Hotels? Two hotels necessary - Budapest and one out by the Frankfurt Airport for the night before we fly home to Chicago. We picked the Carlton Hotel in Budapest for a one night stay before training to Medias and three nights for post-trip. For Frankfurt, I always go on line and pick the least expensive hotel by the airport with shuttle service to and fro. This time it was one of the NH Steigenberger Hotels that had the best price.

Health? Besides bringing a lot more medical necessities than usual (bottles of Tylenol, Advil and Aleve in anticipation of major aches and pains), the main concern was Tetanus. Who knew what potential for exotic disease lurked in 4,000 year old dirt? Our tetanus shots are always kept up-to-date religiously, a booster every 10 years since I also manage to impale myself on something, and Lockjaw is one of the worst ways to die (not that there is a good way, but some are a little better than others).

What to Bring? As many garbagey, old decrepit clothes as possible. It would be trash at the end of 21 days in a muddy, dirty pit. Boots were mandatory, a long-sleeve shirt, waterproof jackets in case of rain, a hat, sunscreen, etc. Our host family would do laundry every week (how nice) and just a few nicer pieces of clothing for Budapest would be sufficient. We also had to buy and bring some personal equipment for the dig. Knee-pads, trowels, old soft toothbrushes for washing pottery, and I threw in gardening gloves and disposable latex gloves for scrubbing shards.

Travel Insurance? I usually don't bother when we do independent travel in Europe but it only ran a small amount of money to insure $850 for the dig, and was worth our peace of mind. Airplane tickets can only be reused, even if they are non-refundable, as long as your new fare is at least one dollar more than your old fare, with no penalty.

Last communiques from Romania and we were all set to be novice "Indiana Jones"...

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