My start went so smoothly this morning that I found myself at Budapest-Kelenföld with well over an hour to kill.
Like Budapest-Nyugati, the station where I arrived, Kelenföld station is little more than a run-down open-air concourse, underpass and platforms. No shops and cafes or much in the way of services. With a dog in tow, this is by far the best arrangement. The way out is immediately obvious and there’s much less chance of accidents on the platform after a long train ride.
The plush shopping centre 100m away from Kelenföld station couldn’t be more of a contrast, so I repaired there to wait in Starbucks. Lottie gets fussed over and spoilt wherever she goes. This was no exception. She was soon comfortably ensconced with water bowl and a cup of cream. It would have been mean not to let her have a lick.
I think I’m more into the zen of train travel today. Nothing fazed me, not even a last-minute dash to Vienna Meidling station from Vienna Hbf when my Interrail pass told me the train departed from there. Only to arrive at Meidling and realise that the train originated from Vienna HBf anyway and I could have stayed put.
Everything changed when we crossed the border into Austria. Before that, all the passengers had been lolling around doing their own thing on the mask-wearing front. As soon as the train conductor announced that there’d be a 40 eur fine for those not wearing an FFP2 mask, we all sat up as one, obediently rummaged in our bags and had on the correct facial wear within seconds. I thought I’d better make sure Lottie was legal too. She wasn’t pleased.
It was sunny and warm in Vienna, but the train to Graz climbed up beyond the snow line.
Continuing the theme of Austrian civic efficiency, the public transport in Graz is phenomenally good. I stepped off the train and virtually straight onto a tram. Street traffic is just gliding trams, bicycles and pedestrians. Not a car anywhere.
As I managed to finish a whole translation about banana wilt (it’s a plant disease, not a euphemism) on the train today, I thought I’d reward myself by sampling the local brews.
2022 and all that 