My sleeper compartment on the night train from Prague to Budapest ended up being single occupancy, since the person that was supposed to hang out with me in Prague decided to skip out on me. The compartment was in one of the newish Comfortline sleeper cars. While it was more modern than the Polish sleeping car, it actually was more cramped as well – particularly since my compartment was right next to the WC. I peeked into the other compartments when I disembarked and noticed that those were slightly larger than mine. All in all, I’m actually glad I ended up by myself because it would have been pretty cramped with two people’s worth of luggage. Yes, I know you can store bags up above the door, but there’s no way I would have been able to lift my suitcase above my head while climbing up the ladder to reach that space.
I ended up sleeping pretty much the entire way to Budapest, waking up only because I set my alarm to get me up 10 minutes before the conductor woke everyone up. I got orange juice this time around and while it wasn’t that wonderful apple juice I got on the previous train, I still downed it in record time. I dressed and then watched the scenery unfold until we pulled into Budapest’s Keleti Station. It had been many, many years since I had been in the city and was looking forward to seeing how it might have changed in that time.
But first, Keleti Station… it had literally not changed in the 20+ years it had been since I last was in Budapest. I mean, I think the broken floor tiles were unchanged, let alone any enhancements or repairs done to the station. It was completely unnerving to feel like I had stepped back in time to the first time I disembarked from a train there. And it was a bit of culture shock. The other train stations I had been in the past few days were modernized and usually attached to shopping centers. Keleti was unapologetically old school in a brutal way. No shopping center, no gleaming chrome or steel, no wifi…
I changed some money and threw my bags into a locker. I had to wait until 2pm at the earliest to check in and decided to spend the hours between my train arrival of 8:30am until then exploring Budapest. Walking down the main road, I decided to make sure that I could find my lodging before I started dragging my suitcase all over. I did manage to find it pretty easily, but realized that the advertisement of a lift was completely incorrect. I filed that information away in my head because I was going to need some strength at the end of the day to haul my bags up a winding staircase at check-in. I then decided to walk to the office from there so I would know how much time to allot the next morning for the walk to work.
Those two logistical tasks out of the way, I crossed the Chain Bridge into the hilly Buda section of town. I climbed to the top and spent some time circumnavigating the Castle Hill, exploring the cobblestone streets. This section of Budapest, I was relieved to discover, hadn’t changed in the intervening years (well, except for the fact that it is now very popular with tour groups from the river cruises). I returned to Fisherman’s Bastion and found the spot where I had had the only photo taken of myself during my long-ago first Euro trip. That was back in the day when cell phones and selfies weren’t even dreamt up yet. I had to trust a stranger to use a film camera and get a somewhat decent photo. Memories…
Anyway, in the intermittent rain, I wandered until 3pm and then made my way back across the river to try to check in. And discovered that in order to do so, I was going to need to call someone to come let me in. And because of my broken iPhone screen, I wasn’t actually able to turn on my roaming function. Hmmm… I had to ask a stranger if I could use his phone. Thankfully, he spoke enough English and was very generous to lend me his phone. Thank you random man…
Finally checked in, I then had to return to the train station to retrieve my bags. Remembering the non-existent lift and thinking that hauling my stuff the two-mile walk back to my room wasn’t a good idea, I rode the Metro back. I had to keep my strength up in order to drag my stuff up the staircase! Finally I was done. Well no, not quite. Then I needed to get some food because I was starving, but I decided to go to a local Tesco and just get some junk food. I sorely needed a shower and I really just wanted to chill after that. All in all, I had walked over 12 miles that day. I think I earned a slack night. Plus, I had to go to work the next day.
But before I collapsed in my bed, I had to text back my co-worker who had blown me off. She had been frantically texting while I was out roaming around. Because I wasn’t able to get on wifi from the time I left Prague’s train station until I checked in, I didn’t know she had been trying to reach me. And honestly, as irritated with her as I was, I really wasn’t in much of a hurry to reply to her. I typed out a reply, then erased it, then typed another, and erased that one too. It took me 10 minutes to finally hit send on a basic “I’m here in Budapest. Will see you tomorrow at the office.”
Then I turned the AC down to its lowest setting and slept like a baby. The next morning, I was getting ready to leave for the office when she texted again, asking if we could walk to the office together. Fine, but I wasn’t Miss Sunshine, barely speaking to her. I mean, I’m crabby in the morning as it is, let alone trying to be cordial to someone I was furious with. I figured silence was a better option. And then at the office, I threw myself into the discussions because the real reason I was there in Europe at all was for work. At lunch in a nearby restaurant, I strategically snagged the seat on the end of the table next to the boss. It’s amazing how that spot goes unclaimed until the very end. But it worked for me. And then at a beer garden that night, I got to know some of my other co-workers instead of chatting with her.
Wednesday morning, I again walked with her to the office; but I realized that I needed to be the better person about the situation. I mean, I’m still not going to ever go out of my way to be friends with her after this, but the anger I was carrying wasn’t doing anything except making me unhappy. And I really wanted to enjoy Budapest. So I let it go, reminding myself that it didn’t mean that I was going to allow myself to be in that situation again. And I had fun… the whole group went to a local festival for lunch. Later that evening, we ate at sidewalk cafe and then found ourselves down a cellar, drinking shots of I-don’t-know-what and laughing ourselves silly. Some of my male co-workers even needled my former friend, asking me about Prague and then telling her that she really missed out. And I realized that she really did miss out. Others could tell her that and I didn’t even have to sound like a bitch about it because they did that for me!
Thursday, I stayed later at the office than I anticipated because an impromptu party broke out at the end of the work day. God love a country where there’s beer in the company fridges… Two co-workers have a “trade agreement” where they swap bottles of mescal and plinka on the last day of work trips; so those bottles were opened and shared amongst the group. I finally forced myself to go back to my room to pack and make sure I got a good night’s sleep. My ride to the airport was scheduled to pick me up at 4:45am and I definitely did not want to try to repack when I’m completely sleep deprived.
The next morning, the alarm went off way too freaking early. I was glad I repacked the night before because it took me awhile to get into the shower and downstairs to meet the driver. As I was getting into the van, two young men down the street started yelling at me and walking to the van I just got into. They were knocking on the window and telling me to go with them instead. The driver and I exchanged a look and he took off down the road, leaving the two to stand there yelling after the car. “Does that happen often?” I asked nonchalantly. “No, not really,” he replied. “They must really have wanted you to go with them somewhere.” Yeah, I thought, somewhere they could take out a kidney or something… I swear, I thought I would make it through one trip without something totally random and bizarre happening to me.
I got to the Budapest Airport around 5:20am and was able to check my bag and get through the security screening process fairly quickly. My flight to London was uneventful, but I figured I wouldn’t try to nap because then I would really be out of it once we got to Heathrow. The transfer between Terminal 3 and 5 in Heathrow took about an hour, leaving plenty of time to hang out in the Aspire Lounge. Which actually wasn’t as relaxing as I would have liked. It was packed and there was a large family with a screaming toddler who was more coddled than any human being alive. And the soda dispenser was broken and on top of that, only Pepsi was available. The horror of modern travel!!
My flight from London to Austin was on a 747, which I was inordinately excited about until I realized that the plane was ancient. The seat back monitor was vintage (I was shocked that it wasn’t black and white, it was so old) and it flickered like my grandma’s old TV used to. And there was some annoying couple behind me who used one of those Knee-Defender things to prevent me from reclining my seat. I retaliated by leaving my window shade open the entire flight even though she leaned forward and closed it at the beginning of the flight because she was “trying to rest”. I’m fairly certain I had a none-too-pleasant look on my face as I reopened it and then kneeled on my seat to inform her that it was my shade and it was staying open. (Bitch, look, I can’t recline my seat because of you, do you really think I’m about to give you any damn courtesy?) The very young and adorable guy in my row and I ended up chatting for half of the flight since I wasn’t able to rest anyway. (And I’m pretty sure that kept that couple from hell awake too, ha…)
Finally, the flight landed and thanks to Global Entry, I was though passport control and customs in a blink of an eye. I just missed the 4:30pm bus to downtown and of course, the next bus was delayed quite awhile because of rush hour traffic. I did finally make it home about 75 minutes after I landed, but then I needed to turn around immediately to get ready for a concert. Fortunately, I really only wanted to see the opening act and was able to go home after the third song from the headliner. Note to self – in the future, try not to agree to attend a concert the day you get home from a transatlantic flight…
I realize how fortunate I am to be able to travel and particularly on this trip, to have work pay for the majority of it. I got to cross off some new places on my list. I got to explore a new part of London. I got to revisit a city that I wasn’t sure I was ever going to visit again. Yeah, I learned something about someone who I once considered a friend. But I also got the unexpected bonus of seeing how much one of my other friends valued our friendship.