Budapest to NYC

So yesterday was probably the longest day we had throughout our trip. Our flight from Budapest was supposed to leave at 11:55 local time (5:55 a.m. here). We ended up leaving about an hour later and the trip took a little more than 9 hours. Pretty much the only mode of transportation we didn't take on the trip was a train but we now have some good stories about traveling. So our connecting flight in NYC out of JFK was supposed to leave at 5:10 and we didn't land until about 4:30. Needless to say, we missed that flight and Malev Airlines arranged for us to take another flight to DC at 7:30 only it wasn't out of JFK but out of LaGuardia about 30 minutes away. So we had to take a cab to the other airport and check in there. Lucikly the guys at the counter were able to get us on the 6:30 flight and we were all excited about that. The fact that our itineraries changed so close to the flight caused us all to be 'tagged' for extra secrity screening and we all had to have our carry on bags checked and get patted down and waved with a metal detector. Stupid me, left my lip gloss in a side pocket and it was confiscated as one of the liquids we couldn't bring on the plane. Damn. Cari and Jill got theirs through because they were IN their bags. Go figure. Our feeling though was that if that was the only thing lost on the entire trip then we were doing good. You have to understand that we spent a good 2-3 days at Internet cafes reading up on all of the things going on here in the States after the thwarted terror plot and it was kind of surreal in a way. We expected a lot more hassle than what we encountered and have to give credit to the folks who are standing in the way of such things. I would rather a longer line and a bit of a headache than another attack. All in all the experience was much better than I thought it would be.

We got back to Reagan around 7:30 and Cari's hubby Matt picked us up. Thanks Other Friend! So we're back and it almost doesn't feel like we left. Cari and Jill are going to work today, although I have no idea how they are going to do it. I feel a bit off today and sluggish but that'll pass soon enough.