The Joys of Pre-packing

No procrastinators here: drawing 1st night in Budapest for Starbucks card will include:
Kathy, Dennis, Ellen, Joyce J, and Phil.....congratulations to you all for a job well done! (and I see Kathy also recycles dry cleaning bags to line her suitcase as I do!).

Goodwill Ambassadors Visit Budapest School

I have now confirmation from the primary school in Budapest our group can visit.
PLEASE pack a book! 

I asked if we could bring books, and they advised it would be great if we could bring as a donation some of the below:

-        BOOKS PUBLISHED  for the students between age 6-14 - history books, mathematics books, geography books, natural science books (this is a bilingual school where the pupil – as a second language - study English)

-        Story books for SHARED READING, for the students between age of 6-10

The shared reading model often uses oversized books (referred to as big books) with enlarged print and illustrations. As the teacher reads the book aloud, all of the children who are being read to can see and appreciate the print and illustrations. 

-        Task booklets with the topics about nature, animals of the forests etc.

-        Riddles in English

-        Grammar books for the students between age of 6-10

-        Fairy tale books with 3D illustrations for 6-7 year old children

The visit is on 14 May between 09:00-11:00.This is a day of leisure for us, and a great way to start the day after breakfast.

Choir of the school will welcome the guests. They will sing songs in English and in Hungarian and then the guests can visit any lessons (mathematics, geography…)and can do a school tour as well.

This sounds like it will be a GREAT visit!

Budapest Day and Night

Thought you might enjoy this video!

Budapests by Night - Aerial View

And here's a photo this week from a spring day in Budapest.


Forecast for 10 MAY 2015
Budapest 68/50
Vienna 64/47
Prague 60/45

Travelling Abroad

I have registered our travels with the State Department, and our Embassies in Budapest, Vienna, and Prague are notified of our travels should we need their assistance in the event of an emergency.  Should you wish to receive your own alerts, you can register individually as well.

Smart Traveler Enrollment Program

What is STEP?		Benefits of Enrolling in STEP
The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) is a free service to allow U.S. citizens and nationals traveling abroad to enroll their trip with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.		Receive important information from the Embassy about safety conditions in your destination country, helping you make informed decisions about your travel plans. Help the U.S. Embassy contact you in an emergency, whether natural disaster, civil unrest, or family emergency. Help family and friends get in touch with you in an emergency.

All About Airports: JFK, CDG, BUD, PRG

Here's a link to Terminal 4 at JFK International Airport.
Terminal 4 Shops & Restaurants


Voted Best Fast Food Restaurant at Terminal 4 SHAKE SHACK JFK

Budapest Ferihegy International Airport 

 

Concessions
Facilities include ATMs (except within the international transit area, where the passenger must exchange currency), bureaux de change, left luggage, first aid, duty-free shops, child care, post office, a chapel, restaurants, tourist information and hotel reservations. There are facilities for disabled passengers and wheelchairs are available from the airport help desks. A short walk away from Terminal 2 there is an open-air aircraft museum.
The SkyCourt terminal houses several new shops, restaurants, a cafe, for example Heinemann duty-free shop, Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Mont Blanc, Longchamp, Costa Coffee, KFC, Burger King, Gundel, Hippopotamus, Leroy Restaurant, Negroni, Yum Cha and Upper Crust. There are new airline lounges as well in SkyCourt.
The airport has GSM phone coverage. Wi-Fi is provided by Telenor and 230 V power outlets are available at some places.

 Prague Airport

WhatsApp and other handy travel apps

These are the Apps which may save you headaches and/or time while you are traveling.

WhatsApp Messenger 

A cross-platform mobile messaging app which allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS. WhatsApp Messenger is available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone and Nokia and yes, those phones can all message each other! Because WhatsApp Messenger uses the same internet data plan that you use for email and web browsing, there is no cost to message and stay in touch with your friends.
Please check with your own mobile service provider for travel overseas mobile plans.

Currency Converter

I use XE Currency.  Place Hungary, Austria, & Czech Republic on your main screen for this trip, and shake your phone for real-time updates.
Need to calculate currencies on-the-go? With the XE Currency App, you can access live exchange rates, view historical charts, and calculate prices on your smartphone or tablet. With over 25 million downloads worldwide, this FREE app is available for iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Windows, and Firefox OS devices.

Your Airline's Mobile Site

This will allow you to check flight status, gate arrivals, etc.

Your Stopover City App

I am trying out ParisGo, a free app with great reviews.
ParisGo can view the next passage of
Subway, bus, RER, Transiliens, Noctiliens, Trams
at the station of your choice.
Different maps of metro / RER can be downloaded from the application.

Smart Layover

Normally, layovers are no fun; we all know this. So instead of avoiding your next layover, plan for it with Smart Layover and turn your layover into an adventure. Smart Layover offers a unique user friendly mobile travel app for iPhone, Android and Blackberry. If you have a layover (or worse, a missed or delayed flight), the Smart Layover app will hook you up with some great layover activities.

Who Else is in Budapest in May? Tom Hanks....that's who.

If you're in to star-watching, see this article and keep your eyes peeled for Tom Hanks as he'll be in Budapest in May for 50 days of shooting the sequel to "The Da Vinci Code."  The film will debut in October 2016 and be called "Inferno".

Hot news: Click here to read about Tom Hanks stay in Budapest  May 2015