Budapest...Err Buda AND Pest

[Doug Taylor]

Ok, long story short, most of the crew either lived there in Hungary, decided to sleep most of the afternoon so I ventured off early, without a guidebook, absolutely zero understanding of the Hungarian language, or even any knowledge of whether I was on the "Buda" side or the "Pest" side (Budapest is actually two different cities).

All I had was the rudimentary hotel map so I wouldn't end up in the Gulag, good walking shoes, a camera, a bottle of water and a sense of adventure.

Wow, finally clear over London... Imagine that. (obviously way before landing in Budapest).


Some statue of some dude in Buda (Or is it Pest?)


Interesting building on the "other" side of the Danube river


Pylons set up on the Danube for the "Red Bull Air Race" being held in a few days


Interesting bridge


Uhh, stuff! I dunno!


Tunnel running underneath the hill on the "Pest" side. Or the Buda side, I don't know, but whatever side is the "hilly" side


Buda and Pest... Well, uhh, Budapest has very good looking *younger* women, but I get the feeling it changes past 40 very rapidly.


View of something or rather up in the old fortress that was holding a medieval arts festival that I dropped by.


Just in case the Russkies come back I gather.


I gather he was a very important man.


Structure carved out of the side of the hill (I'm a hell of a tour guide aren't? )


The "Vaci" which is a walking street filled with restaurants and shops.


Mmm, beer. Refreshing, but certainly not on the level of Germany or Belgium.


Something or rather. Basically translated into "beef stew with pasta". Tasty! Thank goodness for the tourist menu and pictures else I'd probably be eating darned near anything.


Illegal picture of the chariot back to JFK. Some security guy ran up to me and starts pointing at the camera and shouting in Hungarian. Whatever, "I'm the pil....oh nevermind"


Plotting the North Atlantic Track. Too bad Shanwick was about to give us a track change and render all of my efforts at a nice, aesthetic-looking plot absolutely moot.


Antonov something or rather. There were a bunch of these at the airport and a LOT of "Seven Two-skies" which are Tupolev-154's aka a bad, but MASSIVE copy of the Boeing 727.


ATA!


ATIS for Budapest. I can't remember if I got it from DE727UPS or A300CPT but the "self loading cargo" was something kind of funny for the 'souls on board' reminder.
"201 self loading cargo" (pax)
"3 Guys" (three pilots)
"8 Girls" (Well, actually honestly, 5 men and three women flight attendants, even had a cool Hungarian guy named "ZOLTAN!" on the crew)
"212 SOB" (souls on board)
BTW, the "T100" means transition level. In the states, we always go to 29.92 (1013) at 18,000 and start using flight levels. In Europe, it can be as low at 4000' depending on the airport.

[ASpilot2be]

Nice pictures.

Your chariot looks like food

[JEP]

Originally Posted by ASpilot2be

Nice pictures.

Your chariot looks like food

Yeah, I had to read it twice and look at the picture......Something ain't right....

[H46Bubba]

Pics of foreign hotties, due no good when taken from behind!

[BobDDuck]

If you click view image and change the number 2 at the end to the number 3 you will get a nice ground level view of the 76.

or... just clicky here.

Nice pictures Doug.

[JEP]

Originally Posted by BobDDuck

If you click view image and change the number 2 at the end to the number 3 you will get a nice ground level view of the 76.

or... just clicky here.

Nice pictures Doug.

Well Look at you Mr. Investigator....

I'll do you one better:

[BobDDuck]

You know how many times I've posted pictures somewhere and done the same thing?

[Doug Taylor]

And here's a video of a plane flying over the Danube and under the bridge:

[amorris311]

that is some great photos. please keep them coming. i am so happy that you are truely enjoying the flying again.

[Nick]

Zoltan...that seems like the type of name that should always be typed in bold, capital letters.

"My name is ZOLTAN."


Cool pictures. I'd like to see that Red Bull air race after seeing that video.

[Swen]

Originally Posted by Doug Taylor

Hotel and ice cream...no need to learn the language.

[Doug Taylor]

And the latest blog entry. Mostly about NAT track flying.

[Swen]

Originally Posted by Doug Taylor

And the latest blog entry. Mostly about NAT track flying.

Good read. Real good read.

[skidz]

Originally Posted by Doug Taylor

And the latest blog entry. Mostly about NAT track flying.

Thanks for the write up, I loved it.

[LoadMasterC141]

Originally Posted by Doug Taylor

Antonov something or rather. There were a bunch of these at the airport and a LOT of "Seven Two-skies" which are Tupolev-154's aka a bad, but MASSIVE copy of the Boeing 727.

Ilyushin IL-76 (141-Ski)

[jordan747_400]

Great photos! I was studying abroad in Munich this summer. For my last weekend before coming back to the states I decided to go on an adventure too. Hopped on the midnight train to Budapest with no map, no language comprehension, and no idea what to do. Like you I had some water, good walking shoes, and my camera. Had a blast, and ended up seeing almost the exact some sites that you saw as well!

I even lucked out and found a hungarian food festival with some tasty food!

[sdfcvoh]

Thanks Doug. Love the new avatar, too. If I'm ever sitting or standing behind you I'll know exactly who you are.

[tommychuck]

Doug;

Great pictures and I enjoyed your oceanic crossing blog entry.

I've only been over the North Atlantic a handful of times but it seems like it's always a real smooth ride, much more so than the domestic routes.

Maybe it's a percentage game but do you generally find less turbulence on these routes?

Thanks.

[bap327]

Ok, it is official I want to be you! Great pics

[Skygrabber]

Hey Doug,

Remember your picture of the bridge in pic #5, could you have imagined a 767-300 flying a couple hundred feet over it?

Every year, August 20th, is Hungary's National Day. In previous years, they've done the fly-by with a 737. But this year, they really outdid themselves....take a look, remembering the topography and hills on one side. They did several fly-bys, both clean and dirty.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1252762/L/
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1252763/L/
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1252761/L/

Also on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEXkS_xG2cY (watch this!)

[GreenDayPilot]

AWESOME PICS!!!... but next time, try to sneak a few more of the girl shots For me, that'll be the deciding factor on countries to visit