vienna 1

Right now I am on the train in Hungary from Budapest to Vienna, it is about 12:15. One thing the US should get on top of is more electrified rail lines, virtually every passenger line in Europe is electric. Why the Raritan Valley line is not electric, why the NJ Coast Line south Of Long Branch, why the Morris & Essex past Dover is not I have no idea. So this morning I woke up about 8:15 I had to check out at 10. I had thought the night before to try to getin a dip at Szechenyi bath and a visit to Elizabeth statue but nevertheless sleep had prevailed and I had been to 2 baths, plus I didn’t really plan too well or pack the night before. So 8:15, back from my last Hungarian meager breakfast at 8:45, got to packing, took a shower,and ready to go at 9:55. I still wanted to check my email because I had not done so in 2 days. Then leaving at 10:15 I decided to see the Elizabeth statue, mostly because there is an arch and waterfall that reminds me of a painting in Grandma Marilyn’s house, it truly is Hungary, msut have been an old aqueduct or something. Anyway, I took the 7 to Rudas bath stop which is the first in Buda over the Danube and conveniently right by the statue, I got off and first tried to locate the 7 stop to go back to Pest and it was right below the statue, also there are remarkable cliffs there that I had only seen during the dusk. So I got off and ran up the stairs with my 3 bags on me, it was so high and hard to get upso I settled for going about ¾ up because I did not want to miss my train. I got the bus back at 10:50, and stepping off the bus each stop so I could be on the outside, got to Keleti station at 11:00, ran in, looked at the board, , fouind the 11:10 to Wien on track 9, and made it on the train with a few minutes to spare. I had a reserved seat, but there are not that many people on the train and the seat next to me is reserved starting from where I get off so hopefully should be ok. Because I will have no more use for forints, I left 1000 in the room as a gratitude to the maids though all they did each day was empty my trash. The buildings at the train stations along this route look like something out of Shining Time Station, with their perfectly pressed and classic uniforms. For a mid-week train in the middle of the day, there are 2 screamming babies, one was making a weird laugh for a while, but it’s like there some sort of organ duo, chiming in a the silence of the other… ah AH ah AH ah!, and they scream like bloody murder. So that brings me to now still a bit under 2 hours before Vienna so Ill just enjoy the view and pick this up later. The train ride to Vienna was pretty enjoyable, went by quick, right on time, which was good. Got in around 2:30, walked out into the outside with Devon and then split up to our respective hostels. I checked in, it was quite a short walk from the station, checking in in a small entrance room, the lady had a strange radical haircut and purple pink highlights to boot, nice nonetheless. Got the key, she showed me to my room which happened to be on the 1^st floor so nothing to complain about as far as walking is concerned but a bit skeptical at first being on street level. She opened the door to a very cozy apartment with a front hallway, a full bathroom, a more than full kitchen, and 2 rooms. I was in room 4a. I was quite pleasantly surprised upon entering, I took pictures even! I knew I’d be getting a double room for the price of a single so that was nice, so the bed was large, the room was large, nicely designed and sort of modern. I dreaded the ceiling light so fortunately there were 2 very bright desk lamps on the night tables which I positioned upward so they would add light and they compensated finely. I had no idea there would be a full kitchen but staying only 3 nights and being there to see the city and not stay at the hostel I wasn’t about to go grocery shopping to cook inside. The kitchen was fuller than the one I have at RSM, there was an oven, a micro, a toaster, and a double sink. Before we had parted ways I had agreed with Devon to try to figure out to grab dinner in the city center after settling in and resting in the afternoon. I got my internet hooked up which was a fucking pain in the ass at first but eventually I figured it out. So I sent an email a bit before 5 and waiting waiting to see if Id get an answer but nothing and I remembered why I was traveling on my own so I wouldn’t be a slave to other people’s schedules so I gave it til 7 and then ventured out on my own not wanting to waste too much of the day sitting in my room, a few hours recuperating had been enough plus I wanted dinner. The hostel hostess had given me a ‘young peoples’ guide to Vienna book and in it had suggestions for affordable eating so I picked one that said it had big portions and a good price and wound my way there, not before going to the underground to buy a 72-hour pass. I wanted to see the city at night so I figured I could take the 5 tram to the J or 2 which circled around the Ringstrasse, I eneded up going farther than I originally anticipated because I ended up on the other side of the Danube canal so I had to backtrack and then settled for the U-Bahn. The place, called Centimeter was a small chain with 5 or 6 locations, a rather gruff spot, nothing too fancy, all business, though one of the bartenders kept smiling, I wasn’t sure if I should just sit down so I went up to the bar and asked her Sprechen Sie Englisch? And said I would like to eat here so she gave me a menu. I ordered a potato soup in a bread bowl and a fried/breaded turkey with fries dish. I didn’t realize the soup in the bread bowl could probably have been a meal itself  since there were so many contents in the actual broth. I made a tradeoff by disregarding the French fries because they are not substantial. And I also had a 0.5 L mug of the house beer which was pretty fair. Lots of old people there and never quiet, after I finished I got the check and unlike normally they allow you to pay right then and there as they have a change purse rather than scooping up your payment and taking it to a cash register and coming back, very convenient/efficient, though a bit daunting because theyre standing right there as you are taking your wallet out and counting money. I’d come to be used to leaving ~10% tip as I have seen checks add 10% for service. Its weird because in the US, 10% is considered a terrible tip for wait service, whereas 15-18% is good and 20%+ is excellent, I wasn’t complaining though because leaving 2 EUR on a 20 EUR bill is better than leaving a quarter of my bill for the waiter though I know my food-service-industry-veteran friends would yell at me because of this assertion. After dinner I walked around a bit but duly headed back as Id want to get an early start on the next day with so much to see and walking to do, so I grabbed the U-Bahn back and retired for the night before chatting, in text and in video, with mom and then a few friends all the while fighting the shoddy wireless connection.