 'working' right now??
CHEERS to Budapest! I love you so...
Glad you got lucky with this suite, Philippe!
Hanging out in Budapest on a Thursday afternoon- just a normal day, right?? :-) Another glass of wine, perhaps?
Happy Hour at the Marriott in Budapest... venturing out for a little bit with the rest of our crew. Buy one get one free... and free appetizers! I love my 'vacations' for work...

Cheers!

-Lisa :-)

The 'Chain Bridge' on a sunny September afternoon

Ahhh... a 4-day layover in Budapest. What on earth can I do with my time? It's a sunny Wednesday afternoon... why not go out and take a walk outside my hotel and take some pics of the scenery? The 'Chain Bridge' that is literally... 2 steps away from our hotel. So beautiful!
How much would you love to be on that boat now?? Sightseeing down the Danube. Gorgeous!
On the way to PEST...

I love this chain bridge... And I see it every morning when I wake up!
The LION with the Parliament in the background. The lions are on both sides... guarding the bridge, perhaps? They're doing a good job.


The Parliament... famous in Budapest. Costs a fortune to tour... free to look at. :-)
Another boat tour I would love to be on.
Me & the Parliament in the background.
Trying to take one with the Parliament in the background... doesnt work with no display on the digital camera(I broke it somewhere along this trip...). Cute Budapest-ish outfit regardless! New pashmina= gray!
Beautiful September day in Budapest... Enjoying every relaxing second of my walk.




Almost across the bridge...
The InterContinental spoils its guests with flowers... and fantastic rooms I could never afford on my own dollar.
Shopping in the square.
The couple that wouldn't stop hugging. Kinda cute, isnt it!? :-)

Cheers!
Lisa :-)

Extended in Budapest! And my relaxing morning at the Royal Spa...

Hello from Budapest!



Yep, you heard me right. I'm still here!!! I was extended here until the 30th because they need me to do 2 more flights back and forth to Iceland and 1 to Germany within the next week & 1/2! It's unreal that they're keeping me here an extra 10 DAYS just because its easier for them to have me here than send me home! How can I complain?? :-) (I'm also SUPER excited for my layover in Germany!)



The night before I was supposed to leave, I unwillingly packed up my suitcase and was thinking about what a great trip I'd had. I LOVED the hotel, loved my new favorite restaurants, loved the new clothes I bought on Fashion Street, and met some really great new friends. I could hardly sleep because I took a long nap that day, so I was up until about 3am when my showtime in the lobby was 9am. I don't know why, but I decided to double check my schedule one more time before the morning just to make sure I had everything right. I logged on, and my jaw dropped when I saw that the open schedule I had for this week was suddenly all sorts of blues and grays indicating I had a trip, then I was on reserve again in Budapest for 4 days straight! I just sat there and stared for awhile... kinda thrown off, but also excited. And thinking... I've GOTTA find a place to do laundry...



So then I REALLY couldn't sleep, and I just stayed up all night. I called my lead, Amanda at 7:30am and told her about my change... no one had notified her at that point, so I'm glad I didn't just hop on their plane to come home and then realize I was supposed to stay! Ha! I think its fate! After I got off the phone with Amanda (and I still wasn't tired...), I decided to go down to the spa and enjoy the pool and jacuzzi for a little bit. It is ABSOLUTELY gorgeous, and so peaceful.



The 'Royal Spa' as they call it, is only available through a private elevator. That makes it easy to just wear your white robe down and not worry about walking through the hotel lobby for all to see. :-) As soon as the elevator door opens, you are welcomed by a friendly face at the front desk...
And a free juice bar with fresh apple juice and freshly squeezed orange juice! And complimentary bottles of water and green apples to take with you if you want.
You just hand in your room key, and if you haven't already, the lady will give you a robe and slippers to wear down to the pool and sauna area. You walk down a gorgeous winding staircase (that sadly, was hard if not impossible to take a picture of...), and you're on the floor level of the huge swimming pool, jacuzzis, and lounge chairs!
It is so beautiful and so calm! Especially at 8am...
The ceiling is a gorgeous stained glass that is so bright in the morning! All the rooms on the upper level are the massage and beauty rooms... all the spa treatments are done up there!

I sat in the jacuzzi for about 25 minutes. There were probably only 3 or 4 other people in the entire spa area when I was there... talk about RE-LAXING. Had the whole jacuzzi to myself!
These lounge chairs remind me of something on a tropical island! They are lined all around the outer edge of the swimming pool and jacuzzis... somewhat tucked back from the pool in case you REALLY want peace and quiet!
You can see where the chairs are in between the columns...
I ALSO sat in one of the saunas for about 7 minutes! It was SO warm and had that rich wood smell, and there was a speaker playing soft music that really helps you to relax. I was SO hot and took an 'experience shower' when I got out. It was something I found in a corner and it has different shower heads and pressures and temperatures, and lights that apparently simulate different sights and feelings of nature. It's kinda funny! It sure was an experience! Ha!
Ahhh.. what a great way to start my day!
SO after the spa, I still wasn't tired... so I decided to get cleaned up and go out to breakfast by myself and bring my book! I went back to, you guessed it, Cafe Vian... and I ordered a moccachino that was so pretty, I almost hated to drink it. (But trust me, I'm glad I did!)
I ordered a 2 egg ham & cheese omelette and a REALLY yummy chocolate-filled croissant! It was one of the greatest breakfasts I've had in awhile. And, Cafe Vian wasn't NEARLY as busy & bustling as it has been the other times we've been there for lunch & dinner, so it was nice to have the full attention of the waiter! Total cost of breakfast: $13 with tip. I'm not kidding, I'm nowhere NEAR spending the total amount of per diem my company gives me every day. And I'm eating like I've never eaten before! (If I come home in 10 days 5 pounds heavier, you'll know exactly why. :-)

After breakfast, I did a little window shopping on the street across from my hotel, then finally started feeling like I needed to sleep... and I did! All afternoon!

Cheers! :-)

-Lisa