June 13, 2018

Bad planning or bad execution?

Man plans, God executes … (or corrects what man keeps screwing up…) I am back in Hungary again, at this time with Anka.  Even though, this trip has been planned in advance, our departure date has been seriously circumvented by climate change.  As it turns out, climate change manifests not only in rising sea levels, more frequent and more intense weather events or dying coral reefs, it also effects my dogs’ physiology.  To be precise, my bitches’ heat cycle have turned on like clock work in the past, however, this year, because of the unusual long winter (I believe…), everyone has been late. 

When the tension is high enough, we are ready to travel,

Ironically, it was a relief to see the sudden growing tension between my girls, as their hormones finally started kicking in. It was the long awaited signal to set preparations in motion for my trip. Veterinary certificate, USDA papers and most importantly the airplane ticket with two dogs in the cargo hold.  ( FYI I also planned to take  Agyag along to give her a chance to finish her Hungarian Championship at the Budapest Grand Prix.) 

Well, instead of saying ” yes,” and correcting the botched booking, I’ve got a middle finger from Luftwaffe – the second time…

I am not lucky with Lufthansa – to say the least. Back in 2013, Lufthansa have lost Fruska and Agyag for close to a full day that has created some major complications to reach the Budapest WDS,  my destination at the time.  Booking my ticket and two dogs in the cargo hold with the airline, has seemed unusually easy at this time. Once ticket purchase was out of the way (or so I thought), based on my flight schedule, I went ahead to plan my entire itinerary. However, as it has turned out, Luftwaffe not only friendly fired my plans and screwed up my ticket with the two dogs in the busiest traveling season, they also refused to honor my original reservation.

Since my trip has been time sensitive, I had no time to run after my loss. I had to look for a another airline that could accommodate two dogs and flew me to Hungary for a reasonable price. While I’ve managed to secure a ticket, unfortunately, they could accommodate only one dog.  Obviously I took Anka.

My least favorite Hungarian traffic sign

So we made it to Budapest where I am staying with my sister and planning to see many friends and acquaintances while managing Anka’s dating schedule. 

To be continued…