The train stopped at nearly every station along the way and Teresa and I both found sleep, albeit light. Often, I was aware of the stop, but barely, trying to sleep. This stop was no different, or was it?
*Knock Knock*
*Knock Knock*
“Okay, okay!” I open my eyes. Our train has stopped and standing outside our door are four uniformed men, armed. I stand up and open the door.
“”Bunadimineatapasaport”
In my brain, still foggy with sleep, I heard “May I see your passport?” I nod and reach into my hip-pack for our passports. He smiles and turns to his colleagues “Americanas” and then they disappeared. By this time, Teresa is up and I am sitting there still trying to get my head cleared. I look at my watch, it’s about 02,00. I told Teresa I just gave our passports to the …
Suddenly, my brain screams, “WAIT! You just gave your passport to a uniformed man, but who was he? Better yet, WHERE is he?” I shared my concerns with Teresa. The thought went through my head that I should go check it out.
I open the door and start to step into the hallway. At the end of each halls to each side are two uniformed men, armed. They motion for me to get back into the cabin. I do.
I am concerned, but a few minutes later, the officer returned. He opened our passports, looked at us and handed each one back. They had been stamped with a train and an arrow showing we were leaving Romania. This was the first stamp in our passports showing a different type of transportation when leaving a country. Very cool!
We must have been one of the only passengers on the train as it did not take long. The armed soldiers all got off and the train moved up the track, stopped, changed engines and moved ahead about 100 or so more meters. At that point, we were in another station and standing on the platform were another six armed men, two had automatic weapons. Other solders were scurrying about with poles with mirrors on the end, inspecting under the cars. A knock on the door and again. We were greeted, this time in Hungarian. “Good morning”, I say.
The officer smiles and asks for our passports. I hand them over and he steps to the side and radioed in our passport information, allowing us to see him the whole time. He then stamps the passports, showing we were entering Hungary on a train. The train moved up again several hundred meters, stopped, then came back to it’s original resting space, where the soldiers started inspecting the car again. This happened several times. We weren’t sure if this was part of the drill or if something strange was happening, however after the 4th time, we were finally allowed to leave.
Once we were moving again, we put the arms on the benches back up and slept some more. At least the seats had some cushioning and we had our coats rolled into pillows. The car also had radiated heat, though sometimes it got too hot and we had to tie the window open. It was on a spring and kept closing as the latches to hold it open were not working.
Around 07,00 or so, it was too light to sleep and the train was due into Budapest at 08,00. We gather our stuff up and made ready. As soon as we stepped off the train onto the platform, there was a man waiting there asking if we needed a taxi and to where to. I told him that we had no local currency and had to get to an ATM. He said the one in the station was not working, but he’s drive us past one on the way to our hotel. Teresa and I were a little leery, but accepted (next time, listen to that little voice, Jim).
He took our bags and walked us around to his car. It really was a taxi, which brought a little relief. With the bags in the trunk, we got in and were off. We stopped a couple of blocks later for the ATM and he waited while I got cash. Once back, he offered to drive us around on a tour. Of course, the meter would still be running, I am sure. We also did not have the current conversion rate in our heads yet. We declined and he seemed very disappointed, but he drove us straight to our hotel. I paid the driver what was on the meter, got the change back, and gave him a tip from it (as the guide book suggested). He smiled and left.
We went to the front desk expecting to have to store our luggage until check in time at 11,00. To our surprise (and relief), they had a room ready for us. We were led up to the room by the bellboy and shown our room. The young man also gave us a map and circled on it the sites nearby. He even recommended tours. I tipped him and he left. We were thankful to be able to clean up after that train ride. With a clear heads and feeling refreshed, we went back down to start our day of exploring Budapest.
On a front desk on the way out, we then saw a sign with the exchange rate. We did a quick calculation and found we paid our taxi driver nearly $50 USD with tip, for a short ride (I can only imagine what it would have been had he driven us on the tour). I also figured I tipped the bellman about $10USD. So, I guess I’m a big tipper. Oh well, live and learn.
The hotel was fairly centrally located and was on a main boulevard. We walked and noticed we were getting hungry. Touring on an empty stomach is not pleasant, so we stopped at the first restaurant we found the had some vegetarian options, a sports pub. The vegetarian options included a grilled cheese with a salad. Teresa got that and I did the same with Steak Fries. What surprised us? It was not a sandwich! The waiter brought out our plates and on it was four large slices of cheese, grilled/browned and drizzled with balsamic vinegar, a half leaf of cabbage (like a bowl) filled with peppers, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and other stuff. It was quite good. Our stomachs left happy and we felt filled.
After we left the restaurant, we headed just down the street. Here was the Basilica, St Stephen’s Basilica.
The Basilica was beautiful, both inside and out. Of course, we had to go in, and climb all the way up to the cupola (observation platform) that surrounds the dome (we try never to use elevators in historic buildings).
We met a couple of guys from the west coast (California) and chatted with the for a while. They were heading into Romania, having come from Prague. They wanted to know our experiences and what they should and shouldn’t do. We warned them about needing lights in the mountains.
From there, we took off for Parliament. We were told we by the guys we met that we had to take the tour, english or not, just so that we could get pictures. We found it, but it was too late to get tickets. Still, it is a magnificent building on the outside. We toured around the city a bit for the rest of the day, both by foot and by tour bus on a Hop-on Hop-off tour. Every crevice of the city seemed to have little hidden jewels of joy to be found, it was just a matter of looking for them.
to be the cleanest, but that was ok. Budapest is actually two cities, Buda and Pest, which are separated by a river. The Pest side contained the government buildings and the working class lived there. The Buda side was where the aristocrats set up shop, having the Hapsburg dynasty come in to “help” the Hungarian people during a war, then deciding to stay afterwards. We decided to mainly tour Pest today.
Like many cities in Europe, Budapest has some streets that are pedestrian only. They tend to lead to squares and open air markets. Shopping here is all around. Of course, the traditional Hungarian paprika is a must, but there was also the toys, the hand stitched table covers, puzzle boxes and hand crafted crystal that called our attention. Some of the toys brought back memories for me and I almost bought one metal toy (and wish I had). The prices were not so bad, but I was just not sure where I would pack it. Teresa found a crystal set (above) she really liked too, but the price were was too much, especially since we do not entertain that much. 
There were street performers throughout the market place, people with flyers for this eatery or that one, advertisements for just about everything. One was for a Thai massage and gave all the options for, hands, shoulders, back and feet. They even offered a “special ear cleaning”. We walked past. I couldn’t pass up buying a pink flower for Teresa from one of the vendors. Teresa immediately placed it behind her right ear, trying to remember in Hawaii culture which ear meant she was married.
It was late and we had had a long day. Teresa was starting to get blisters on her feet and we wanted to get back to get a good nights sleep, so we headed back to the hotel. We wanted to try to get into parliament and had a castle to explore tomorrow.