Back from Budapest, and back (mostly) from the heavy workload that landed on me just as I returned.

Budapest was fantastic. Gorgeous city, beautiful weather, lovely food and drink – I came back with several bottles of palinka and tokaji. (And if you have just looked up these words and found out that they refer to fruit brandy and dessert wine, and resolved to try some later, then congratulations, Lord Silver is proud of you.)

The only problem I had was that the airline misplaced my luggage. Imagine, if you like, the entertainment value of arriving at about 11.30pm, then not having your luggage show up, and having to negotiate the whole “help, my luggage is not here” with the airport information desk at that hour of night. (Though to be fair, the information desk people were very helpful and gave me the relevant forms to fill in, and my luggage showed up in pristine condition the next day, late afternoon.) But at the time I was just a little distraught. Fortunately there was a easy-to-get minibus from the airport to local hotels, so I was able to get to my hotel without any more hassle, and they were apparently quite used to guests showing up with stories of “the airline has misplaced my luggage”. They took my forms and gave me a toothbrush.

No, seriously, I wanted that toothbrush. Given the current delightful state of air travel and what one can put in one’s hand luggage, I had no toiletries. By that point in the day, I really wanted a toothbrush.

But, well, other than that valuable learning experience (mental note: “the airline lost my luggage” must be an excellent excuse for Librarians explaining why they’re looking a bit unkempt or in inappropriate clothing), Budapest was absolutely brilliant. Strongly recommended.

Other than that, I’ve handed in my current set of edits on book four, and am working on book five. We progress slowly, but hopefully we do progress.