Irene Is Causing Us Problems

Weather seems to be our new nemesis this season. If it isn't one thing like the heat, it is another thing like storms. Now, we are getting cancellations from people who cannot leave the US due to their flights being cancelled by the airlines. Where are all of you Europeans who don't need to worry about hurricanes. Come to Budapest!!

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Weather We Stay or Go

No, I am not having a confusion moment between weather or whether. This last week we had a couple booked for four nights. Somehow, because of the names and the spelling of the names, I was expecting two men, but it was a husband and wife. Not very important to the story, I don't think, just an aside.


They arrived while I was out, but Ron had shown them our superior hospitality to guests. When  made it back, they cooed on and on about how much they loved the place, how it was better than the pictures, how wonderful Ron was to them already, and so on. She, though, started complaining about the heat. Yes, it was one of those days where the mercury ran, not crawled up toward the 96 degree mark. I shared the lack of air conditioning in Europe along with a story of a handmade soap company that had a kiosk in the mall until one summer, all the product melted. We all laughed. FYI, this couple live in a high end desert city in CA. They probably only spend the time from the house to the store out of air conditioning. 


Having made their plans, they took off. Three hours later, they returned to announce they were leaving us to go to a hotel with air conditioning. She could not handle the hit. He was fine. Yes, they conceded they would be paying more than double what we ask for, but she needs air conditioning to survive. She suggested she may not go out at all while here if the heat continued to beat on her like it had. Quite honestly, she looked like someone beat her with the ugly stick, then dragged her behind a horse though an old west town. I too get sick in extreme heat, so I could sympathize, but really I was mourning the lack of income during a poor year. 


Twice I asked if they checked for anything left here, but was assured they had everything they needed. The husband was so apologetic, didn't offer to make up our lost income. They spent a month in Italy before taking a cruise here, so they are not paupers. Later that evening there was an e-mail. She forgot her night gown, laundry detergent, and toothbrush. I had discovered the first two items, but not the toothbrush. They wanted to fetch them the following day. I told them one of us would wait around taking turns as we both had things that needed doing. 


They did not show until 8pm entering with stories about how glorious their day was and what amazing luck they had. They rode for free on the transport as they look over 70 years old. Personally, I would have paid just to prove differently. On and on they went about how they received this and that for nothing or got away with things. My inclination was to tell them how please I was that someone found luck since we seemed to be hitting the unlucky jackpot with guests. No matter how old I get, people's behavior will always amaze me. 

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Hello Sunshine

All this and no air conditioning.

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And the Weather Today...

Today's weather has been brought to you by a melted BudgetNomad. Yesterday's temperature created a new record for that day in July.

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Getting to the Root of the Matter

Getting to the root of the matter really has  multiple meanings today. For the last week, we have had rain on a daily basis. A few days, the rain would fall for a few hours, while other days, the entire day was a drencher. The day before yesterday and yesterday as well, the winds have been particularly fierce feeling closer to hurricane weather than spring. 

Reports stated that the unusually stormy winds were gusting at 100-110 km per hour (62-68 miles per hr) in many parts of the country, including Budapest. Although it has not hindered take offs and landings at the Ferihegy airport thus far, but the volcanic ash from Iceland has been the root cause of many flights being canceled in the UK, Germany, and France.

Today was a dental appointment on Margaret Island, where all of those ahead of my 10am appointment were late due tot the weather, though I who needed to take the tram, a metro, and then a bus to get there due to bridge construction, made it on time. When dentist finally made it to me, she rooted around in my mouth. Afterward, we discussed the ill fate of my roots.

When I returned to the bus stop to come home, this poor tree was dealing with its own root of the matter.

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• U.K. Airspace at Risk of Closure as Ash Cloud Returns (Update2) (businessweek.com)
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• Ash Cloud From Eyjafjallajokull Disrupts More UK Flights (shoppingblog.com)
• Northern Ireland and Scottish Airports Closed Because of the Return of the Volcanic Ash Cloud (pamil-visions.net)

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Field Trip

Last Saturday, Ron and I had a field trip for our photography class. We were all to meet at Kerepesi Cemetery; all included the six students and our instructor. The assignment was to capture the same photo twice using different aperature/shutter speed combinations so we could see differences. In order to appreciate this, I have to preface it with I DO NOT DO WINTER.

I could easily have been a bear in a previous life. If I could hibernate all winter, I would choose to do so. Going days indoors without stepping foot outside when the temperatures are below 50 degrees Fahrenheit is nothing to me. Cabin fever is preferable to a chill. I react to snow on the ground like a vampire reacts to a crucifix. From a distant view, it is observable, but the closer it gets, the more the inhuman noises rise from the depths of my soul. I have to admit, the sole motivation for going to a snow covered cemetery on a cold February morning was the thought of how much we had paid for this course. It being only ten lessons, I had already missed one when I had the tooth infection, so frugality won over forcing me outdoors.

Before I go on, for those of you not in the know, Kerepesi is beyond being just a cemetery, moving into the realm of outdoor museum. Anyone interested in history or art will appreciate this expanse of land. Without going into too much detail about the history, which you can read here, let me say that I have included a walking tour of it in my new Frommer's 8th edition. We put it on our list of top things to see and do in Budapest and merits a visit during each of the four seasons. As the seasons change, so does the perspective of this final resting place. We generally visit at least twice a year. History buffs will appreciate this "Find a Grave" link here.

Once I had acclimated to the idea, the weather, and the snow, we had one and a half hours to explore on our own, shoot what appealed to us and then meet back at the front gate. Our instructor found each of us at least twice to look over what we had done and offer suggestions. This proved not to be too difficult a task as only three of us showed. 

This coming Tuesday, we will "present" our best ten pictures for critique.

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Christmas Time in Vienna

We are flying Swiss Air from Vienna to Zurich, Zurich to Nairobi. Our habit when flying out of Vienna is to go the day before, stay over and taxi to the airport. This time, we especially needed to do it as our flight is at 7:00 am, meaning an airport arrival at 5:00 am is necessary.

Pension Hotel Wild is our place of choice for location, convenience, and cost. Being the season for holiday merriment, we are able to "do" the Christmas markets. We have long given up on the City Hall market. It is filled with commercial products, mostly imported from Asian countries, nothing typically Austrian. It is worth seeing for the decorations, but from afar is just as lovely. The mobs of people make it joyless trying to get anywhere near the booths.

The one thing I do hate about this one night in Vienna at this time of year is the cold. It is about 20 degrees colder here than when we left Budapest. Winter time is hibernation time for me. I despise cold weather and think bears have the right idea. If I could avoid ever going out in this unseemly weather, I would do so at all costs. It is beyond my imagination how people can enjoy winter sports.

So,  after checking into the hotel, we set off to troll around the Christmas market closest to the hotel. Just as crowded, we quickly succumbed to the hot mulled wine to warm our freezing hands. Within minutes, the wine was as cold as we were.

With a day pass for transportation, it made sense to ride the trams to see the holiday lights and displays. The trams have heated seats! Yahoo!! Our tradition to have dinner at the Willendorf, a delightfully relaxed restaurant where we never seem to dislike a meal and the service is always excellent. It was an early night for 3:30 am comes around very early and the taxi will do so at 4:30.

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Feels Like a Hungarian Autumn?

Our friend Jennifer wrote from Connecticut saying it was feeling like autumn there and wanted to know if it was the same here. Uh, nope! I am not complaining at all. I hate, despise, loath, detest cold weather. These temps can stick around until we leave on vacation December 16th for all I care.

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The Heat is Back

We had some hot days last week, but then a weather front came through with torrential rain. It just stymies me how forceful the rain can be. Having been to Niagra Falls, Iguazu Falls, and Viktoria Falls, there are some close resemblances at times. Yesterday was 85 degrees and today will hit 92 degrees. Going to the mall is not an option for cooling off. Their air conditioning is not strong enough to keep the soap kiosks from closing in the summer. The one year they remained open, all of their product was a soupy mess all over their display counter. This is good training. We are planning our trip to Australia for December. Alice Springs gets up to 112 degrees. Good thing we lived in the central valley of CA. We know heat.

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