As exciting as it was to travel with such
a diverse mix of cultures, unfortunately, the groups
proved to be very unfriendly to one another. I personally found that the older French people
were very difficult to get along with and only later did I learn from a French friend that they
were from Marseille and that the Marseillais, as a rule, do not
like Parisians and vice versa.
It would have been nice to know because when we boarded the
return flight to Marseille (en route back to Paris), there were
two Marseillais women sitting in our seats. When we kindly asked
them to move, they insisted it was open seating and told us to
find other seats. This was not the case of course, as we’d spent
considerable time at check-in arranging for seating as close to
the front of the plane as possible. We even had the tickets to
prove it. But the women refused to take their assigned seats on
the far back of the plane and an argument ensued, and I found
myself telling them not to yell at us and that they were wrong.
When the hostesses finally arrived, they checked everyone’s
tickets and informed the two Frenchwomen that they did indeed
have to move to their own seats in the back of the plane.
Although it was finally settled, I found it incredible how hard
we had to fight for seats. It left a bad impression.
But before that return flight, we visited Bratislava. Here we
were lead by a local guide who pointed out an old town
characterized by many baroque-style palaces leftover from the
time when Bratislava was the capital city of Hungary. We climbed
up to an old chateau, had a fabulous view of the Danube River
before visiting the Cathedral St. Martin—this is the place where
many kings were enthroned.
After lunch, we drove to Budapest and waited in the endless passport control line at
the border. During this time I once again noted how Europeans
loved to do a lot of discussing without taking any immediate
action, and it would be hours before we finally cleared the
border and checked-in to the Hunguest Hotel Rege. We quickly had
dinner and retired for the night.
We spent all of the next day on our feet visiting the city with
a local guide. Budapest is a magnificent city with many great
cathedrals, bridges, royal palaces, castles and the architecture
(see
Photo gallery). I felt like I was in Rome again. The feeling
was so grand like an ancient spirit has captured my soul. Later,
we were treated to a special lunch on a rive-boat on the Danube
River. As there were no seats inside the crowded restaurant, my
son and I ate outside on the terrace. There we met the Ferrari
Team of Michael Schumacher (we are his fans) from Formula One
who came to have some drinks.
The four huge men in red uniforms were sitting at the table next
to us and had asked me to take a photo of them together. At
first I didn’t want to, because when they’d come in, one of the
men, in an attempt to make room for the group, began shuffling
the chairs loudly and even moved my son’s chair away to get more
space for himself. I gave him a questioning look for his
impolite manners and we actually challenged each other. Luckily,
one of the other men made peace by asking me for the favor. They
didn’t speak much English—we had to use our hands a lot, but it
actually turned out to be a nice and fun experience. (My son and
I could have taken a photo with the men, but we declined.)
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