Budapest #1 - The Night Train from Hell

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Let me start by saying that Budapest was much better than I could have ever imagined (and maybe even better than Prague!). But we will get to all that later. Let's start with the bad stuff first.

We started our trip to Budapest at about 8:00 on Thursday night when we left for the Prague train station. The train didn't leave until 11:05, but since I was in charge of getting us to Hungary, I made us leave a little early... of course. To say that the train station was the scariest place I have ever been in my life is a vast understatement. Port Authority is Disney World compared to this place. Prostitutes, drug dealers... not pretty. Since we got there so early, we decided to kill some time at a bar in the station. Halfway through our first beer, everyone I was with got really nervous-looking and said, "Um, I think we should go right now." After we hurried out of the bar, they told me that a weird druggie pulled out a switch blade right behind us. A few minutes later, another weird guy started mumbling something about Americans. Before we even had time to respond, this other crazy guy came over, told him to leave us alone, and punched him in the face. Seriously. Needless to say, night trains will not be a part of the travel plans anymore...

When we finally got on the train, we squeezed all seven of us into a cramped compartment where we would remain in virtually the same position (for lack of space) for the entire ten hour ride. At some point in the middle of the night, the train compartment filled about a half inch with water. We don't know where it came from, but it was gross. I had a little trouble sleeping with the knowledge that there could be crazy psychos all around us, so I stayed up most of the night and ran on adrenaline and caffeine the next day. To get to Hungary, we had to drive through Slovakia, which has to be the most depressing place I have ever seen. The whole city of Bratislava looks like it was constructed in the imposing concrete monoliths of the Communist era. Along the train tracks were abandoned military vehicles and rotting farm houses. I don't really anticipate taking a side trip to Slovakia any time soon...

The train ended up taking about an hour and a half longer than expected, so when we saw the first sign that said "Budapest" we jumped off. Unfortunately, the station was not the right one, and we had to navigate about an hour's worth of public transportation with no knowledge of the language or the city layout in order to get to our hostel. One thing that made the train a little worth it was seeing a Scottish man get literally thrown off the train at our stop because he did not have a ticket. Before he was able to pick himself up off the pavement, the conductor pelted some fruit at him that the Scot had been carrying. Priceless.

The hostel, by the way, ended up being a great experience. It was clean and comfortable with a homey feel, and the girl that ran it was really nice and helpful. So if you're ever in Budapest, go to Home Made Hostel in Oktogon. Good stuff.

With little or no sleep for all of us, we dragged our bodies to breakfast. Hungarian food is delicious and extremely cheap - even cheaper than Prague food. It tends to be much more flavorful (think paprika, paprika, paprika, paprika and you will get some idea) than the bland food in the Czech Republic. I ate one of the Hungarian national specialties, an egg dish called lecso. It was essentially scrambled eggs cooked with onions, tomatoes, sweet peppers, and tons of paprika with pieces of baguette for scooping. It was the first of many delicious meals in a great city.

I need to run to my Czech and Slovak politics class now, so I will have to complete my Budapest trip blog later. I wish I knew how to say "To be continued..." in Hungarian, but unfortunately the language is so hard I haven't even mastered the words for "hello" or "thank you" yet.

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Comments

[Dad]

Pics
Please, post some pics on the blog....it will make it easier for others to enjoy your travels.

[Dad]

9/11- 5 year anniversay
I would be interested in getting your thoughts on spending 9/11 in Europe. Any news on TV about the date? Any comments from your teachers? How do they see Americans on such an occasion? Good to add to the blog....