While we were still in the states we reserved a "double" in a sleeper car (rather than a "couchette" where we'd have to sleep separated in gender-specific cars with 3 to 5 other travelers. The conductor didn't speak English and seemed a little annoyed when we didn't understand his instructions. We did find our compartment, though, which had three single fold-down bunks along one side of a regular railway compartment. The other side had a small washbasin, but no toilet. The conductor took our tickets (which made me really nervous; I pictured being stuck in Budapest without our railpass) and folded down the middle bunk, since the top bunk was really high--about a foot to the ceiling). We went to sleep pretty easily; the motion of the train was pretty restful, but stops and starts meant that we woke up more than normal through the night.
I woke up for good about 5:00 AM (fret, fret, fret about the tickets) and got up and got dressed. This actually worked out pretty well since there wasn't room in the compartment for both Kathy and I to get dressed at the same time.
We were scheduled to arrive in Budapest a little after 9:00 AM, so Kathy got up around 7:30. Just as she started getting ready, the conductor knocked on the door and said (we thought), "Breakfast, 5 minutes." Five minutes later, there was another knock at the door, but it wasn't breakfast but a policeman checking our passports. Then, just a few minutes later, there was a third knock (all this time, Kathy is trying to get dressed). This wasn't breakfast either, but an immigration control officer stamping our passports. Interestingly, we didn't have any passport formalities when we stopped briefly in Vienna at 3:00 AM.
We never were able to find a dining car with breakfast, so maybe the conductor was saying something entirely different. (I think that we'll probably get better at this as we gain a little experience.)
We finally pulled into Budapest's Keleti station a little after 9:00. The station looks a lot different, maybe more "Eastern European" than those in Germany (at least those we've seen). There were a lot of solicitors (taxis, tours, money exchange, etc.) approaching all of the departing passengers, and it took a little more effort to make our way into the station itself.
Once we did, I stopped by the bank recommended in our guidebook to withdraw 20,000 Hungarian Forints, which is a little less than $100. The ATM gave me two 10,000 Ft bills, so I went into the bank itself to get some smaller denomination bills. There were no other customers in the bank, but rather than just approach one of the tellers, you're expected to take a number, and then wait until your number is called. Later on, walking through the mall, we saw some really long lines (at the mobile phone store) so I guess that this system helps to avoid chaos when more customers arrive. I also noticed that instead of discarding the service numbers, each teller kept them in a box on their desk, so maybe they have to turn them in as a kind of proof of productivity.
While we were still back in the states, Kathy arranged with Angie Vandenburgh from the Calvary Chapel Conference Center in Vajta to meet us at the station and to show us around Budapest. We were planning to stay at Vajta, which is about a two-hour drive south of the city, and so we weren't sure if we'd have another chance to see the city. Since we didn't specify a meeting place, we looked around a bit, and they found us after about fifteen minutes.
Angie brought along Gwyn Walsh, who actually knows how to get around Budapest, including the mysteries of the Metro, to act as our guide. We started out by driving to the West End mall, which is a modern South Coast Plaza style mall, and a safe place to park the car. We all got some rolls and coffee in the mall (since Kathy and I hadn't been able to figure out breakfast on the train) and then we took off for the Metro.
Gwyn was certainly a Godsend; I can't imagine trying to navigate the Budapest public transportation system on our own, even with a guidebook. There are three mail Metro lines, along with a multitude of bus routes. You use the same ticket for any form of transportation, but each ticket allows you one ride on one vehicle. If you have to change subway lines, or hop on a bus, you have to use another ticket. We bought two books of ten tickets (for the four of us) and used them to ride two subways and one bus. We had room to sit on the bus, but the subway was absolutely packed, sardine-style standing room only.
Our first stop was Castle Hill in the Buda (hilly) part of the city. We started out at the Mathias church, the best known church in Budapest. There's a tour you can take of the interior, but we were pressed for time so we just looked around the outside, visiting the statue of St. Stephen. This isn't the saint from the Book of Acts, but Hungary's first Christian king from the year 1000.From the church, we walked south a couple hundred yards to the Royal Palace (Kiralyi Palota), which has been destroyed and rebuilt at least three times since it was originally built by King Matyas Corvinus in the 1400s. The current palace is a post WWII reconstruction.
In front of the palace is a large statue of the legendary Turul bird which lead the Hungarian people to their current homeland. Most of us, though, are more impressed by the view of the Hungarian parliament, across the Danube on the Pest side of town. In fact, it looked so good to us we hiked down the mountain and crossed the river on the Elizabeth bridge.
The Pest side of the river is lined with modern five-star hotels like the Four Seasons, and trendy restaurants. From here, you can look back across the river to Castle Hill on the Buda side. Pest is also home to the Vaci Utca pedestrian boulevard, which is nice, but actually a little touristy (and pricey).A few blocks away from the Vaci Utca, though, is the Central Kavehas, where Gwyn lead us for lunch. This is a traditional, "grand style" cafe, directly across from the University library. It's reportedly popular with students and professors. The whole place (upstairs and downstairs) has an elegant 19th century ambiance. Both Gwyn and I had a meat goulash with a fried egg and sausage, while Kathy and Angie tried the French onion soup in a rye bread bowl. All of our food was really great.
After lunch we headed back underground and used our last tickets to ride the metro back to the mall. We picked up the car and headed down to Vajta around 2:30 PM. Vajta is located about two hours south of Budapest, and, on the way, we stopped at a huge French hypermarket, Auchan. This is kind of like a high-quality version of Walmart, with greater variety. Kathy got some lip gloss and hairspray, I picked up some soda and mineral water, and Gwyn and Angie did their family shopping.
We finally got to Vajta around 5:30 PM. Kathy and I were shown to our room in the Maranatha Lodge (which all the students and staff just call the "U shape"). The facility at Vajta actually houses several different organizations. The Calvary Chapel Bible School Europe (where Judah went to school for one semester) is a two-year, four-semester program in conjunction with CCBC in Murrieta. The school has about 90 full-time students this semester, about half American and half European or African. Most of the European students are from Hungary or other nearby countries like Croatia or Serbia. The African students are from Nigeria and from Ethiopia.
In addition to the Bible School, Vajta houses a mission training program, a K-12 Christian academy, and the short-term Vision for Life and Summer of Service programs. The Conference Center also supports itself by hosting conferences and retreats for different churches throughout Hungary and Eastern Europe (not just Calvary Chapels).
Almost as soon as we arrived, we sat down with the students and staff and had dinner. After dinner there was a Koinonia evening fellowship. Kathy and I stayed for the worship and teaching, but couldn't stay up afterwards, since we were pretty tired from the trip. We excused ourselves, turned in and fell fast asleep.
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