Yesterday morning, we disembarked in Budapest. Scenic had a big meeting room set aside in the Marriott Hotel for any of us who needed it. We left our luggage in a secure room. With two lovely couples from Australia, we walked over to the biggest local market in the twin cities.

As we wandered, I finally bought souvenir gifts for our grandsons. We had a lovely conversation with the young woman working in the stall. She and her husband had lived in Canada for a while. “My husband was homesick,” she said. “We returned home.” We talked a while longer. It felt good to connect with one person in this huge market that covered about three city blocks.

An hour and a half of noise and brightly colored stuff left us all exhausted. We stopped at a local café for an iced coffee. The men bought a beer. After resting a while, we three women continued perusing the shops on the way back to the hotel. By 2:30 it was time to say goodbye. We exchanged emails and offers of visits. We had enjoyed these new friends during our canal cruise. They were truly God’s gifts to us.

Tom and I took a taxi to our hotel. After checking in, we dragged our suitcases into the world’s smallest elevator. Without exaggerating, it was no more than 3 feet square. On the fifth floor, we unlocked the door to another tiny room with two single beds, not even pushed together. We’d endured single beds on the ship. We were too tired to care. We dropped our stuff and collapsed on the beds for two hours. Once awake, Tom agreed to ask for a main floor room. I was not ready to go up and down many times in that tiny elevator. The desk clerk agreed with a smile to moving us to the first floor, as low as we could go. That meant climbing one flight. There was no extra charge. I was grateful. To our surprise and delight, this room had a regular queen bed. For the first time since we left home, we could cuddle up properly. Now that was a joyful moment.

We unpacked, changed some money and walked to the Huszar, the loveliest Hungarian restaurant, for supper. The hotel had recommended this place and it was just great. We had chicken paprikash, and Hungarian goulash with the sides that accompanied it. They were served on a board platter for us to share. The food was delicious. The young man who served us was helpful and sweet. We took our time and enjoyed our dinner. Our extravagance included tea for me and apple strudel to share. The entire meal was a joyful moment.

After dinner we walked a bit, returned to our hotel and once again collapsed into bed. Our wonderful cruise has taken its toll. We are both exhausted. We slept well…