Hungary to Croatia!
It was a slight mission finding the train station in Budapest to head for Croatia. Sometimes....ok often, Jess and I are lazy tourists and this time was no exception. We opted for a cab to get us to our 6am train instead of tackling the public transport system.
We felt a bit bad because the cab driver was trying to exchange pleasantries with us...and we had no idea what he was saying. It took me back to when I was in Poland a few years' back and my sister, her husband and I were trying to get to Krakow's main train station. Sean took to executing his best train impression with a few 'toot toots' and arm gestures. It must have been uncanny as we got to the train station fine.
Arriving to Budapest's international train station, we found a 'hole in the wall' type bakery and I ordered some little puff pastry thing with jam at its centre. It was bound to keep us sustained for a good 3.5 minutes. We were headed for Croatia's capital, Zagreb, so would just look forward to a feed there.
Claiming our cabin on the train, a Canadian couple joined us and began telling us about how awesome Air B&B was. It was something Jess and I kept hearing. It seemed like it was a magical site where accommodation was cheaper and nicer than hostels. Some of the apartments this couple had stayed in were refurbished old buildings and apparently quite stunning.
We didn't have time to think of 'what could have been' as far as our random Budapest accommodation had delivered, because immediately after this conversation, the train steward came in and told the couple in his best English something about them changing onto a bus in 45 minutes or so.
Feeling a bit sleepy from doing catch up work until the early hours of the morning, I had a bit of a schadenfreude moment evilly thinking, "glad you guys have the annoying switch and not us!"
I'm not a nice person when I've not had a lot of sleep!
Smugly sinking into a light sleeping position, I was rudely awoken 45 minutes later:
"Everyone, everyone off and onto buses!" The steward shouted in a bit of an unprecedented state of panic.
Ah nuts - served me right.
We were herded onto about four buses with all passengers having the same bemused looks on their faces. Fortunately, a short bus trip later, we were back on another train…somewhere between Croatia or Bosnia...but who knew.
In our new cabin, I spent the next three hours or so smashing through some marketing plans, while Jess slept.
I also took the opportunity while she was sleeping to eat the majority of the train-trip's rations....a small packet of gummy bears, and only gave her one or two when she stirred.
Eventually we got to Zagreb. I didn't know what I was expecting from this city I'd never visited....but it had a bit of a Spanish flair. It's interesting that I could make this comparison, as the closest I've come to Spain, is eating tappers and drinking quite a bit of sangria.
The taxi rank was lined with old school taxis and the drivers all chatting and smoking, while reading papers.
We jumped in a taxi, and headed for our accommodation, Hostel Shappy. This hostel was ace and located with relative ease, a first on our trip so far.
Apologies for the lack of photos in this blog...I think the camera went dead.
Jess and I had started our own hostel rating system at this stage, because of the diverse, and sometimes randomly styled accommodation we were staying at.
Hostel Shappy:
Room: Twin
Stairs: We didn't ascend any! Wahoo! My tight chest was thankful for it.
Cleanliness: 10/10
Best feature: A cool bathroom sliding door made from timber, with a very interesting wave shape.
Shower: Little on the small side, but excellent pressure.
Bathroom hooks: They sufficed, there wasn't enough room for more.
Pillows: Excellent thickness.
Staff: Very friendly, they even booked our walking tour for us!
Once we had settled in our room, I was incredibly hungry. We were waiting in reception as Jess exchanged pleasantries with the receptionist to see if we could book an evening private walking tour.
Finally set to venture, we found a side street in a main eating area which was busy and smelt delicious. The place we chose had a menu that stretched over about 81 pages. I just did a bit of a 'that'll do!' search and point and ended up with a sizable portion of ravioli, salad, bread and a drink for probably half of what I'd spend on an Australian brunch. We were excited to realise how cheap it was for a meal in Croatia! My waistline was already expanding, by that point I was just embracing it.
After lunch we strolled through the shops, where I bought some sensible thongs which could have been bought at the chemist, and we also started what would soon become a gelato addiction. A store along the main drag had its ice cream in its containers in a kind of 'lazy Susan' style turning thing...
7pm rolled around and our tour guide, Luca, a young historian with a very calm and curious disposition collected us from our hostel.
Now, if I'd been a smart arse and asked Luca about a random piece of tile in the middle of the main square, he probably would have known the history of it, or would have made it up and I would have been none the wiser.
This guy was knowledgeable, passionate about his city and an excellent story teller.
He told us about the old and new town, which many Eastern Europe countries have, the history of how potential witches were treated, his take on current and past politics, plus the war in Croatia.
He talked about how Croatia had desired independence from Yugoslavia, and the ramifications for them, and Bosnia.
He also spoke about the hideousness of ethnic cleansing - and I still struggle to understand how this could happen in the 1990s, when in Australia at the same time, I was just a kid, no troubles in the world and hoping like hell dad would appease my desire to tap into the Tamagotchi trend. He didn't by the way.
We walked past the oldest chemist in Croatia, which had a weird point thing on top which, in the past, was meant to catch witches. Down from that, there was a small alleyway with a picture of Mother Mary, with a gate protecting it. Messages had been scrawled across the bricks surrounding it, with either prayers or thanks for various things.
We discovered about the Croatian way - They love th'eir coffee and are as loyal as hell - once you find a barista - you have to stick with them.
He also spoke of the laid back nature of the Croatians, pointing to renovation work started years' ago on the cathedral (with a similar look to Notre Dame Paris or Amiens), with no one knowing the completion date.
This guy gave us a good overall knowledge of Croatia, setting the context for the next week which would involve an eight day sale from Split.
We finished the tour by 'the clock' in Jelacic Square which is a meeting point for people in the town. The trouble is, it's everyone's meeting spot...
The next day we boarded a train for Split where our Bus A Bout sailing trip would set off on the Saturday.
Learning from the last train trip, we stopped and bought out an entire bakery. Jess had stocked up on snacks at a supermarket the day prior (while earning a "humanitarian medal for helping locals learn how to use self checkouts" - her words).
I was armed with a baguette, muffin, doughnut and a 1.5litre bottle of water - you could say I was prepped for the five or so hour trip to the seaside!
More soon!
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