We Pause Our Regular Broadcast for Breaking News

Congratulations to the Liszt Ferenc Airport for winning the Best Airport in Eastern Europe award at the World Airport Awards. Sorry, there are no pictures from the awards red carpet runway and no gossip about those there or what designer gowns were being shown off. I am wondering who won for the best airport in Central Europe!

Vueling Airline is returning to Budapest with direct flights to Rome reestablishing their Barcelona flights; both routes will be four times a week. Ryanair is adding Athens to its Budapest route system making this the 15th route it flies from Budapest.

WizzAir is not going to be outdone. This budget service started new services to Lisbon in March and will follow with Maastricht on May 15; Hurghada, Egypt May16, and Alghero, Sardinia, Italy June 16. 

More good news for Spain lovers is that Iberia Express, the budget branch of Iberia will have seven flights a week to Madrid. 

The airport transferred 9.15 million passengers, increasing last year’s numbers by 7.5% from last year. New or returning airlines are Vueling (Spanish), Air Serbia, Pegasus Airlines (Turkish), Emirates and Transavia (French).

Finally, North America is back in the picture, but it is not with one of the major US airlines. Air Transat will fly to Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport and then continuing to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. For now, this is only a weekly service. Get ready for the June 16th kick-off. Air Transat is a Montréal based airline. 

Happy Travels!

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Yet Another Anniversary - 13 Years

Today marks yet another anniversary for us. This date is a ménage à trois celebration if one wants to be anthropomorphic with Budapest and consider this as celebratory. Some may call it a major triumph. 

September 11, 2001 we were in New Jersey at my father's. We had flown into LaGuardia airport the week before. I was on the phone ordering our Eurail passes when the Eurail operator told me of an incident he heard about on the radio sitting on his desk. I immediately went to turn on the news after finishing the call. Our scheduled flight from Newark airport to London on September 14, 2001 was delayed until the 24th.

On December 7, 2001 we arrived in Budapest and rented our first apartment with all good intentions to stay for 3 months before continuing a year of travel that started in July of that year. 

Our first apartment is not where we are currently living. We moved into this place on February 14, 2002.

Thirteen years living in Budapest!

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Hello Greek Cyprus!

We landed here at 8:45pm their time, an hour later than Budapest. The airport is wonderfully modern, yet being we came in on WizzAir, we had to walk from the plane to the airport and climb a flight of stairs before Passport Control. This was a surprising simple process at both ends, Budapest and Larnaca. No one asked us why we entered the EU in April and stayed beyond our 90 days.

From the airport, there are two choices of transport ~ airport express which runs about $9 per person or a taxi, which was $15 total. When the driver asked if we were spending our entire stay at the Cactus Hotel, our destination, I became a little concerned. Banking on the fact we were only there for one night, it seemed we would be able to cope with whatever arose.

Blindly, I booked the room through Alpharooms.com, requesting one single and one double room. With the vouchers in hand showing the rooms were paid in full, we attempted checking in. Apparently, the Cactus Hotel had some prickly issues with the reservation, so there were not two rooms at the inn. Politely, the desk clerk asked that we follow her as she marched us across the street to the San Remo Hotel.

We were given our keys for two rooms and told where and when breakfast would be in the morning. The room was objectively clean, yet upon closer inspection, there were dirty corners in various places that were decades overdue for meeting with a good scrub brush. Strangely, the toilet was blue until a few flushings turned it to its normal white color. The downside of this was that the tank never stopped running, causing a bit of plumbing surgery to be done by our own Schmitz the plumber’s assistant.

We did find a delightful restaurant not far from the hotel on the waterside. We were the only patrons, but honestly, none of the surrounding establishments had any guests either. It was cold and blustery out. The walk back was quite chilly.

All night long, there was a boom-boom-boom sound that was mechanical, not musically instigated. Hence, the clock mocked me at 2am and teased that I would never get to sleep. We knew we were taking the 10am bus to Limassol and then to Paphos. Not even my Tylenol PM is cutting it tonight.

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Colorize The City

From the beginning of August to the end of September, Budapest was made even more beautiful than it has been for decades. Budapest it seems has a Színes Város Festival, an arts and music celebration featuring more than 100 programs, which we were not even aware of; however, street artists joined in the fun this year.

They produced ten new wall murals around the city, covering unsightly cement walls. I have not looked for all of them, but there are two on our block. You can find all of the murals and brief stories about the artists by clicking here.

Both of the Akácfa murals seem to be themed partially on rampage, yet the artists were from different countries. The “Chill vagy tombolás” (“Chill or rampage”) mural reminds me of E.T. The artist is from Poland. While the swallows on the opposite side of the building are entitled “Nyugalom, vagy tombolás” ("Calmness or rampage”). 

Rampage was not a theme to be followed; other murals do not have rampage assoications.

I have seen about 7 of the 10, only because I don't want to hunt them down. It is more fun to happen upon them as an unexpected surprise.

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All Saints Remembered and Forgotten

Perhaps because it was the one day of the year, I could be whatever I wanted to be without judgment. However, here in Hungary, Halloween is not as grand a holiday as in the US, though I must say, due to the ex-pats and others, it has increased in popularity.

Still our personal tradition is to visit Kerepesi Cemetery on All Saints Day. Hundreds of people, mostly families crowd the streets of the cemetery to place flower arrangements and/or candles on the graves of loved ones. For all I know, they could be adorning complete strangers, but either way the entire custom is beyond my grasp. That is not to say, I don’t get great satisfaction from the pageantry added to an already exquisite place of eternal rest.

On a crisp autumn afternoon, a visit to the graves is utterly compelling. There are many trees shedding their leaves like colored snowflakes shaped like chestnut, oak, and other tree leaves. Fog had set in early, so by the time we walked through the gate at 4:30pm, the sky was already darkening; by 5pm it was dark. The headstones had light blankets of wispy fog draped over them. A light breezed pushed the misty air into a slow dance celebrating the dead who were trying to rest in peace.

We walked up and down the streets as well as between headstones. I had to wonder if any of the dead felt a chill down their spine as we left our tracks. In the blackness, voices were heard, but bodies went unseen until we were within feet of each other. It was a glorious recurrence of our 12 year tradition.

Kerepesi Cemetery is always on our list of “Things Tourists Should See” while here. Regrettably, few spend enough time in the city to take in the magnificence of this 56 hectare site where many famous names have been cut into gorgeous artwork to carry on their legacy.

To learn more about Kerepesi Cemetery, click here.

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Public Health Inspection Lends a Hand

A little over a week ago, Ron received a phone call from the district health office. Apparently, the public health department needed to inspect our apartment. This was new and different, but since the caller did not speak English well, it was really a crap shoot determining the fundamental reasoning. She eventually offered the briefest suggestion that it was due to our having a KFT, one of the many types of Hungarian corporations. He was assured that the person coming spoke better English and could explain in better detail.

He was able to hold off the appointment until yesterday. We had friends coming to visit for 5 days as well as B and B guests coming and going. Although we can control our own cleanliness habits, we cannot monitor and demand our standards from those using our rooms. This is especially true when people are paying for the opportunity.

Luckily, all friends, guests, and wanderers were gone by 11am this Friday when Krisztina was due. We had our cleaning person on Thursday afternoon to do a once over, but we were in generally good shape other than stripping and remaking the beds by 10:45am on Friday morning.

Normally, something like this would put me in panic mode tending toward throwing me over the edge, but for some strange reason, I was rather relaxed about it. Perhaps it was the fact that I know our place is kept clean all of the time. Having owned a restaurant many years ago, I knew the Public Health officials intimately and had undergone numerous inspections. My fierce competitor two blocks down the street made it his secondary business to ensure my business catered to being harassed. This did give me some insight into what inspectors look for, but my observational skills were honed working in child protective services.

At 11am on the dot, the bell rang. We let in a young woman who introduced herself as Krisztina. Her English was good. She looked in the small bedroom, then the large one while asking how we accommodated up to 7 guests. Satisfied with our answer, she stuck her head into the large bathroom, and then later commented that having the second half-bath was a good idea. Finally, she asked if she could sit at the kitchen table to write her report.

While she was writing, she asked if we kept cleaning supplies. When I assured her there were supplies in multiple storage areas, I proceeded to show her. She stated that if we use “regular” cleaning supplies like what we had been using, we would have to buy a permit from the city for 7,500 Huf. Though this wasn’t an unreasonable amount, I did not see any reason to pay for something every other household was using. However, I did share that our primary go to cleaner was white vinegar. She was reassured.

When she sat down to write her report, she pulled out carbon paper. I had to stuff down a burst of laughter. I sat there fascinated that carbon paper still exists. When NCR paper was invented, I thought it was the best invention since mail order shopping. Really? Carbon paper in 2014?

Last of all the final result was that we have to post an ‘authorized’ No Smoking sign on our door and outside somewhere, we need to have a ‘smoking area’. Our smoking guests are less than 2% of the total, so it is really a no-brainer, but something else to tick off the neighbors. She gave us the website where it could be downloaded. I went to get it printed out; we no longer have a printer. They are in place and we are in compliance.

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According to My Mom

At the risk of demasculinizing myself, I have to say Ron and I went to a ‘darling’ little café today called According to My Mom. Okay, darling is not the most masculine adjective, but you know the old adage “when the shoe fits…” It was darling, without a doubt.

It is the only way to describe this tiny nook of an establishment that looks like it was decorated by a country French Provencal stylist. Bouquets of lavender are hanging in the windows, sharing their shade of muted purple which has been painted on two walls. The distressed white wood staircase, tables, and chairs blend perfectly to create an overall French countryside sensation.

Although there is an abbreviated breakfast or brunch menu, today, we just wanted to explore this place that had caught our attention this last week as we strolled by.

The owner is smiley and delightful. She convinced us to try her homemade carrot cake. It took little arm twisting since this is my all-time favorite, but we did ask for one piece with two forks. The lovely lady, cut the serving in half, placing it on two plates. Each plate had five fresh blueberries alongside the cake. It was moist and delicious, a perfect accompaniment to my café latte and Ron’s freshly made lemonade.

I can only blame the sugar rush as the cause for my not making a note of the exact address. However, I can say that it is placed on the left hand side of Wesselényi utca between Nyár utca and Nagy Diófa utca in the direction of the Dohány Synagogue.

Bon appétit!

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Feeding the Soul One Bite After Another

We were headed to what we thought was a new vegetarian restaurant that former B and B guests had recommended. It is not that we are vegetarians, but we do like to sample new places and generally vegetarian restaurants are economical. Lunch time would be especially cheap, not need a large meal.

When we arrived at the address, one quick look at the menu outside assured us that a vegetarian restaurant would not be serving duck sausage or pea soup with ham. Good grief, they are right across the street from a synagogue. Have they no shame? The pork offerings should have been hidden under a lift up flap of paper at least. Nothing on the menu appealed to our mindset of vegetarian headset. Our wallet was not overjoyed either.  We moved on right next door.

Okay, don’t lambast me for this. We settled on Soul Food where I ordered a chili lime burger and Ron had Jambalaya. Okay, okay, we both ate meat. That was not the point of eating out, but rather to try somewhere new.

First I was asked how I would like my burger cooked. I thought this was a trick question. I had only heard it in Budapest once before when apparently the waiter didn’t understand the answer.

OMG, the burger was served with the most delectable bun I have ever had married to a burger. The top of the bun had a yellow drizzle on it, I presume it was the mango. Between the bun and the burger, I had to stretch wide to bite. The mix of flavors was so astonishingly luscious while at the same time dripping sauce down my hands, lips soaking my moustache, I didn’t want to lose a drop. Cooked exactly the way I directed, it was definitely one of the best burgers I have had in years.

The French fries that came on the side were spiced, cut thin, but still moist inside. What a ménage à trois this group made: bun, burger, fries.

Ron and I exchanged tastes. His Jambalaya had perfect spices to enhance the sausage, but not overwhelm the delicate taste of the shrimp.

This is a repeat place. The owner told us they add items to the menu about every three months. I spotted ribs go by that had me licking my chops like Pavlov’s dog. Fortunately, I was stuffed from the perfectly cooked hamburger.

Soul Food VII. Kazinczy u. 32

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Hello Kitty!

Shamefully, we only discovered this place because a couple of our B and B guests mentioned wanting to visit. Budapest has outlawed dogs in establishments, so we could not figure out how they could get away with this.

Regardless, the idea is great. We only had drinks and only saw pastries, so there is not an extensive menu. We did get cat snacks and had two visitors immediately. Other cats were curled up on beds, chairs, sofas, and in the play area.

There are cats of all varieties, so you will not be disappointed if you have a favorite. This is a purrfect way to spend a relaxing hour. You can approach them, but not pick them up. If they make it into your lap, it is fine.

Remember petting an animal reduces stress. Being a tourist or even a resident can be very stressful.

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Open Wide and Bite

After seeing this venue being "trialed" on an ExPat group site, we decided to give it a shot. Having pulled pork on the menu was the clinching factor.

Clean, simple decor with most of the seating along the right hand wall, prepares you for enjoying the food, without being overly stimulated by the scenery.

Our server apologized that the menu was only in Hungarian. This could be a major drawback for the traveler and hopefully it will be rectified in the near future after their trial run is completed. We could read the menu so we ordered the New York and Roasted Pulled Pork sandwiches.

What arrived were mounds of shredded pork piled onto a cushiony bun baked on the premises. The pork had some BBQ sauce, a dab of relish; each had a small side of coleslaw, and a generous portion of French fries. There was no way to bite into the sandwich without first cutting it in half.

It only took one bite to transcend into ecstasy. This is without a doubt the best pulled pork sandwich I have eaten, including those in the US. By the time I had consumed the first half of the sandwich, I was full. However, the second deadly sin - gluttony, forced me to finish the rest of the meal. The French fries were cut with a V-blade, not my favorite. Much of the potato is cut out leaving little flavor and an overly crunchy French fry. The coleslaw, on the other hand, was heavenly. It was so fresh tasting; you could imagine the cabbage having been shredded minutes before being served.

To accompany the meal, we had a lager craft beer, locally made. It had an incredible bite to it that satisfied our thirst while stimulating the taste buds enriching the food's flavors.

Trying to replicate American cuisine, the majority of the menu items are various types of burgers and pulled pork sandwiches. There are some Mexican food choices such as burritos and quesadillas. They had my heart at pulled pork.

Adding to the overall pleasure was the excellent service. We were well cared for without being doted on. Our first server was willing to do any translation of the menu if needed.

We wish them well; we will return with friends.

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How to Piss Off and Still Enjoy Budapest

Two somewhat related news bits arrived in my mail this weekend. There has been a strong urge to share.

One has excellently polished photos of Budapest. They are polished to the point of being surrealist in some instances. After 12 years, I have not seen some of these shots as glamorous as portrayed. Take a look at them here.

The other item caught my eye since the title mentions pissing off Hungarians. The universe knows we have been doing that for over 12 years now, mostly unintentionally. Initially, I thought they were picking on Hungarians for which there would be 10 million responses complaining about how maligned they are. To read the "How to Guide" click here. However, it seems this is a series, where evidently, people are easily piss-off-able all over the planet. Good grief, if we could only stop getting pissed off; this would be a better world.
 
Enough said! I just realized that strong urge was really the need for the bathroom and get pissed off!

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No Flying Pigs - No Flying Horses Either

Even if this URL includes flypgs, don’t mistake it for flying pigs. When pigs can fly, not one of them is going to get you from BUD to SAW. However, if you click here, you will find that Pegasus Airlines, a Turkish low cost carrier is now flying between Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport (SAW) and Budapest (BUD).

In spite of the airline name Pegasus, the mythological flying horse, is conspicuously absent from their advertising. If you want to check out their website, click here.

Pegasus will be flying the BUD - SAW route 4 times a week, competing with Wizz Air’s daily trips. Alternatively, kind of, Turkish Airlines wins the competition; it flies BUD to IST (Istanbul Atatürk) 3 times daily.

Turkish Delight anyone? For me, I prefer good old NJ salt water taffy!

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Wizz Air Up for Grabs?

For some inexplicable reason, every time I write about Wizz Airlines, I feel a need to use the urinal shortly thereafter. Well, I may cut this short to do just that, because Wizz is in the news more than once this week.

First and most horrifying is that KLM-Air France is bidding to take over Wizz Air, which seems that eventually it will no longer be a budget airline. That said, there are so many add-ons to the fees now, it almost is not a budget airline any longer. Air France has HOP, a budget subsidiary. I wonder if they will be combined.

Wizz cropped up in the news again with an announcement that it will start a Budapest - Kutaisi route with twice weekly service. If you are scratching your head wondering where Kutaisi is, it is in Georgia, the country. 

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Are You Joking? Redeeming Reward Miles Cost a Fortune!

Ron and I were planning on going to Quito, Ecuador for three months starting in December, but then Ron decided that he would rather spend winter in a cold environment for a change. Each year we have been spending winters in the southern hemisphere to avoid being Popsicles; it’s time for a change and married life includes compromise.

Now we are planning to leave mid-January, returning mid-April. I have been miserly collected frequent flyer miles from multiple airlines, but Delta has the most saved. There are close to 200,000 miles in my Delta American Express account with another 189,000 in a general American Express account. Still there is a stash in my Diners Club account, but I have not checked to see if they are partners with Delta. Rarely do I transfer miles until I am certain to cash them in. Knowing these tallies would be beyond sufficient, I ventured over to the Delta website to view possible frequent flyer flights.

First I examined the flights from Budapest to Quito for various dates. It would have cost 300,000 miles, which seemed excessive, but I have the miles to cover it. What you don’t realize when you think about using miles is the hidden fees of taxes and other made-up fees the airlines use to collect revenue. These can be exorbitant. Taxes and fees for this particular flight cost 244,000 Hungarian forints in addition to the 300,000 miles. At the exchange rate du jour, this ran to $1,100. No flight options were available from Budapest to Guayaquil, but did look at other alternatives.

Delta’s flight pattern is through Atlanta, one of their hubs. Trying another alternative, I explored flights from Budapest to Atlanta. Using frequent flyer miles it would’ve cost us 185,000 miles, but again the fees were excessively shown as 292,400 Hungarian forints. The exchange this time came to $1,317, more than going straight through and not getting us close to South America. Closer, yes, but still not close. So where is the benefit in frequent flyer miles?

In June, Delta is changing their frequent flyer program. They will no longer award miles based on mileage, but it will be based on the amount of money spent for the ticket. Remembering the good old days when flying from the US to Europe only cost 30,000 miles, it is now exactly that, a memory.


Where exactly are the 'rewards' here? It seems they give with one hand while carving out your heart and wallet with the other. All the while, they want you to be grateful.

It seems we will have to bite the bullet paying for our tickets, collecting more frequent flyer miles, and possibly using them in the future for some emergency need. Alternatively, we may use them for a stay at a nice hotel; generally this is not our modus operandi. However when we do go to Ecuador this time, we intend to rent an apartment rather than staying in a hotel, a B & B or a hostel.

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Press @3f)^)$#oa@#4*! For English

We have a returning Fulbright professor who arrived today, Scott Hoffman. He needed a train ticket, so I offered to buy it for him; I would be close to the downtown train office. As I said to him, the chances of getting an English speaker there are far greater than at one of the stations. We have never had a problem with getting our needs met. Famous last words...

Before taking a number, I sat in one of the chairs. Just to err on the side of caution, I hand printed all of the information on my little pad.
 May 27 Budapest > Keszthely 10:20 am
June 9 Keszthely > Budapest 12:05 pm
1st class, 1 person

Then I went to take my number. I had three choices.
1. Trains outside of Hungary
2. Trains within Hungary
3. Train information

I had never tried option 2 before today, but have always been impressed with the service for option 1 and 3.

My number was called immediately; the office was near empty other than staff. I presented my pad with the instructions on it. The woman looked at the pad, looked at me like I had handed her a ransom note, then the pad received another glance before she yelled for another woman. An older clerk came over, read my carefully scribed notes. My 2nd grade teacher would have been so very proud of my penmanship. She then mouthed something in my direction. It could have been a mime performance; I could not hear a peep from her. Announcing my hearing loss, she reached over to turn on the microphone. Satisfied I was not going deaf after all, I concentrated on her questions. 

What day did I want the ticket for? What day did I want to return? How many people? What class? (Well one higher than what is here for sure.)

Finally, I received the ticket with the instructions that this was an open ticket for 14 days, good for any train. EEEsshhhh...

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I Have My Budapest Eye On You

 

This will be a short lived post. From what the young woman told me, this Ferris Wheel will only be in Erzsébet tér until September 24, 2014. However, she admitted her English was not too good, which I concurred with mentally. She said her dates may be incorrect.

Prices:
Adult: 2,400 Huf
Child under 140 cm: 1,600 Huf
Family of 2 adults and 2 children under 140 cm: 6,600 Huf
Family of 2 adults and 2 children under 140 cm: 1,200 Huf
The VIP Cabine (sic): 30,000 Huf for 4 people for 30 minutes

Is it me or is there something wrong with this pricing system? Look at the 2 arrows in the picture. 
Maybe the second one is when the parents and the children are under 140 cm?

Funny, you Google map Erzsébet tér street view, there is the Ferris wheel.

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A Peninsula Escape

Back in the days when I moved Philadelphia it was a dream come true. I absolutely loved urban living. Being born and raised in a touristy beach city on the New Jersey coast, the only excitement happened during the summer season. After Labor Day, it was back to the Dead Zone. After living in Philadelphia for a couple of years, I would literally get the shakes if I had to go to suburbia. This was a good way for people to punish me; if they forced me to leave the city, it was like a temporary prison sentence. Before I would go, I had to plan my escape route. If they drove me out of the city, there had to be a public transportation option to return.

Living in Budapest, I still adore urban surroundings. Having matured over the years, however, tree-lined streets, parks strewn with flowers, dancing fountains of water are all a mini-vacation from cement and asphalt. Budapest has the best of all worlds. Day after day you can walk the same streets, but there are still pieces of architectural detail yet to be discovered on buildings you may think you have exhausted. Adding to the mix, many parks and grassy areas are the beacons of respite throughout the city.

Back a couple of weeks ago when I was still in school, one of my students asked me what my plans were for the weekend. At the time my plans included organizing grades, but in turn I asked her about her plans. I had hoped to hear she was going to work on her term project that had already been past due by three weeks. My fantasy ended when she told me she and her friend were planning to go to a strand (beach), one which I had never heard of before. She said she thought it was called Vak Vajú Beach, but then later amended that saying it was incorrect. Rather than hunt for a name, she gave me directions to this little peninsula of Budapest. I was intrigued, but we never did get there.

Today Ron and I decided to explore this unknown territory that has escaped their attention for 12 years. One can take either the four or six tram to the Petőfi híd stop. From there if you do not want to walk, take the number 153 bus to the end of the line which is only two stops. From there it is a very short walk - less than a quarter of a mile.

What we found was an oasis of which we had never anticipated. After passing by luscious gardens in front of the Water Police building, to the right is what appears to be stadium seating for water events. Follow the well placed and maintained walking path with trees skirting the Danube giving some glimpse of the river. On the other side of this peninsula there are multiple restaurants winding along another walking bridge.

Actually our timing was rather poor choosing today. We had checked the weather report this morning for guests. With a forecast offering a 50% chance of thunderstorms today, when we arrived, the chance increased to 100%. Ron has always loved walking in the rain, so I didn’t want to rain on his parade by turning back. We continued walking through the sprinkles as they transformed to light showers wary of the raging thunder in the distance, which sounded like a freight train filled with a cargo-load of loose bricks traveling on loose tracks at high speed. Lightning was keeping a low profile, so we continued to walk to the end.

On our return, we decided to stop for coffee, while waiting out the rain. It stopped before our waitress arrived.

I was really overcome with the maintenance care taken. These gardens are lushly exhibiting blossoms and blooms through a wide range of color. These pictures will whet your appetite for a little green getaway.

One of the many restaurants

I love the V formation with the sidewalks fading.

Beautiful plants

Lovely garden areas

The stadium seating

The walkway bridge on one side.

Stairs to the water, but for what purpose?

According to Google maps, this is called Kopaszi gát.

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HungaryWood

Okay, it may not be Hollywood or even Bollywood, but for the last three days our street has been partially closed off to parking. On one side of our utca, huge vans lined the street. They were for film crews who were filming a movie, but no one seems to know much about it. Rumors are that it is a documentary. We can rest assured, it will not be in English. We can also be confident that though Jude Law was filming a flick in this glorious city, he was nowhere to be found on Akácfa utca. He has trolled the streets in the recent past, causing quite a stir as Classicalite reported, but alas, there were no LawLess sightings in our daily routines. Apparently, Mr. Law was not so law-abiding with his drunken behavior. Well so many Brits come here for the cheap beer and the beautiful women, he is just being typical.

Jude Law is reportedly shooting Melissa McCarthy's latest comedy flick Spy in Budapest with 50 Cent and Jason Stratham among others, but that clearly isn't all the womanizer is up to in Hungary.

How nifty is this? Our street has a Wikipedia entry. The irony is that I despise Wikipedia for most things that involve intellect.

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Travel Junkie - An Addiction Not to Be Resolved

As most people know, I am a travel junkie. Not that I am always on the go, I would like to be, but in the meantime, I read everything travel related. Through the years, I have learned to filter what I subscribe as pertinent information, leaving the fluff pieces behind.

Yesterday, Ron came across a New York Times article that held merit, so he forwarded it on. It is titled Crunching the Numbers to Find the Best Airfare and you can find it here. 

The crux of the article explains what many have suspected; there are a number of outdated ideas on which day of the week is best to buy airline tickets. Airlines change their rates hundreds of times a week, depending on the competition and capacity load.

This is where the article really strikes gold. The author, Seth Kugel, points the reader to a new online service called Hopper Research. Start on their research page, but continue on to the Tools page. 

Just playing with a trip from Budapest, Hungary to Quito, Ecuador I was able to retrieve this information.
Market summary report for Budapest (BUD) to Quito (UIO)

The cheapest flights from Budapest to Quito are selling for about $1777 round trip. The cheapest round trip flights we've seen for any dates in the next six months were priced from about $1753-1753 (with stops) .

Last week's weighted average round-trip ticket price from Budapest to Quito dropped by -0.1% to $1777.07 as compared to $1778.47 the prior month.

The average demand rose 1.6% to 1 flight searches per day compared to 1 daily searches during the previous four weeks.

Flight route map for Budapest (BUD) to Quito (UIO)
Background:

Ferihegy airport (BUD) near Budapest, Hungary is 6587 miles from Mariscal Sucre Intl airport (UIO) near Quito, Ecuador, as calculated by great circle distance. Typical flights with stops take about 18h00m.

Budapest to Quito is the 123824th most popular route overall, with Quito the 201th most popular destination from Budapest. Budapest is ranked 188th of all origins arriving in Quito.
Current market popularity and price:

The calendar summarizes the trips that other travellers are currently planning. It shows the best prices we’ve seen to put you in Quito on any given day (not necessarily departing on that date), as well as the dates that are most popular with other travellers. The cheapest dates are more darkly shaded, and heavily circled days are when more people from Budapest are planning to be in Quito, averaged across all of the flights we’ve analyzed. (Days where we have no data are shown in white.) To give a true picture of the relative popularity of future dates, we adjust the data to account for the fact that people tend to book their flights nearer to departure.

Tons more information is waiting for your exploration through the various pages of this site, more than I can summarize. You will be amazed at the valuable information they are able to collect to save you money.

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