Prepare for Takeoff....maybe

I woke up Monday morning ready to go.  I still had some stuff to pack because I always wait to the last minute, but mentally I was ready. Mom and I went to breakfast, shopping, and out to the barn one last time to say good-bye to Murray. Then we met Dad for dinner and headed to the Kalamazoo Airport. Everything so far had gone swimmingly – until the airport. Isn’t that how it always works? We got to Kzoo and checked in, only to be told that my flight was delayed and had no hope of making it to Chicago to catch my connection to Heathrow. Of course my flight out of Chicago to Heathrow was the last one for the night, so if I wasn’t on that plane, I wasn’t getting to Hungary until a day later. I could have waited it out in Kzoo, but I had no way of getting in touch with Nora (my mentor teacher this year who was picking me up in Budapest) to tell her that I wasn’t going to be there. I also had no way to get in touch with her once I got to Hungary and being stranded at a foreign airport didn’t seem like a great way to start my trip. So, Option 2 was to drive like hell to Chicago in the hopes of making it in time for my flight. With my mom reminding me from the backseat that “80 is a good speed today” and dad saying “just keep up with the Illinois cars” we made good time and thankfully I made it to my flight – sweatier than I would have liked because of the long speedwalk through O’Hare, but with about 25 minutes to spare.

A couple things about Heathrow in London: their security is no joke and neither is their shopping. Once I landed, I had to go through security again to get into the main part of the airport. Since I had gone through security just fine at O’Hare I didn’t really think anything about it. I put my bags on the belt and expected to walk right through. Unfortunately, when they say all liquids must be in a bag, they really mean it.  I had to spend an extra half hour while they inspected my mini-hand sanitizer and toothpaste because I hadn’t gotten them out of my purse and put them in an extra plastic bag. (They actually wipe down all your stuff with a clean cotton swatch and put it in a machine to check for chemicals or explosive residue I’m assuming). My little bottles have not been a problem when I have flown recently in the US, but lesson learned for international airports!

Once I was freed from security, I was excited about the shopping – I thought it would be an enjoyable way to pass my two hour layover and it would have been had I been able to afford anything! Too bad Harrods, Tiffany’s, Cartier, Burberry, and YSL are all a little above my price range!

Anyways, the rest of the trip was great – flights were on time and smooth. I arrived in Budapest on time and so did my luggage, thank God. Nora and her husband Gabor picked me up and drove me back to Bekes. Before we went to Bekes however we took a driving tour of Budapest. It is a very pretty city and I can’t wait to go back and explore it some more. I didn’t take any pictures while we were driving around, but I promise I will when I go back and will post them soon!