Our travel day has arrived. It will be a long day, but it will also be the start of a new adventure. I took care of a few last minute items yesterday, including making dinner reservations for our days in Budapest. Nothing else to do now except enjoy ourselves.

We started our journey with a ride up to Toronto Pearson Airport. Our transport was by the fine folks at Airport Taxi Transfers. We’ve used them numerous times and can always count on good service at a reasonable price. I am content to relieve ourselves of the stress of having to deal with the traffic and parking. Door-to-door pick up and drop-off wins every time in my book.

The ride from Buffalo went flawlessly. It was a beautiful, sunny day; perfect for a ride along the lake up to the airport. We literally did not encounter any traffic until we reached Hamilton and that was just a minor construction delay.

We arrived a little earlier than expected, so we waited about forty-five minutes before we could check-in. Afterwards, we went through security in about ten minutes. That gave us plenty of time to have a light dinner in the Air Canada Signature Lounge.

As the Signature Lounge is one of the perks of flying business class with Air Canada before our flight, we always try to avail ourselves of their hospitality. We had a nice late lunch – we both had beet salads and then an Atlantic Halibut plate for Sue and a Smash Burger for yours truly. Oh….and a couple of glasses of wine to go with the meal.

About a half hour before boarding time, we made our way down to the gate to mingle with the waiting horde.

Once we were called to board, we settled into our pods for the eight hour flight from Toronto to Munich, Germany. We enjoyed a glass of welcoming sparkling wine and then buckled in for take off.

The flight was fairly smooth, just a few bumps as we took off and then a few more before we landed. Otherwise, it was a non-eventful flight – the best kind! Sue watched movies while I was on my iPad. We ate, snoozed a bit and then arrived in Munich.

The Munich Airport is pretty large. It was also clean and modern, but as we landed early, it wasn’t too crowded. Our first task was to get through passport control.

As Munich was our first European destination, we had to register under the new EU EES (Entry / Exit Systems) regulations. The process is straight-forward and only takes an extra couple of minutes.

When you reach Passport Control, the agents scan your passport as usual and then ask a few questions about your travels. Then they collect your biometric info by taking your photo and scanning your fingerprints. That’s it.

The real holdup would be if the airport is extremely crowded as then it would become a volume problem. However, from what I’ve been reading, most of the airports seem to be doing a good job in keeping the line moving. Kudos to Munich for a job well done.

We took the shuttle from the International terminal to the regional terminal to get to our gate. We had a little over two hours to wait before our next flight to Budapest.

Our flight to Budapest would be on Lufthansa Airline. It was our first time with them and it was a good experience. The one little surprise was when we went through the gate to board and ended up filtering onto a bus. The bus then drove us to an airplane parking lot where our plane was waiting.

It was there that we boarded and then taxied for take off. Nothing terrible, just unexpected.

The flight to Budapest took just fifty-five minutes and then it seemed like it took just as long to get our luggage. When we did get our bags, we walked out and our driver “Tomas” was waiting for us, sign in hand.

It took about forty minutes to get to our hotel. The route from the airport gave us a little peek at old Budapest and a little peek at new Budapest. We chatted with Tomas along the way and when we arrived at the Danube River, we were shocked to see all the riverboats moored there.

We saw at least thirty river boats from all different companies. Some were waiting for their next trip, others were loaded with passengers in town sightseeing for the day. When we made the turn towards our hotel, we could see that there were still more boats down the river.

We are staying at the Budapest Marriott – located right next to the Danube River. It is a lovely hotel and conveniently located within a short walk of many of the major tourist sites. We usually try to avoid the big chain hotels, but it was part of the cruise package recommendations and looked very nice.

We were greeted by Adrian at the reception desk, who was extremely pleasant and helpful. Despite us being a tad early, she checked us in and gave us a lovely room along with lots of good advice.

After getting settled in our room, we wanted to orientate ourselves with the surrounding area. However, a nap took precedence. Sue took a shower while I waited on the sofa and fell asleep. I guess we’ll get acquainted with the city tomorrow!

For dinner, we ate at the hotel restaurant called DNB Budapest. The dining room had a splendid view over the Danube River and was a cozy place to relax.

We had a wonderful first meal. Our server, Balasz, was awesome – very encouraging when we tried a little Hungarian and guiding us through our food selections and our wine choice. His words: “You chose well”.

As for the meal, we started with an appetizer of grilled sweet corn rows with paprika, garlic and onion. Then I had a small bowl of goulash. Sue’s main was pappardelle with duck confit, while I had a pork schnitzel. We chose a bottle of Hungarian wine that paired well. No dessert, as we were both getting tired.

We headed back to our room to relax and catch up on some sleep.

All in all, it was a great start to our vacation.