Budapest- The Arrival

I arrived in Budapest in the early afternoon, exhausted from the extraordinarily long travel to an airport less than 10 miles away from me. Apparently the Norwegians don't believe there is a need to operate the ferry across the fjord before 10 a.m. even though there's two very active airports on either side. Budapest Airport Terminal 1 is small and easy to navigate. I quickly exchanged my money, bought my train ticket and was on my way to the train.

Waiting for the train, I was a bit uneasy. I'm committed now. I'm in the country, there's no turning back. I'm also quite ready to get on with my adventure. I picked this tiny little country in the middle of Central Europe, I'm excited to see exactly what I got myself into.

The train arrives and I get on. I now realize I'm really not in Kansas. This train looks like it came straight out of Soviet Russia and it's crammed full of people. There's lanky Russian looking guys smoking in the entrance way, and people lining the hallway that's so narrow I can barely squeeze past.

I was to afraid to take out my camera and start taking pictures. I did, however, find a picture online of an identical train car.

The train I rode in was older, more decrepit, and smokier, but this pic gives an idea.

I find a place to stand next to a large woman in a white coat who doesn't look like the kidnapping type. I stand with my face to the window, my back to a wall between the compartments, and I'm glancing out of the corners of my eyes to either side looking for potential danger and escape routes. I'm grateful I brought my sunglasses along so my eyes now can't betray my fear. I figure the chances of being physically harmed are actually pretty low, but my chances of leaving the train with my backpack are very low as well. Ah well, I really don't need my digital camera and my iPod. My cash, debit cards and passport were safely pinned to clever spots inside my clothes so I'll be able to leave the country with minimum hassle and won't starve.

Eventually enough people leave the train that I can take a seat in a compartment. Now that I have a chance to actually look around at the people riding the train I realize that there's many non-scary people on the train too, old ladies with knitting, other travelers and young students reading books. I allowed myself to relax, but just a bit.

I arrive at the Nyugati Railway station and exit the train without incident. I don't want to look like I don't know where I'm going so I walk confidently out of the train station in search of food. The main roads in Budapest are very busy so there's underpasses for pedestrians to use. They also have subway access. I need a nice safe place to get my bearings, find out where the hostel is, and eat something.

A Burger King with indoor dining is in the underground area. Awesome, my first meal in this new country will be good 'ol American-style fast food.