Logistical Adventures Abroad, Part 2

…but I had time to jump on. One task finished.

I found my way to the hotel and my stay there was all good. I took the metro to the train station the next day, all my things in tow, and visited two different windows to find out my ticket wasn’t valid until a train three hours later due to a different route. Yes, I had half anticipated this, but was still disappointed. I got back on the metro and went to get a coffee or two; I returned later, in time for my train, but this time was stopped by a ticket inspector while exiting the metro. I had accidentally double punched my last ticket…so owed him ten euros in the local currency…which I didn’t have on me as I was about to leave the city.

We had a rather heated debate because I wasn’t about to give him half the money with no receipt, though it later occurred to me that this might have been a subtle attempt on his part to organize a bribe. He had started speaking English but then stopped when I proved to be stubborn. He ended up recording my passport number then letting me go off to the ATM to get the money. I did in fact come back and pay him, much to his surprise, I expect.

I made the train and made it home without further ado.

The moral of this story is, there are lots of surprises in store abroad. I made several mistakes here, some of which would have been avoided if I’d planned in advance or simply been more careful or thorough; others might have been lessened if I spoke the local language (though I think it’s safe to reveal here that this mystery city was Budapest, and Hungarian is a tough one to crack). I won’t try to tell you I was cool through it all – but fortunately I’ve learned to get over stuff like this in a hurry.

(If you missed part 1 it’s here.)