Sisterhood of the Traveling Powells: Budapest, Hungary

Our journey to Budapest started out relatively rocky. Keep in mind that we speak zero Italian. We arrived at the train station early (per usual) and scanned the board for our departure platform. Our first train was heading to Bologna, Italy where we would then board our night train. Underneath the platform listings we saw a running header that listed Firenze, Venezia and Bologna as places with cancelled trains (at least, that's what I thought it said...). We went straight to the customer service desk and took a number, wanting to confirm before properly panicking. I have never in my life been so happy to be wrong. 

We located the platform and boarded our non-cancelled train at 8:20 PM with no issue. We were scheduled to arrive in Bologna at 10:35 PM with 22 minutes to catch our connecting train. However, our train from Rome ended up slowing down and we pulled into Bologna at 10:45 PM. We had 12 minutes to find our next platform. We bounded off the train and the race was on. I sprinted through the station, up two escalators, and 2 flights of stairs. With a backpack. Jordan valiantly tried to keep up. I flew up the last flight of stairs to the EMPTY platform. I frantically ran back down mumbling "where is the effing train, we're 3 minutes early!!!" Jordan struggled to catch her breath. We ran into two girls with luggage and asked them for help. They took a look at our tickets and said that was the same train they were waiting on. It was 90 minutes delayed. If Jordan had been able to breathe I think she would have strangled me in that moment. 

We sat down on the floor of the train station next to our platform to wait. Our new Columbian friends sat down with us. They were taking a gap year between high school and college and were heading for Budapest as well. The delay went from 90 minutes to 115 minutes as we sat on that dirty floor and Jordan's bladder of steel was reengaged. It was nearly 1 AM by the time we boarded that night train. Jordan's first order of business was finding the restroom. I was ready for my bed. We had reserved our seats in a 2nd class couchette and were about to find out exactly what that meant. 

We found the number on our ticket and tried the door. It was locked. We pounded on the door until our neighbor occupants slid it open. We found a walk in closet meant to sleep 6 adults. There were 3 bunks on each side with a ladder in the middle against the window. The 2 bottom bunks were occupied by a married couple. Another lady was in Jordan's assigned bunk and her luggage was in the other in the middle so we had to ask her to move. I took one for the team and climbed the ladder to the very top to my personal coffin. Space was minimal and you couldn't sit up in your bunk without smacking your head on the bunk above you or, in my case, the ceiling. Blankets, sheets, and pillows were provided. I haphazardly spread mine out before hovering in a fitful sleep. Our train sped toward Vienna during the night and we woke up to see Austria outside the window. Breakfast was delivered by a steward: two large pieces of bread with butter and jam. 

Our fellow couchette occupants folded down the bed opposite us to create a bench for them to perch on while eating breakfast. In order to do so they had to move two giant pieces of luggage to the bunk below Jordan, which prevented us from folding our side into the same seat. Instead I climbed down to Jordan's bunk, hoping there would be more room for my neck. I was wrong. Jordan and I chewed our breakfast carefully, trying not to dissolve into fits of giggles as we stuck our heads out to the side of the bunk.

Our bunk-mates didn't speak English, but evidently "awkward position to eat breakfast" translates easily and they helped us move the luggage and fold our bunks down. We pulled into Vienna two hours behind schedule which caused us to miss our connecting train to Budapest. Kudos to the smoothest customer service experience EVER in the Vienna train station--we had our ticket changed to a later train painlessly. They also gave us information on how to go online and fight for ticket reimbursement for the inconvenience, which I plan to do now that we are home. 

We finally arrived in Budapest at 3 PM, 19 hours after leaving Rome. We chose Wombat's City Hostel on the Pest side and were able to check into our 6-bed dorm immediately. On the suggestion of the front desk, we visited Getto Gulyas for our only meal of the day. It was a traditional Hungarian restaurant and we were feeling adventurous. Jordan chose a mushroom/beef stew and I went with chicken. Both entrees were served with egg noodles.

 Seeing as we were quickly losing daylight we wanted to make the most of it. We headed for St. Stephen's Basilica and Gelarto Rosa for an iconic cone before meandering along the Danube River. We walked down to the Hungarian Parliament building and stopped to pay our respects at the Shoes on the Danube Bank. It's a memorial for the 3,500 people who were shot into the Danube River between 1944-1945. 

We crossed the Chain Bridge into the Buda side for a bit before heading back to our hostel to prepare for Prague the next day. Along the way, as we soaked up the sunshine and searched for unique souvenirs, Jordan made a comment that she loved how perfectly content she felt in that moment. 

Budapest Stats

16,244 steps walked

$30 US dollars spent