Cypress Lake High seniors got stuck on spring break trip to Hungary because of strike
Cypress Lake High senior Sophia Gurlue On Friday took the stage for the opening night of her school's production of Puffs, a Harry Potter parody show.
Just two days earlier, Gurlue ― along with 24 of her classmates, two teachers and five parents ― were stuck in Hungary, uncertain when they would be able to return home.
Their flight out of Budapest, which was supposed to return on Sunday, March 26, was canceled after airline workers, part of the EVG railway union, and Verdi services union went on a 24-hour strike over raises.
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The group was not able to get a flight back to Florida until Wednesday, March 29. Gurlue ended up missing a full week of school.
"Some kids were running out of money because we only brought so much with us," Gurlue said. "It got to the point where we were all kind of ... not freaking out, but we were starting to think we're not getting home or we're going to have to get home on our own."
The spring break trip ― a 10-day tour through Budapest, Vienna, Prague and Munich ― was not sponsored or organized by the school, according to district spokesman Robert Spicker; therefore, the district would not comment on the events of the trip. English teacher Jessica Gompper organizes a trip for seniors each year through the student travel company Explorica, according to Gurlue.
Explorica, Gompper and Principal Angela Roles did not return requests for comment.
"Mrs. Gompper was really the one who was really good at keeping us from not freaking out," Gurlue said. "The company (Explorica) did not do a great job of communication. I never heard a word from them. My parents were calling and trying to figure out, you know, how are you getting my kid home? They weren't great."
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How they spent the extra days abroad
Starting that Monday, the day after their initial flight home, the group was left without a tour guide, hotel or answers on when they may be able to return home. Gurlue said she's not sure if they will be reimbursed for the extra days at the hotel, their meals, extra travel or the exploration they did while they waited for a flight home.
"The worst part was running out of clean clothes," Gurlue said. "But I didn't want to think of it as being stuck, even through that's literally what we were. We were still in Europe."
On Monday, Gurlue said they were able to rebook at the same hotel they were staying at and continued to explore Budapest. On Tuesday, they took a trip to Vienna.
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The group was then split up into four groups that would board four different flights home from the Budapest airport, according to Gurlue. One with a connection out of Dubai, two separate flights with connections out of Paris and one with a connection out of Warsaw.
At 3 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Gurlue and the rest of her group got in a Uber and went to the airport to catch their flight through Paris. They didn't get home until 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday after flying into Miami and taking van the rest of the way.
"I wouldn't have had it happen any other way. It was a very life changing experience," Gurlue said now that she's back in her childhood bedroom. "Being home, in the safety of my own bedroom, I get to finally say I made it home. But at the same time, I'm happy with the way that we got to experience our extended stay."
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Airline strike strands Cypress Lake High seniors on trip in Hungary
