Sometimes it is nice to get pleasant surprises. After spending eight hours on a plane in the bulkhead row near the bathrooms, we arrived in Hungary. We were dirty and tired and we stank. I hadn't slept in about twenty-six hours and my patience was about as short as a mouse's...shortest leg.
We were met by a pleasant young man who would drive our luggage up to the hotel for us. We agreed to meet him down the hill once we had rented our car. Rachel went to get our car while I helped squish our luggage into a taxi van that Rachel's company had arranged to help get us to the hotel.
After a few bobbles involving me having to go to the hidden and badly signed car rental desk, we got on the road. Let me tell you, driving in Europe on the expressway when you are severely sleep deprived is not a good idea. We made it to the hotel without any major mishaps, and only a few close calls. Getting out of the parking lot was a bit difficult because I was having trouble figuring out how to shift the stick shift into reverse. Otherwise we were okay.
Before I describe the hotel, you should know that there are angels working at my wife's factory. Rita and Szilvia in particular have made this move so much easier than I had any right to expect. Rita found us a hotel...no, a hotel doesn't really cover it. She found us a refuge that is allowing us a slow, pleasant re-entry into Hungarian culture.
The hotel is situated on a hill in the Matra hills about an hour outside of Budapest and an hour from Rachel's factory. It's a bit off by itself being roughly halfway between Matrafured and Matrahasza. It's accessible by car, bus from Matrafured, and for the fit and adventuresome by hiking the nearly six kilometers up the hill from Matrafured.
When you arrive the hotel looks like a glass and steel ship growing out of the side of the the hill. Inside the lobby is beautiful with the glass atrium opening to the top of the building allowing for internal balconies for each floor. In the back corner of the entry there is a bar with patio seating that overlooks the Matra hills.
The staff greeted us in Hungarian, but quickly switched to English as our sleep deprived brains weren't able to cope with much translation yet. As it was still only about 11:00 am local time, our room wasn't yet ready, but they allowed us to store our luggage so that we could drive over to Gyongyos to the Tesco. We had a little shopping that we needed to do.
By the time we got back our room was ready. While not quite a suite (the suites all have hot tub in the room) our room was very nice. We have a bedroom and a separate living room (where the kids sleep) and a bathroom. There is a credenza with a well stocked mini fridge underneath. The bedroom and living room each have there own balconies.
Our room looks out over the parking lot, which is much prettier than you probably imagine. Because of the terrain, the parking area is broken into several small parking lots at various elevations with landscaped paths in between. Surrounding the parking area, the forest and hills are and ever present reminder that you are out a ways from town.
In my next post I'll describe the spa, pools, and hiking around our hotel.
Viszlat!
