The Day I Dragged My Butt out of Krakow

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On the 27th of October, I left Poland, about five days later than I intended. I took a bus from Krakow to Zakopane, the mountain town on the Polish side of the High Tatras. I fell asleep leaving the city, and woke up as the bus was climbing through the foothills. It was so beautiful--all the A-frame houses, green fields, and of course the colours of the trees. I even saw one farmer working his fields with a horse-drawn wagon. Then the bus came up a ridge, and stretching out ahead were the High Tatras--beautiful mountains, different from the Rockies at home. From Zakopane, I had a bit of a wait to get a bus to Poprad, Slovakia, where I planned to spend a couple of days. The drive over the border and around the mountains from Zakopane to Poprad was beautiful, although the air was cold and damp.

The morning I left Krakow, I suddenly thought that I should skip Poprad and go either to Vienna or Budapest, but I ignored it. I'd been warned that Poprad was ugly and industrial, but I was still overwhelmed by it. I left the bus station to try to find somewhere to stay, with no luck in the first place I tried. Without even finding out if I had a reservation, the lady at the desk said they were full. I doubt they were full--it was a dingy, dated hotel, and it was the middle of the week. I went back to the train station (right beside the bus station) to get my bearings and decide what to do. There were 3 other backpackers from my bus doing the same thing--we all just wanted to get out of Poprad. The two guys got a train to Bratislava, and the girl and I got a train to Kosice so we could head to Budapest in the morning.

The train to Kosice was comfortable, for a rural train. Slovakian towns are very industrial, but the countryside is stunning--rugged hills covered in red trees, with gorges and little villages. As beautiful as it was, I had a heavy feeling that everything had gone wrong. If there had been a night train to Krakow, I would have been on it!

When we got to Kosice, we walked to the square hoping to find a hotel or hostel or pension. The square was very peaceful in the dark--there were people around, but they were mainly families. We ended up finding a really nice, new hotel a 5-minute walk from the train station. While they sorted our check-in (including registering our passport numbers with the government), we enjoyed a complimentary drink in the lounge. It was luxurious to be away from backpackers, and to stay in a real bed that didn't squeak when you rolled over. The bathroom was so clean, and there were towels... How quickly these simple things become luxury to a backpacker!

We were both a bit reluctant to get going in the morning, but we wanted to be on the 8:05 train to Budapest. We got our tickets and had half an hour to wait. At five to eight, we realized something wasn't right, because another train was 'parked' at our platform. We scrambled back to the ticket desk and asked which platform the train was on, because none of the boards were showing it. The ticket lady showed me the clock, which I thought was wrong, and said to watch the board. So we stood in front of the board, and watched the clock go from 7:59 to 7:00. And that was the Ah-Ha moment. It was Daylight Savings weekend, and we were an hour early for everything. We could have had an extra hour of sleep in the lovely bed, we could have had the complimentary breakfast, and we could have avoided panicking that we would miss our train and be stuck in Slovakia.

By 7:40 (the real 7:40), we were able to get on our train, and it was quite comfortable, and half empty. We slept to the border, and after less than 24 hours in Slovakia, we were in Hungary. Right away the Hungarian countryside was different--more fertile and agricultural. And the coffee on the train was delicious. I was feeling good about the way things had turned out.

When we got to Budapest it took us about an hour to find an Internet Café (we tried to use the Internet terminals at the McDonald's, but they were booked by a couple of ten year old girls) where we sorted out which hostel to stay at, and within two hours of getting off the train, we were checked in.

We found a fantastic café a short walk from the hostel, which I ended up visiting nearly every day I've been in Budapest. It has high ceilings, leather and wood seats, marble tabletops, shining cutlery and glassware, and serving staff in long white aprons. The cappuccinos are served on a silver tray with a glass of mineral water and a little sweet. It's fantastic!

Budapest is a beautiful city, but I didn't fall in love with it. The sky has been dull and grey the whole time I've been here, making it feel claustrophobic, and the constantly busy traffic is a little overwhelming. We definitely arrived in the beginning of off-season--tried to find somewhere to buy ice-cream one day, and all the ice-cream shops were shut down.

Instead of getting healthier here, I got sicker, and it was a little alarming. I've been stuffed up and coughing throughout the day, and by 8pm I've been feverish and ready for bed. I think I have an infection in my mouth, but the Hungarian mouthwash and the constant fluids seem to be clearing things up.

Buda is pretty, but Pest has more character. The Great Synagogue, 3rd largest in the world, is dimly lit, and so serene. The Synagogue and the Jewish Quarter survived the war only because the Soviets showed up 2 days early, and the Nazis didn't have time to destroy everything. But they had stripped the interior of the Synagogue, and it took nearly 50 years to finish restoring it, using photos to make sure it was restored faithfully.

The Jewish Community here hold in high regard anyone who has saved the life of one Jew, especially during the war. In the Holocaust Memorial Park behind the Synagogue is a memorial to those Christians who have saved the life of a Budapest Jew. There's also a glass mural full of symbolism, and of course the Holocaust Memorial. It is a silver weeping willow with names of Jews who died in the Budapest Ghetto inscribed on the leaves.

Along the Danube, near Parliament, is the Shoe Memorial. I stood beside the shoes, and tried to imagine standing there, with Nazis waiting to shoot me into the river. I looked across to Castle Hill, wondering what the victims thought of as they took in the last view of their life.

It's been hard to be sick on the road. I haven't had the energy to explore anywhere in the evening, I haven't been able to try any Hungarian wine, and I haven't been able to enjoy very much Hungarian food. Although it was warmer here than anywhere in Poland or Slovakia, the grey skies made me feel a bit indifferent to the place. But that all changed this morning. The sun was shining, and the sky was blue for the first time in days. Before going to the train station, a couple of guys from my hostel and I went down to the river. And then I felt excited to be in Budapest. I stood on the bank of the sparkling Danube, enjoying the sun on my face, and I saw the magic of this city.

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Photos

Replica of the Holy Crown of Hungary
This replica was created when the original crown ended up in the United States. The original crown is now in the Hungarian Parliament, the replica is in Matthias Church.

Shoe Memorial
Memorial to the people of Budapest that were shot into the Danube River by the Nazis

Handle on the spiderweb gate
At the Castle there were gates that looked like spiderwebs, and the handles on the gates were these little men.

Comments

[Ariel]

spider gate
curious if you have photograph of the spider gate

[tannismc]

Spider gate
My photos of the whole gate didn't turn out--it was tricky to photograph because the gate was so black, and the background sky was bright grey.