Budapest Day 3 : Michael takes control

A packed day.

While I'd gone to bed reasonably early last night, that didn't mean that I fitted in a long sleep. Night-owls M+D stayed up chatting, watching DVDs and listening to music for ages and ages. I woke at 3:30 am (I'm not saying they actually woke me up or anything), and was still awake at 5:00, so the only thing for it was to go downstairs and join in the party, which I did until 6:30. We had a great chat, reminiscing about 'the good old days' and so on. David had been out walking the dog shortly after I'd gone to bed and now announced that he'd organised a special treat as a belated birthday present for Michael: a flight in a light aircraft for the three of us, scheduled for this afternoon.

I was up and about again at 10:30 am and went on another city wander, this time taking in the Central Market square, the Gellért Spa, and a walk along the far side of the river down to the Chain Bridge. We'd arranged during the early-morning chat that I'd be back at the apartment for 1:00 pm for a full Irish breakfast (the only request I'd been given before leaving home was to be sure to pick up sausages and rashers and so on in Dublin airport). After a super fry-up we headed over to one of the city's railway stations to meet up with our pilot (a Ukrainian who goes by the unlikely name of Martin Silver) and take the train to the airdrome, north of the city. He'd told us it was 'a short walk' at the other end, but this proved to be quite a trek along suburban roads. a laneway, and through a field before we finally got to the hangar and met our plane.

The airdrome is the location for Air Malev's pilot training school, and our four-seater is presumably one of the training planes, since it had dual controls. Since this was a birthday treat for Michael, naturally he took the front seat beside our pilot. What none of us knew was that mid-way through the forty-minute flight Michael would be told to take control, increase out altitude, and execute a 30-degree turn - all of which he managed with tremendous aplomb. The weather was a bit hazy, but the flight was a great experience and we all totally enjoyed it.

THings had been timed to perfection, giving us comfortable time to get back to the apartment for me to change and go on to the concert in the National Concert Hall, which began at 7:30 pm. It was actually a bit disappointing - a programme of Brahms and Haydn given by the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in performances which never really took off. The hall itself is magnificent, though, and I'm thrilled to have been there.

I hadn't eaten since our Full Irish brunch, so stopped off at a restaurant on Vaci, the main pedestrian street in Budapest, for a bite to eat. It was gorgeous (cold fruit soup and a fabulous Hortobágyi Palacsinta (stuffed pancake, but that description doesn't do it justice)). Back at the apartment afterwards we had a couple of nightcaps after watching a DVD and I got to bed not long after midnight, satisfied with a wonderfully enjoyable, well-packed and varied day.