Taken: 22 April 2019
Today starts Budapest Week here on this blog, though I’ve spent only a day in Budapest. There was no intention to do so weeks in advance. I just saw a lot of nice photos in my archives. This month also marks two years since I’ve last travelled abroad during Spring Break. Hungary was the last “new” country I travelled to – I’ve already been to the countries I’d travel to after this trip.
The ride to and from Budapest is a long three-hour one. From experience, it is hard to find a free seat if you don’t reserve on in advance. My family bought tickets from Vienna to Budapest just 15 minutes before the train took off, and the car we entered had people already in the seats. Luckily, we found an empty private booth in another car. I found this booth reminiscent of one in the 20th Century Limited as shown in North by Northwest. I really felt like I was in a movie, albeit not one from the Golden Age of Hollywood. It was more of a Wes Anderson film.
Going back to Vienna from Budapest, we bought our tickets in advance and waited two hours at this station. It was around or after 8PM when this car left. We had a booth, and we’d watch other folks scramble for a seat before the train took off. My mother didn’t want to invite strangers into our space, but we ended up taking in two frantic Filipino travelers. Then, some guy showed up and got off the next stop. After that, some lady barged her way in and refused to have the curtain open. She eventually left with a face of disgust, and naturally as Filipino people, my parents and the travelers made sassy remarks. The train was actually traveling as far as Zurich, but we paid for a ride up to Vienna. We’d all get off past 12AM.
I imagine writing a scene reminiscent of this experience in a future story, but I can’t think of one where it would be appropriate. I also have a story about watching to people run on the train tracks at the station at CDG in France, and that gave me more Wes Anderson vibes — I’ve only seen the opening scene of The Darjeeling Limited, but I bet my mother would agree as an Anderson fan. Now this I could see in LiPs.
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Dearest Reverie 