Budapest arrival
Day three on the trip to Budapest. I awoke around 8 am...making myself sleep longer cause there was no reason to get up. Once up I ate the last of my chocolate cookies and one of the breakfast rolls John's mom had packed and had some water. I walked out in the hallway and the conductor said this is the end of Romania. AMEN!!!
We pulled into the Arad station and went through the passport inspections again. Once through with that it was across the border into Hungary and another passport inspection. Only this time was a bit different, they had to search my bags and asked if I had anything to declare. Well NO!!!!
Now it was off for the last legs to Budapest. Once in Hungary the difference was stark. Homes here were well kept, maintained, and updated. It was obvious everywhere, things were MUCH better in Hungary than in Romania and Bulgaria.
We finally pulled into Budapest's station around 12:30, almost three hours late. It was a beautiful old station undergoing a LOT of renovation, but I finally found my way out of the station and to a taxi. I showed him the papers where I was going and he said 30 euro!!!! DAMN, that is a high taxi, but after 2 days on the "Train from Hell" I didn't care, just get me to the Hotel, a cold beer, and let me settle in.
The driver told me on the way over that they had had a tornado 4 days earlier. He showed me some of the damage and said 4 people were killed. He said the hotel I was staying in was a beautiful hotel, 120 years old.
About then we pulled up in front...it was very nice. OLD building, but most everything I'd seen till now in Budapest was old, and it seems to be a very BUSY city. I got checked in the Hotel and they said they use Hungarian currency, so I asked where an ATM was located. He told me and I was off to my room.
Once in I checked email real quick and decided to go across the street to the ATM machine and try to find a place to eat. I only took out 50,000 at the ATM, found a place to eat and said I want something Hungarian. Lunch and beer were 1800.
I picked up a couple of beers to bring back to the room and decided that I would catch up the blog.....no pictures of course, but at least now I can recharge all the batteries and get everyone updated. It is only 7 pm now, but I can assure you that my day is complete...cept maybe for a little CNN, cold beer, and hopefully cool nights sleep. No AC here either.
We pulled into the Arad station and went through the passport inspections again. Once through with that it was across the border into Hungary and another passport inspection. Only this time was a bit different, they had to search my bags and asked if I had anything to declare. Well NO!!!!
Now it was off for the last legs to Budapest. Once in Hungary the difference was stark. Homes here were well kept, maintained, and updated. It was obvious everywhere, things were MUCH better in Hungary than in Romania and Bulgaria.
We finally pulled into Budapest's station around 12:30, almost three hours late. It was a beautiful old station undergoing a LOT of renovation, but I finally found my way out of the station and to a taxi. I showed him the papers where I was going and he said 30 euro!!!! DAMN, that is a high taxi, but after 2 days on the "Train from Hell" I didn't care, just get me to the Hotel, a cold beer, and let me settle in.
The driver told me on the way over that they had had a tornado 4 days earlier. He showed me some of the damage and said 4 people were killed. He said the hotel I was staying in was a beautiful hotel, 120 years old.
About then we pulled up in front...it was very nice. OLD building, but most everything I'd seen till now in Budapest was old, and it seems to be a very BUSY city. I got checked in the Hotel and they said they use Hungarian currency, so I asked where an ATM was located. He told me and I was off to my room.
Once in I checked email real quick and decided to go across the street to the ATM machine and try to find a place to eat. I only took out 50,000 at the ATM, found a place to eat and said I want something Hungarian. Lunch and beer were 1800.
I picked up a couple of beers to bring back to the room and decided that I would catch up the blog.....no pictures of course, but at least now I can recharge all the batteries and get everyone updated. It is only 7 pm now, but I can assure you that my day is complete...cept maybe for a little CNN, cold beer, and hopefully cool nights sleep. No AC here either.
posted by dfwjeep42 | 12:16 PM
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