Arrived in Budapest

Well after getting up at the ridiculously early hour of 4 am, I am now in the beautiful city of Budapest for an E-Government symposium. Getting to the airport was ok (35 mins in a taxi), check in was a bit chaotic and on the other side my luggage which was at first lost (and I was worried man as the customer service Malev rep seemed pretty clueless and given the pile of unclaimed luggage it seemed to be a regular occurrence), Malev do not win awards for customer service. Thankfully it turned up, just before I had to deal with Hungarian bureaucracy and it was a great relief

Bumped into a fellow blogger and Oxford councillor Antonia Bance at the airport who was also off to the symposium and we had a chat about politics and blogging in general. It was could to meet someone else who also blogs away.

Staying at a Hotel in Budapest next to the Danube chain bridge and on the river, due to a shortage of rooms I have been located in a room over looking the Danube, chain bridge and castle. I can tell you it is a stunning view, the best I have ever had from a hotel room. I spent ten minutes just admiring the great view from my window.

The Conference gets under way later this afternoon and has many useful issues relating to E-Government. I hope to be able to update the blog again but it is going to be a very busy three days ahead and may not get the time. I am glad I have been to Budapest before as I will get very little time too see much over the next few days due to a very busy agenda and it is stunning beautiful city well worth visiting.