Day 8 - Vienna / Budapest - Part 1

MY FAVOURITE THINGS

(from the movie SOUND OF MUSIC)

♪ ..... Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels ....... ♪

☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼

Crisp apple strudels, did you say?  On this last day in Vienna, I simply could not leave without first trying out the crisp apple strudels. And since the croissants had left such an indelible impression, well .... why not? I wasn't sure if green tea complemented the apple strudels but this was what we ordered from the brekkie joint at Hauptbahnhof .

We gathered at the lobby at about 8 am to check out. Our train leaves Hauptbahnhof at precisely 9-12 am for Budapest.

After checking out, we lugged our luggage to Hauptbahnhof.  Since there were only two of us and five of them, we finished our brekkie earlier. (Go figure out the logic!)

Inspired by yesterday's incident, I decided to have a nose-bleed too. Mine was insignificant, I'll have you know and it probably came from blowing my nose too much.

Well, we waited and we waited and we waited for the family of five to finish their brekkie. Our meeting point was at the clock outside the Tourist Info Center. Seats were available inside the Info Center so we helped ourselves to them.

A large Austrian sat behind the counter. He had a ruddy face. All manner of tourists streamed to him for information. He barked at male tourists and was especially helpful with the ladies. It was probably the way he talked. His voice boomed and hit the four corners of the Info Center. He made me afraid to approach him, not that I had any reasons to, until he got up from his seat during a quiet interval, took a sip  of coffee from his cup, and smiled at me.

♪ .... A smile is quite a funny thing

It wrinkles up your face

And when it's gone, you'll never find

It's secret hiding place .......♪

(a song I used to sing during my guiding days -

Tune: Auld Lang Syne)

Did I mention that we waited and we waited and we waited for the family of five? They finally finished their breakfast so we walked towards the train tracks. The train arrived at precisely 9-12 am. Estimated Time of Arrival at Budapest was 11.12 am. Mr Nice-Guy had booked rooms somewhere opposite the train station.

It was a scenic journey. We rolled past wheat and corn fields, wild flowers, wind farms and quaint picturesque towns. However, there was a notable change when we crossed into Budapest. While Austria appeared rich, Budapest painted a different picture, one of bleakness and destitution BUT - I could be wrong!

Wild flowers

Barrels of wheat

Wind Farm

The family of five occupied the first compartment after the door in the middle car while we took the adjoining unit. A narrow corridor connected all the compartments to the WC at the end of the car. The Dining Car was immediately behind us. With nothing better to do, we walked drunkenly to the dining car for some hot potato soup.

Hot potato soup at the Dining Car

Salami at the bottom

Grandma Hungary (Not her real name; picture: right) joined our compartment at the second stop after Vienna. (She was returning to Budapest.) We struck up a conversation, she with her mini IPad, and me with my Google Translator. She told me that her daughter in Budapest is working for a patent office in Singapore. this daughter had one son. In total, she had three grandkids (2 from another daughter), she wrote, as she slided her fingers on the mini IPad to show me pictures of those kids. Ahhh .... a grandmother's pride and joy.

When we ran out of specifics, Grandma Hungary asked me where we were staying and told us to head for the East Train Station. (* Keleti Train Station). She was getting off at the penultimate stop in Budapest where she will pick up her car, a small Suzuki which cost her 7000 Hungarian forints. At this point, she offered to drive us to our hotel, which she told us, is opposite the Keleti Train Station.

* KELETI TRAIN STATION : Yes, this is the same train station that is currently in the news. Refugee crisis.

Now, we have heard all sorts of stories about dodgy Hungarian characters scamming the daylights out of tourists so I politely declined, explaining that there were another five of us in the next compartment.

Smiling and nodding amiably (and making me all sorts of rueful) she went on to recommend the night scenes at the Duna Folyo. (i.e. The Danube)

"This river flowed from Germany to Bulgaria,  Slovakia is on the left, Hungary on the right," she wrote on her IPad.

"Is it safe to walk around in Budapest?" I wrote on Google Translator.

"Keep along the Duna. Many tourist walking around," read the text on her IPad.

Not long after this, she got off the train.

"Yada-yada-yada-yada-yada ..," were her parting words before she left. That's Hungarian for "Enjoy your stay in Budapest."

PART 2