26 AUG 2010 - Travel from Krakow to Budapest

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Leave Krakow, lunch in Slovakia and arrival in Budapest, Hungary

Uggh...travel day means extra early wakeup...6am wake up call and bags out in hallway by 6:30am. I went back to sleep for a little bit and Mom went down for breakfast. We got our carryon items and went down to the bus by 7:45am. All loaded up and ready to roll on our longest travel day of the trip (besides our flights of course). I had to take a bonine since we were spending so much time on the road...and I didn't expect it to be as windy as it was...it was worse than I had thought. I napped for awhile as usual...I swear the bonine makes me sleepy. 2 hours in we stopped at a gas station for a rest stop. It's good to get out of the bus and stretch and walk around. A few minutes later we had "crossed the border" into Slovakia. Since both countries are members of the EU you don't even need to stop at the borders any longer. They have the right to stop you but Halina says it rarely happens. At this crossing between Poland and Slovakia they were actually just ripping out the border crossing booth as we drove by.

Slovakia has a pretty countryside with mountain peaks and tall evergreens. Another 2 hours goes by and it was time for our lunch break. We stopped at the Sport Hotel in a skiing village in Slovakia (need to ask Halina the name of the town). Lunch was great...Mom and I sat with Susan and Dennis and we talked about their family and life now after retirement. Very nice people...I like them...and with a name of Susan how could I not love her?! After lunch we took pictures of the landscapes and of the painted plastic cows that were around the property all differently decorated. I got one picture of Jean milking a cow...she knows how to do it for real too since she grew up on a farm!

Long afternoon on windy roads was not so good for me...Halina played the movie "Sunshine" which depicted a documentary of Hungary and a family over a few decades. I couldn't look at the tv...needed to see the road and out but I listened to the movie but eventually and thankfully fell asleep. Our next stop was just after we crossing the Hungarian border. We had a first look at how weak the currency (the Forint or Ft)is for Hungary right now compared to the dollar. Gas was 344.00 Ft per liter. You get money from the ATM and you get 20,000 Ft and that is only $100 USD. The machine dispenses a 10,000 Ft paper bill. It's just too weird for me and would take a while to get used to the 220 to 1 ratio for our currencies. During our pit stop Halina said she had yet another surprise for us...we were going to have a speciality of Poland and something they normally have at Christmas time. Punchkies (i know i misspelled it but I know what I mean). It is a baked jelly filled "donut" that were huge. Halina had one for each of us to try. And of course Mom and I already knew of them and had them on the breakfast buffet each morning. But the ones Halina gave us from the bakery in Krakow were HUGE! She told us we were going to have a contest and we needed to figure out what type of filling was in the punchkies.

We get back on the bus and Halina comes to each of us and asks us to tell her what we thought the filling was made from. Mom said plums and I went with her guess. No one got it exactly right but somepeople said they tasted roses in the filling. The actual answer is Rose Petal Jelly. Who knew that existed?? I certainly didn't but I will never forget it now.

It is 5pm by now and we are getting close to Budapest. Halina gave us a city map of Budapest and also a language learning sheet of some basic Hungarian phrases. But there is nothing basic about the Hungarian language...it is very difficult. Our hotel is in the center of the city and is brand new. It is a Courtyard Marriott that just opened in April 2010. Our room has a view of one of the main streets which is interestiing to watch people from. There is a tram and subway stop very close by so there are always people to watch come and go. We were both exhausted from the ride...not sure why sitting down all day makes you tired but it does! We just got dinner in the hotel cafe and headed up to our rooms. You have to pay for internet in the rooms...so I'll wait and get it for the last 24 hours we'll be here in Budapest. I read a little about Budapest and then I downloaded the pictures I took today onto my laptop. I am so tired...I think a residual effect from the bonine too. I can't keep my eyes open any longer. Good Night!

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