Attaturk Airport at Istanbul is up there with the best of them for sheer size and the amount of walking you have to do. I arrived in plenty of time to book in, but did not quite expect a complete security check the moment I walked through the door … suitcase, backpack, and body search. I have not yet become adept at holding up my beltless pants while trying to handle all my baggage, phone, camera, wallet, glasses etc. Anyway, I managed through, then wheeled the suitcase miles upstairs to the check in counters. Then halfway along the queue it suddenly hit me: my hand wallet was missing! No passport! After a frantic check of the backpack, it was a double-time sprint back to the ground floor security gate.
To my immeasurable relief, they had the wallet there. I think it must have been caught up in my black jacket, and when I lifted that out of the security bin, it must have fallen to the floor. Anyway I got an extensive lecture in Turkish in which the word ‘passport’ featured many times! Much chastened, I re-joined the check-in queue and enjoyed an uneventful 80 minute flight to Budapest.
The city is about Brisbane’s size. Nice to be back in a place where there are homes with their own yards, and not endless apartment blocks all joined together. Good innovation at the airport: as you exit customs there is a redline marked “taxi” on the floor, which leads you outside to a booth where you order a cab: you are give an voucher telling you the maximum amount the cab can charge you for your trip. Then a hostess opens the door to your cab and wishes you a pleasant journey! A change from most other places I have used cabs where they refuse to turn on their meters and rip you off.
My hotel is on the Pest side of the Danube: the business area, and main tourist sites. The Buda side is the main residential area. Once settled in I just did some wandering around to get a feel for the place and took a few snaps. For dinner I felt I couldn’t go past the expected Hungarian specialty: and yes, the goulash with potato dumplings was very nice! The eastern Europeans love their beers too: always served in half litre glasses or stubbies.
The photos are really just snapshots from near the hotel: no map so haven't identified them as yet. See them here.
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