survivor budapest

i should actually title this post "survivor getting to my hotel in budapest" because the adventure began the moment i stepped out the door and didn't end until my arrival at atlas hotel in budapest. gah.

friday, july 1, 12:29 p.m. EST
i am finally ready to leave. i contemplate calling a taxi, and actually attempt to do so, but i was put on hold and was running out of time, so decided to just walk. i didn't leave until 12:35, and was a bit worried i wouldn't make it -- i almost, in fact, turned around to get my car. but i pushed on. i knew i was cutting it close and as i arrived at the train station i glanced up at the clock, the analog clock: it read 12:55. two minutes. plenty of time to buy my ticket and get to the quai, no? i rush to the machine, have to try another b/c the first won't take my card, and then, as i run to the hall leading to the platforms, i notice the digital clock, which reads 12:57 -- the scheduled departure time of my train. FUCK!!! i start running. i get to the platform just in time to see my train pull away. FUCK!!! what to do? "drive, get in your car and drive!" i take an air-conditioned taxi back to my house, quickly get directions to JFK on-line, get in my car, and haul ass.

i then calm down enough to consider other options. can i catch up with the train? drive to a station further down the line? i call my friend brian and have him check the metro north schedule. we realize i would be cutting it close, and he reasons that i will have plenty of time to drive to the airport and park, and since it's being paid for, it's not that big of a deal. i realize he's right, and i start to enjoy the drive -- it's kinda fun driving 80 mph, weaving in and out of traffic. i don't do it often (and rightly so), and it's through NY traffic at that. i drive like an asshole, cutting people off in exit ramps, because i don't know where i'm going. good times. i get to the international terminal a little after 3 -- about an hour before i would have had i taken the train + shuttle.

all goes well checking in (hell of a long line, but to be expected at JFK). i get on the plane and immediately fall asleep. we were supposed to take off at 6:00pm, but at quarter of, i realize that's not going to happen, as the plane is still half-empty and i know we're fully booked. i go back to sleep, waking up at 6:45; the plane is still on the ground. we start moving occasionally and at 7 or so, the pilot announces that due to lightning, all take-offs have been halted. so we will have to wait until the storm passes; then it will be another 10 minutes until our turn in line. finally at 7:45 we start moving again. i am not bothered much by this, because i am fast asleep. i had gotten only ~4.5 hours of sleep the night before, and missing my train and then driving like a maniac used up my adrenaline reserves, and now i'm crashing. in reality, it sucked to be in the plane an extra 2 hours, but i'd rather be asleep during those 2 vs. a 2 sometime during the flight -- it would have been aggravating to be awake during the 2 hours we were not moving, is my point.

i doze on and off after the movie ("million dollar baby"), and arrive in berlin not well rested. i wait in vain for my luggage, which has been checked through to budapest (something i don't think to ask until after the conveyor belt has stopped spewing out bags). as i have missed my connecting flight to budapest, i set out in search of malev airlines. i am sent on a wild-goose chase that lands me back where i began: the delta gate from which i exited. (the berlin tegel airport is small and circular, and i probably walked around it 8 times during my extended layover.) i wait in a slowly-moving line at the delta ticket counter (i find out later that it was unmanned for a good 15 minutes, which explains some of the slowness -- incompetence, easily-distracted workers, and one computer shared amongst two workers explain the rest) to get re-booked on a lufthansa flight via munich. first i must go get my bags, which have been rerouted to customs. i go there with a fellow displaced american, whose travels began a day before mine, and make my journey look simple.

i try to stay positive during this time by looking at this unfortunate turn of events as an adventure. "wohoo! i get to spend extra time in the berlin-tegel airport! look at all the cream-colored mercedes benz taxis! (i realize it's more efficient to walk outside the aiport, where it is less crowded, than inside.) how many orange-colored pants (3), dogs (3), and bright-red-dyed hair-dos (2) can i find? this is so much fun!" and it kinda worked.

i was supposed to arrive in budapest at 11:00 a.m. (5am EST). at 2:55pm i leave for munich, arriving at 4. i am dismayed to find that the munich airport is awesome and huge compared to the hell-hole of tegel where i spent the previous 5+ hours. oh well. i start to worry that i don't know where i am staying in budapest and my "buffer" of saturday afternoon has passed and the problem remains.

i finally get to budapest at 6:15. luckily, there are eager, friendly high school students at the airport, charged with helping conference-goers find their way to the city. i get one of them to call someone who arranges for a hotel room for me. i am to come to the conference venue first, however, to check in and get the hotel information from her, etc. i am not in a position to argue, so i say, "OK." the high schooler helping me convinces me to take a taxi into town -- it will be faster, and the long line at the minibus/shuttle counter speaks to this fact. he calls the taxi, negociates a price, and tells him where to take me. i am a bit uncomfortable with the fact that i don't know the address/location of where i'm going -- my fate is in the hands of this cab driver with whom i cannot communicate due to a language barrier -- but i try to sit back and relax and enjoy the ride. and i do. it is exhilirating to be back in europe -- and eastern europe at that! (and now that i know how to drive stick, i really really want to drive one of these speedy little cars around on the narrow, curvy, confusing streets.) i take in all the sites: the billboards, the houses, and the city, as we approach and enter it.

the driver turns down a narrow side street, passing a large mercury hotel, and pulls over a block later in front of a large stone building. something isn't right. it doesn't look like the site of a conference. it is too quiet. too old. the street is too small. there are no signs. but i have no idea where i am supposed to be going, so i can't tell this man that this is not right. i try to pay him with the 20,000 forint note i got from the ATM, but this is evidentally a very large bill (i find out later that its the equivalent of a 100-dollar bill; i've taken out 5 of them), and he gets upset/annoyed. i say "euros?" and give him the remaining euors i had taken out in the tegel airport: 18 or 19.

i then come to terms with my situation: i am in the middle of budapest and i have no idea where i am and where i should be going. i panic a little and want to cry, and do, but then i decide to see my predictament as an adventure: i am the new star of the reality TV show "survivor budapest". i've been left in the middle of the city and i must find my way to conference venue. what fun! so i start brainstorming ways to get out of this predictament.

1) i have a phone number for the travel agency. i could call them. i try to buy a telephone card in a convenience shop, but they only have international calling cards. this leads me to a seond idea.

2) call someone in the U.S., e.g. mom or dad, and have them look up conference info on the interent for me (mom and dad have the added bonus of being able to comfort me). i walk around while thinking this over and end up back where the cab dropped me off.

3) start asking anyone and everyone if they are with the conference. i see a man looking lost. i ask him if he is looking for the conference as well, but alas he is not. he points out that there is a hotel just up the street -- perhaps that is where the conference is, or they may be of some help.

4) go to a conference hotel. this jogs my memory, and i believe that the mercure is indeed one of the conference hotels. i go there and see someone carrying a poster in one of those tube-carriers. success! they are conference goers and are able to provide me with the address to the conference, and how to get there by tram or bus. between our two maps, i can figure out how to get there. survivor budapest!

5) take the metro there. i think all is well. i decide to get on the metro. a new problem presents itself: how to pay. i am stuck with a huge bill that no one will accept -- i try two stores, and the machine accepting bills as payment for metro tickets is out of order; the only functioning one accepts coins. i go back to the hotel, pee, and think things over. i will walk. it doesn't look too far (about a mile or two or so) and it's a nice night. adventure! survivor budapest!

6) walk. i cross the danube, which provide a gorgeous view of hilly buda, and walk south along it for a while. the pleasantness of the walks wears off eventually, as i still don't know exactly where i'm going; the venue is off the map that i have. i walk to where i think the right area is -- where the trams and bus all meet -- but can't find it. i wander. through asking a series of 3 people on the street for assistance, i get closer and closer until i finally, finally find it. (the last person i asked was a group of hungarians at some sort of church function. they did not speak english, but one of the women spoke french! vive le francais!) i arrive exhausted, ravenous. i missed chris dobson's talk, but i don't care. i find out which hotel i've been reserved a room in. i gorge myself on free appetizers. i down a glass of white wine. i then decide to take a taxi to the hotel. i am too tired to try to find it on my own, using public transportation.

before i get in the taxi, i explain to the driver that i only have large bills -- i show him. he says, no problem, and when i get in, he explains further that he is taxi, meaning he will accept my large bill. i try to buckle up, but the device is broken somehow. the driver sees this and waves it off -- he is taxi, meaning i don't need to buckle up. i am so happy to be in this taxi. my money is accepted, my safety is ensured, i am on my way to a shower and a bed. i want to hug the driver.

we get to the hotel. i pay. i don't know if i need to tip him. the total comes to 2225 forint. i pay with the 20,000 note and he gives me my change. i decide to give him the 100 bill and the coins as a tip. he looks surprised and almost refuses. i insist, saying, "tip?" he accepts. i go inside, find my room, take a shower, and sleep like a baby.

the next morning i go about organizing my things for the day ahead. i realize that 20,000 forint is a lot of money, and i probably don't need all 4 of them in my wallet. i go to take some out and notice that i only have 7400 remaining from the change from the taxi ride. it then dawns on me that i tipped the driver 10,000 -- not 100 -- forint, which i now know (thanks to a tourist brochure equating forint with euros) is ~50 dollars. no wonder why he was surprised. the entire cost of the ride was only 11 bucks. crap. i should have erred on the side of not tipping. oh well. he probably needs the 50 bucks more than i do. stupid tourist that i am.

the things i took away from this crazy adventure are:

(1) don't be afraid to ask questions. ask early (as i should have done at tegel airport when waiting for my bags) and ask often (as i did when i was getting close to the conference venue). people are usually more than willing to help.

(2) be prepared. i could have avoided most of the stress, at least in budapest, by taking care of my hotel room ahead of time (in my defense i tried) and more importantly, by at least writing down the freakin' address and directions of where the conference venue was.

(3) things are often not as bad as they seem, or they could be worse. when i got dropped off in the middle of budapest and had no idea where i was, i reminded myself that at least i was not hurt or had not lost my wallet or passport. i had money, all my possesions, my legs were intact, and i was not bleeding from my head. things could be worse. it wasn't unbearably hot nor was it raining. i would be OK.

(4) stay positive. viewing my experience as an adventure rather than a disaster helped to keep my attitude positive, and in the end, it made the entire process seem rather comical and formative. i've learned from my mistakes and discovered that i can be resilient. (i wish i could have done these latter two in the north cascades last year, around this very same time...)