Hungary 2008!!: Getting to Vienna

The fact that we survived this day is a testament to the will power and strength of Staffa’s. I had mentioned the night before that maybe it’d be a good idea to call a cab to get to the train station in the morning. Our train didn’t leave until 9:40, but we’d have to catch the 9:00 bus which meant leaving at 8:45 from my apartment. The idea of a cab was brushed off and it was reiterated that we had 6 pieces of luggage and there were three of us – so that’s two each, manageable. Now, one thing to keep in mind, putting a lot of strain on my dad’s eye is not good for him, and lifting heavy things is particularly tough on the eye. I had four suitcases at 50lbs each and we were not ready to risk any additional stress related to the eye so mom and I did much of the lifting. We were all very concerned that nothing happen to aggravate the eye situation since we’d had good luck thus far on the trip.

My mom and dad trying to convince one another that they could shove this closed and it would still pass as a carry on... seriously?

As mom started to haul all the suitcases down to the entrance to the apartment, and I finished things like getting the cat food and water settled and making sure nothing was forgotten, an executive decision was made. Mom decided that it’d be a good idea to get cabs to the train station. Knowing that all our stuff and three people would never fit in one, I called for two cabs and for $5.00 each cab they took us to the train station. Best decision ever. Once we had the tickets at the train station, we faced the daunting task of getting all 300lbs of stuff up the stairs, over the train tracks and down the stairs to the track that we needed. As we stood contemplating the chore ahead of us, my cab driver (who incidentally told me he’d take all of us and our stuff to the airport in Vienna for $200.00- which we thought about briefly) told us to go around the building and across the tracks the flat way. I know that’s not a legal practice, but we figured since a legit Hungarian told us to do it, we couldn’t go wrong. My mom and I started “rolling” the luggage around the side of the building which is never traveled except by stray dogs, homeless and apparently Americans with twice their body weight in luggage. When we rounded the corner to access the walkway across the tracks reserved for emergencies and railway employees, I noticed that the gate to cross the tracks was locked and not available to open for access. Now what? All of a sudden the cab driver came whirling around the corner of the building with two familiar looking suitcases in tow and he was waving for us to continue further to where the fence ended. The fence that was in place so people did not do exactly what we were doing. Ok – here we go. We dragged the suitcases through gravel, rounded the fence (that was built out to a point where it would be a nuisance for anyone to really try and go around it) and continued to cross the tracks to the correct line that we needed. Jojj.

Mom approaching from the illegal fence line (on the left) with the last of the luggage

the fence we walked around - and the locked gate in the middle...

While it was quite helpful to not have to haul everything up and down the stairs, I’m sure more than one person was looking at us watching the entire process as we hauled our things down along the fence and back up to the track that we needed all the whilst being entertained – who cares. The cab driver was nice enough to help us for no reason after easing much of our burden by taking us to the train station in the first place. Phew. We’d made it all the way to our track, now to get all this stuff on to the train without losing any limbs.

Mom, dad and all my, I mean our, luggage

Getting onto the train wasn’t as hard as I had thought it would be – we handed the bags up one by one and just put them in a nearby foursome of seats. No big deal. Unfortunately we had to change trains in Győr, so we had to repeat the process. However, each time we boarded or got off a train, a Hungarian stranger was right there offering to help us. It was really nice to think that just for the good of humanity people were willing to help total strangers who had overpacked.

Getting settled on the train in Győr was a bit trickier. While the new track we needed was right where we got off the previous train, we still had to get everything on the train. There were quite a few people waiting for the train, and as it rolled up I noticed that there were quite a few people already on the train. I watched as we looked to board and saw one free compartment. I bailed on the plan to get all the bags in the train and then find a seat and bolted for the free compartment. Well, wouldn’t you know it, I ended up racing a girl approaching from the other end of the train with her eye on the same compartment. She beat me (since she didn’t have any luggage) and sat confidently in the window seat and plopped her large bag onto the opposite seat. Are you kidding? I didn’t care. I dumped the suitcase on a seat and went to retrieve the others. I kept loading them into the car and not only did she not offer to help, she didn’t budge an inch. So I lifted a couple of the lighter small bags up to the luggage rack, and sat between the two larger suitcases over two seats while my parents sat opposite me. Hmph. I was not happy with our train car mate.

me squished into two seats for three large objects - me and two suitcases

We arrived safe and sound in Vienna, took two cabs to the hotel and got settled pretty quickly. Pension Susanne was beautiful and located right at the foot of a pedestrian shopping street and a small Christmas market. I couldn’t have asked for a better location in Vienna. After settling in a bit we headed to the Schonbrunn Christmas market. It isn’t a big one, but it’s something to be seen as it sits right at the base of the Schonbrunn palace. It started to rain and we weren’t exactly prepared for the cold in combination with the rain, but we forged through anyway. We picked up several cute ornaments (by “we” I mean my mom) and had a spaetzle treat while we were there.

Schonbrunn palace

ornaments

Mom and dad at the Schonbrunn palace

buying things :)

The rain took a bit of fun out of visiting the market, so we returned to home base at the Pension and dropped my dad off so mom and I could do some hardcore shopping along the pedestrian walkway. Again the rain hampered things a bit, but we still enjoyed the shops, lights and atmosphere of the pending Christmas holiday. After a stop to get some groceries and a huge hot dog we called it a night and prepared for the journey to Melk the next day.