London-diary

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BUD>LTNDay 1 - MON 11. June 2007
Using Budapest Transport Company we went to Ferihegy 1. Arrived in time, check-in started exactly 2 hours prior to departure, we were the first ones. The check-in lady managed to anger me somewhat, since she couldn't handle the boarding card machine. Nevertheless, Group A for boarding. Security checks were very quick. Plane arrived 10 minutes late, due to early morning fog at Luton. Since the 30-minute turnaround time is almost impossible to keep, we took off 20 minutes behind schedule. Despite this fact, however, we arrived according to schedule at 12:10 PM. Flight was rather uneventful, the sky was mostly clear fortunately. I even saw Brussels airport from the air. Seat 2A (window). Plane: EasyJet Boeing 737-700, registration: G-EZKE. Looked pretty new.

At Luton Airport we managed to catch an earlier (12:55 pm) Greenline bus to Baker Street. Check-in at Piccadilly Backpackers (in Sherwood Street) youth hostel was also great, with no queue!! So far so good. 8-bed dorm, room-mates were nice all along. There were youngsters from Sweden, Portugal, India, and 2 women from Hungary on the 1st night. Since I am pretty much a recluse and my dad wasn't in a very talkative mood either, we didn't reveal that we were Hungarians as well. After settling down, I went to fetch my tickets at Shakespeare's Globe. On the way back, I crossed Millennium Bridge and admired the skyline of London. I almost forgot... Before leaving for the Globe, we had an English breakfast (a must in England) at a great place near the hostel, where the guy was very funny.

In the evening, while dad was watching Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera, I went on a bus ride to Kensington. I walked a lot in Holland Park, Kensington Gardens (where I saw the Diana Memorial Playground and Fountain) walked past the Great Pond, on to Hyde Park along the Serpentine. Caught a bus from Hard Rock Cafe back to Aldwych. Met dad after the performance, waited at the stage door for autographs, but after having been warned that there is an after-show party and that actors are unlikely to show up, we left. Had dinner in Bella Italia (I had Caesar Salad, which wasn't that great). Back to the hostel to rest.

Day 2 - TUE 12. June 2007
We experienced something rather unpleasant: now they were charging for parts of the breakfast, only the toast being free. Damn sons of a ...! We left the whole place, probably never to return to the breakfast room! Went to Green Park to read newspapers. In the afternoon we went too see "The 39 Steps" at Criterion Theatre, which was great. Ł10 ticket each for the Balcony, but we were upgraded to the Dress Circle in the middle. Great value!! Merchant of Venice in the evening from 1st row (yard standing). Great show with professional actors.

Day 3 - WED 13. June 2007
After realizing that without having an extensive rest in the morning it is impossible to enjoy (but rather pay attention to) 2 performances, we decided to stay at the room all morning and sleep. The Hound of the Baskervilles at the Dutchess Theatre was great and an unusual adaptation, being very funny. We were sitting at the very front and enjoyed the show immensely. The morning sleep was really a great idea. In the evening I went for the 2nd "Merchant .." performance. Bought a new all-day bus pass, as I felt useless to try and get on RV1 again like the day before (when the bus driver noticed I didn't have a proper ticket). One always tries to spare as much money as possible... The usual way back in the evening across Millennium Bridge...

Day 4 - THU 14. June 2007
Had breakfast at the place nearby with the funny guy. Once he wanted to charge us 700 pounds. The meal for me was jacket potato with beans and cheese. Billy Elliot today. I had been anticipating that performance for a long time and I wasn't disappointed. 1st row not that good in this case, as stage level is very high. We were lucky again, as we managed to upgrade ourselves to the 2nd row in act2. Great music by Elton John and great stagework with talented actors. "Othello" in the evening at the Globe. Unfortunately I was a bit tired on this performance, and the fact that I couldn't manage to stand right in front of the stage only made it worse (I couldn't lean on the stage). It also started to rain at the end. However, I still tried to enjoy my last night walk across Millennium Bridge for the time being.

Day 5 - FRI 15 June 2007
A very special day for me, as I embarked to visit a new airport: London City (LCY). Slept till 11am, had a quick breakfast (delicious warm breakfast wrap) at the by-then-usual place, and off I went. But before leaving, I had a quick look at my e-mails, cause by then we had been informed that a translation assignment had come. Unfortunately, though, the computer didn't have the appropriate program so we couldn't get access to the work. Never mind, one day doesn't mean a big setback, by Saturday we would be at home anyway. For dad, it was the British Museum on the last day. Had to buy a day travelcard, as I needed to use the underground. Bakerloo line from Piccadilly to Waterloo, there changed to Jubilee Line to Canning Town. From there, Docklands Light Railway (DLR) took me to LCY. Great transfers all along, London public transport being extremely efficient (except for occasional traffic jams - Oxford Street by bus can be a nightmare). LCY is a very small airport, yet traffic can be really exciting. Lots of VLM aircraft to Rotterdam and elsewhere; ScotAirways, Swiss, AirFrance, BA. These are the major players. Spotting facility is very good. The only runway reaches right into the water, similar to SFO, only of course on a much smaller scale. There is a long covered walkway with a glass window parallel to the runway to the parking lot. In addition, there are comfortable benches. Occasionally, I could also see some planes landing at Heathrow. If you have good binoculars, this adds to the excitement. All in all, I would say that LCY is a very decent airport. The terminal itself is small but comfortable, with all the basic facilities one needs before departure. On the way back I walked a bit in Green Park and had a prawn sandwich from Tesco at Piccadilly before getting back to the hostel, doing a bit of packing, and going to sleep (at least trying to, since the two girls in the room did everything to hinder me).

Day 6 - SAT 16 June 2007 (Final day)
Got up comfortably, had a final English breakfast at the usual place, and went to Victoria station to catch the Greenline bus to Luton. We were informed that the journey would take about two hours, since one of the motorway junctions was closed. We were lucky that I booked an early bus (left at around 11am). We passed through a small town called St.Albans North of London and it was really nice. A decent English town. Our plane left at 3:45pm, but we were there at around 3pm. As usual, they didn't start chek-in promptly 2 hours before departure, and moreover, they allocated check-in desks where there were hordes of other people for other flights, while other check-in desks stood idle. Some Hungarian mentality penetrated into England, it seemed to me. And this is not all. The check-in girl, to my utmost astonishment, couldn't handle the machine producing the baggage tags! I couldn't believe it! And meanwhile, a crazy woman wanted to check in a bottle of whisky that wasn't packed! Of course they didn't let her, so she gave it to us and we quickly put it into our luggage before checking it in. So this time, we didn't get "A" for boarding, only "B". Let this be the greatest tragedy in my life!! And besides, I still got a window seat😊) (Seat 8F).

Now some info about our flight:
LTN-->BUD, EZY2075. reg.: G-EZAK (A319), Gate 16
dep. from apron: 4pm, takeoff: 4:07pm
Route: Belgium-FRA(visible)-NUE(?)-VIE(visible)-BUD
Landing on time, at 7:10pm.
Smooth flight, with no babies crying nearby (this is a miracle!)

After arriving, Hungarian mentality confronted us instantly. There was only 1 baggage carousel in operation for 3 flights, and one guy was throwing the luggage from those three flights. No wonder, Hungarian workforce is extremely expensive, one has to be cautious in employing people for 300HUF/hour, otherwise the airport would go instantly bankrupt. I'm just wondering what the situation will be like in the summer peak season. Budapest Airport will probably be a catastrophe. I'm not that surprised airlines don't want to come here...

All in all, our trip was a success! I was especially satisfied with our room-mates. Booking an 8-bed dormitory in a youth hostel is an immense risk, I can assure you. Just imagine, if you get 6 drunkards as companions ... Your trip is instantly ruined. However, we were lucky, since all our room-mates were really nice and they didn't bother us at all. This was it, our great theatre-trip to London. It's unlikely that I'll return this year, but maybe next... Sorry for the mistakes, I was in a hurry writing this diary.

In two weeks' time we are off to Verona.

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