Budapest, The Third

Not hungover at all

Last day in Budapest was a bit of a hazy one. Well the morning was. Let's just say the club was quite an intense experience and it's a very good thing caffeine exists. As does copious amounts of water and a multivitamin, hangover preventer for the past 4 years. It's my last day in Budapest and I basically only have the morning left. There was one place I wanted to go to to eat, vegetarian friendly bakery/cafe and so I went with another couchsurfer in the morning. It was closed till noon so we walked around for 20 minutes, streets were almost completely empty. There was an eerie beauty to it all. I can't believe I just typed that last sentence. Moving on. We go back and the place is still closed and we're getting quite hungry. We go over to the 5 euro all you can eat buffet place. Stuff our faces and stumble back to the apartment like Violet Beauregarde. Minus the help of the oompa loompas. I finish packing my bags, write down the directions back to the train station, say my goodbyes and I'm on my way. This time I actually buy the ticket and twenty minutes later a small group of mahjong players come on and whip out their laminated badges and start inspecting peoples' tickets. Fore-f***ing-shadowing. That is how it's done.
I finally get to the train station and to say its old and run down would be saying it nicely. English is pretty much non-existent as a spoken language but at least the good old pointing with the finger until people understand still works. I need to get my Eurail pass validated before I start traveling so I try to find someone who can do that. With the help of my mighty pointer finger I finally find someone who can stamp and validate it. Hooray for international language of the fingers! Sorry for the subpar writing in this last paragraph. Here's a picture of a grain train.

Grain Train

My train finally arrives and off to Vienna I go. I have a six minute layover at one point on the ride and before I get to it, I talk to the person sitting near me who is also going to Vienna and she says to transfer at a different station like always does. However, I am new to this whole traveling thing and want to play it by the book. So I get off and the station is completely empty and dark and rainy. Perfect. I go over to the only building there and try to see which track my train will be coming on. There are 3 options and of course I choose the wrong one. Luckily I am able to run to the other platform and get on the train in time. From there it is smooth sailing. I take two trains and a tram from the station and then I finally get to my destination in Vienna. Thus begins the long overdue chapter on Vienna.