Moving Day - Budapest to Zagreb

We have a train to catch, but not until after 3 p.m., so there's no rush this morning. A late checkout of 11 a.m had also been arranged, so we can stay in until then. That gives us plenty of time to pack up the backpacks and get ready. I even managed to fit my sneakers into the backpack and will just wear my sandals. I can't help but think I've lost something to be able to find that extra space. Changed that plan—back to wearing my shoes for now.

Meanwhile Sarah is struggling to fit everything in and is claiming I've offloaded things into her bag without her noticing. I've only hidden the heavy things in there! 😂

We need to find somewhere to park ourselves for a couple of hours after checking out. Our local pub doesn't open until 12 p.m, but Sarah had the great idea to sit in the park just beside the pub. Excellent idea! They even have seats with tables. We sit and enjoy some reading time. Just before 1 p.m we relocate to the pub for coffee (A) and lemonade (S), followed by goulash soup and dipping bread. That will be our dinner.

Just before 2 p.m we head off to the Opera metro station and take the same trains as the other night, but this time all the way to Deli station. This is where we have an hour to wait for our train to Zagreb, Croatia. We purchased these tickets a few weeks ago online from NZ—a 6+ hour train journey. Sarah grabs us a ham roll for dinner and we get onboard. The train departs without any warnings or announcements, right on time.

The train does not travel at a constant speed—slow to fast to slow again—and it stops many times. There are apparently 38 stops on this route! Yes, a bus might have been quicker, but we've begun to enjoy train travel lately.

We are in a compartment with four Italian girls in their early 20s. All is fine until, after an hour or so, it becomes evident they never stop talking. That was okay, but then two more friends arrived and stood in the doorway talking to them too—very loudly. The girls inside told the others to be quiet a number of times. Why does it always sound like Italians are arguing when they talk? Maybe they were.

I put my earplugs in. If they noticed, it wasn't enough of a hint. I could hear them less, but they kept at it. Twenty minutes later, I told them to bugger off and go talk somewhere else—words to that effect. They obviously understood English just fine, as they did as they were told. Grumpy old sod, I'm sure they were thinking. But hey, at least we all had some peace.

After some quiet time, they did start to chat again—but more quietly, which was fine with me. Sarah and I had two games of 5 Crowns and I lost both! Score: 3 to 1 to Sarah now.

The compartment is supposed to have air conditioning, but it doesn't work. We’re getting closer to the Croatian border, and lots of people have got off from the non-international carriages. I head along to check one out and find it pretty much empty—and the windows are open, Thai-style. Much cooler. So we grab our bags and relocate.

Just short of the border, the train stops for at least 10 minutes, then starts going in the opposite direction. I could see why when looking at the map, but it did make you think we were reversing our course. Instead, it was similar to a three-point turn to get onto the Croatia-bound tracks.

We soon crossed the border, marked only by a bridge over a river. No other signage was noticeable. Oh and a lovely sunset as we arrived into Croatia.

It's 8:45pm and the conductor has just let us know the train is running 30 minutes late so not getting in now until 10:30pm! Grrrrrr. Sarah is already nervous about the walk in the dark to the apartment. I assure her that it will be fine. 

It was fine although I think Sarah was freaking out a little. She commented at one stage about how long the walk was meaning too long. I told her it was our shortest walk yet. Only 850m. We found the apartment no issues and got in using the photos and codes provided. More about the apartment tomorrow. Yawn. Time for bed it's almost 11:30pm.

Almost there Sarah! 🥵