I left Budapest at 830am on Sunday morning (230am EST). Well, at least I was supposed too. The plane sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes as we waited for a water truck (???) to come fill up the plane's water supply. Two water trucks apparently broke down in the snowy cold weather, so we had to wait for the third working one. This would have been fine, just a minor setback, if I didnt have a connection in London ONE HOUR after I was supposed to land there. Sitting in Hungary for 45 minutes all but guaranteed that I was going to miss my connection, and my only hope was that the weather back in Philadelphia would delay the takeoff of my connection in London. Arriving in London, I was told that my connecting flight had left on time, so I was forced to wait in line in Customer Service to figure out another way to get home. Eventually, I got put on a flight to Montreal leaving London at something like 3:30pm (10:30am EST), getting there around 6pm EST with a connection to Philly at 8 and arriving at 10. After a 4 hour wait in London with a little rest mixed in, I got on the flight to Montreal. Arriving there, I did not see any signs of departure, and just assumed that I would be getting on a plane in 2 hours to go home. I called my parents and everything to let them know when to get me, and the the unfortunate happened and I found a departure list stating my flight to Philly had been cancelled. Wonderful. I gathered my bags and found customer service, who said there were no other flights to Philadelphia that evening and they would put me up in a hotel overnight, with a 750am EST flight to Ottawa the next morning and a further connection to Philly at 11:30am. So I got a few hours of rest at the hotel, was up early to the airport, and boarded the plane to Ottawa. I arrived in Ottawa and immediately saw that the flight to Philly was cancelled again!!!!!! I then waited in line in the US Airways customer service line, who were able to get me on a Continental flight to Newark because I would not be able to get into Philly for at least two days. After a 2 hour wait to check in at the Continental line and a few beers at the bar, I finally was on a plane to the US. I arrived in Newark around 2:30pm on Monday and my Dad had driven up to pick me up. I was home by 5. Not the best way to end an awesome semester, but I am glad I made it home with only 27 hours of delays. I still have other friends from Europe trying to make it home still!!
The (not so) (semi) daily account of my semester overseas and adventures that follow!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
i amsterdam
It was okay. Almost felt like I was in the US, because EVERYONE spoke excellent English. Whatever.
I got there right at dusk on Friday, so my potential for sightseeing was gone, and i would have to do it all on Saturday, which was also a failure because it rained for half the day. Visited the Van Gogh Museum, that was cool. I didn't really know anything about him other than he painted that Starry night picture, but I'm pretty sure I am an expert now. Did you all know he self-admitted himself into a mental asylubm and subsequently had himself released? Or that he shot himself in the chest but somehow managed to survive two more days before he died? Crazy mofo I'll tell yah. Also went to the original Heineken brewery for the 'Heineken Experience.' It was actually a lot more fun then I expected, and I managed to have 5 beers at the end when they only give you tokens for 2!
Saturday night my buddy Mark and I found an all you can eat ribs menu for 11 euros (approximate $15.50) and proceeded to have four racks of ribs a piece. We can eat. Mark was there to see a concert, and I figured I'd tag along. We saw Silversun Pickups, which didn't ring a bell at first but once I heard their music I knew exactly who they were. It was a packed house and they played a great set, so I enjoyed it. After, I toured the red light district and met up with everyone else before we visited a few bars and called it a night. I woke early to catch a train to Eindhoven (flew from there instead of Amsterdam because it was $150 cheaper) for my flight back to Budapest.
I really needed way more time to explore the city, and hope to go back again in the future, preferably in a warmer month!
Pictures here: Amsterdam
I got there right at dusk on Friday, so my potential for sightseeing was gone, and i would have to do it all on Saturday, which was also a failure because it rained for half the day. Visited the Van Gogh Museum, that was cool. I didn't really know anything about him other than he painted that Starry night picture, but I'm pretty sure I am an expert now. Did you all know he self-admitted himself into a mental asylubm and subsequently had himself released? Or that he shot himself in the chest but somehow managed to survive two more days before he died? Crazy mofo I'll tell yah. Also went to the original Heineken brewery for the 'Heineken Experience.' It was actually a lot more fun then I expected, and I managed to have 5 beers at the end when they only give you tokens for 2!
Saturday night my buddy Mark and I found an all you can eat ribs menu for 11 euros (approximate $15.50) and proceeded to have four racks of ribs a piece. We can eat. Mark was there to see a concert, and I figured I'd tag along. We saw Silversun Pickups, which didn't ring a bell at first but once I heard their music I knew exactly who they were. It was a packed house and they played a great set, so I enjoyed it. After, I toured the red light district and met up with everyone else before we visited a few bars and called it a night. I woke early to catch a train to Eindhoven (flew from there instead of Amsterdam because it was $150 cheaper) for my flight back to Budapest.
I really needed way more time to explore the city, and hope to go back again in the future, preferably in a warmer month!
Pictures here: Amsterdam
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Dutch..
..is a funny language. It sounds like a mixture between German and hocking loogies. However, it can also be a very annoying language when the girl behind you on the plane doesn't shut up for the entire ride as you try to get some much needed sleep after a weekend in Amsterdam...............
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Damn, it has been hard to keep updating!
It's getting down to crunch time for school.. I have a project and presentation due in International Business on Monday that I am finishing up in the next few days, a paper due on Monday in History that is basically done, and a presentation to do in International Trade that all I have left to due is make an outline for the class to follow along, so I've been pretty busy with all that. This past weekend my buddy Luke and I took a short trip back to Krakow, Poland to do the sightseeing I didnt get to do when I was there before, as well as enjoy the nightlife. On Friday I am leaving for a short weekend in Amsterdam, followed by a day trip next Wednesday, most likely to the western part of Ukraine along the border with Hungary, and a day trip next weekend to Vienna to visit the Christmas markets before finishing off my semester with a week in Budapest. I'm going to try to enjoy my remaining time here as much as possible!
P.S. - I WILL finish my blog posts of my various trips when I have the time, if it has to be after I get home from the trip, then so be it. Also after the trip, I will be writing new posts and giving my opinions/other journalistic things on the various places I've been too as well as what a semester abroad meant/did for me. So keep an eye out for those!
P.S. - I WILL finish my blog posts of my various trips when I have the time, if it has to be after I get home from the trip, then so be it. Also after the trip, I will be writing new posts and giving my opinions/other journalistic things on the various places I've been too as well as what a semester abroad meant/did for me. So keep an eye out for those!
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