Istanbul Part 1: Where to Go, What to Do

A (spring) break of ten whole days from math requires drastic measures: and for me, that meant spending the entire time in Istanbul, the allure of the Bosphorus too compelling to ignore. Not to mention, I had the good fortune of having some incredible hosts who let me stay with them for the week in their home!

Istanbul is a trip too big to contain in one post, so I'm breaking the tale into three exciting parts:

Part 1 (you are here): my review of major activities + things you MUST do + things I thought were overrated

Part 2: FOOD FOOD FOOD FOOD FOOD FOOD FOOD oh my goodness

Part 3: My love letter to Istanbul: thoughts + CATS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WELCOME TO PART 1:

Istanbul is what some would call a "world-class city" and as such, there's plenty to do. Even with ten days I had to prioritize what I wanted to spend my time on and what I thought I could skip. Below you'll find the top three things I did while in Istanbul, a few other great things to do, and a few attractions I thought were slightly overrated.

TOP THREE ACTIVITIES IN ISTANBUL

1. Staying in a country house

Okay, ironic, the first thing on this list is not technically in Istanbul and not technically something available for everyone. But I do want to flex a little that I had the incredible experience of staying in my hosts' beautiful country home outside of the city to soak in the nature and have some incredible meals.

This is the house: it overlooks some beautiful rolling hills- and that field right there? Lavender!

It was absolutely wonderful to hear nothing but the birds and breathe in some fresh air, and the countryside around Istanbul-- rolling hills, lots of wheat fields and fruit trees-- was absolutely beautiful in the spring.

I had the experience of helping to make pide (failing miserably to roll out the dough). You can see the finished product here

2. Topkapı Palace**

It's one of the major destinations in Istanbul, and probably the most expensive place in terms of entrance fees (95 lira for the palace + harem), but I thought it was by far the coolest tourist attraction on the Historic Peninsula.

Notice I starred the name: I'll use this to denote a place that you want to visit as soon as it opens in the mornings to minimize tourist overflow. The historic peninsula (as I quickly discovered) becomes saturated with tourists starting from mid-morning all the way until the attractions close around four or five, which is a huge headache and (at least for me) ruins lots of the appeal of the attractions themselves. Every day I was in the city, I got up early to try to get to a single tourist attraction before it opened to be one of the first in the building. Then, I could leave the historic peninsula right as it got busiest around mid-morning. This worked really well for me and as a result I had a few precious moments to myself in these beautiful attractions.

Anyway, Topkapi was the residence of the Ottoman sultans (as well as some Biblical relics- you can see the alleged staff of Moses and sword of David, as well as various body parts of the prophet Muhammad, e.g., his beard and a box containing his tooth!). Not to mention the palace is filled with examples of beautiful, intricate Islamic art and architecture, for example, in the sultan's primary residence:

Or in one of the many pavilions in the third or fourth courtyard:

It was also super fascinating to see relics of the lives of the harem (women in the royal circle) and of the many servants in the palace (there is an entire wing devoted to the cooking staff, including an entire confectionary-- sultans like their sweets!).

Tile on the royal hamamı (bath-house). I loved walking through these old baths. The rooms formed a brightly-lit labyrinth that I managed to sneak into before the tourist hoard and for a good half hour had all to myself to wander around.

What I have to assume is an old toilet for the servants. Little things like this about daily life hundreds of years ago I think are the coolest things to see in the palace.

3. Şehir Hatları Tour of the Bosphorus

I pinned a day of the week when the weather portended to be beautiful and spent the entire day on a ferry on the Bosphorus headed straight for the Black Sea. That's right, for only 25 lira you can board a municipal ferry that takes you on a six-hour cruise (2 hours sailing there, 2 hours break, 2 hours coming back) to Anadolukavağı, a small, remote neighborhood of Istanbul right by the Black Sea.

Charmed by the old-timiness of the tickets. WARNING: don't be fooled, make sure you get the tickets for Şehir Hatları and not for some more expensive touristy ferry. The ferries all leave from Eminönü by Galata Bridge. Make sure you find the right pier!

Pretty cloud

When we arrived at our destination, all of us disembarked and pretty much immediately did two things in an order that depended on how hungry we were: 1) Hike up a small hill to Yoros Castle and 2) get seafood at one of the many restaurants by the pier. I did Yoros first.

The walk up is short and pretty easy.

Spring was in full swing, and beautiful wildflowers abounded. There's a good-sized highway that goes directly to Yoros, and on the way down I took an alternate route through town which got me some beautiful photos:

This wall had a bunch of Evil Eyes embedded in it. All staring into your SOUL

After a lovely lunch by the sea, we returned home. A beautiful day, highly recommend!!


OTHER HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ACTIVITIES

Aya Sofya** 

This is an obvious must-see, and the most popular tourist location in Istanbul. And it's spectacular-- a melding of Byzantine Christian mosaics and Islamic art unlike anything I have ever seen before. And Viking graffiti! Just make sure to go in the morning, right when it opens. I showed up an hour early and there was still a bit of a line!

When I first arrived in the mosque, a lone black cat was there to greet us early-morning arrivals.

It is a BEAUTIFUL building.

Galata Tower** 

I actually love the neighborhood around Galata, but the tower itself has some great views of the city. Make sure to go when the weather is nice (and in the morning, so it's not so crowded).

Dolmabahçe Mosque

Okay, so technically Dolmabahçe PALACE is the attraction that people want to visit. But every single time I was there, the line was too long for me to even think about going in. However, adjacent to the Palace is a tiny mosque on the banks of the Bosphorus. When I was there, this mosque was absolutely empty and quiet, which immediately made it one of the best mosques that I saw while in Istanbul (and I saw quite a few mosques). Highly recommend for some peace amid the hectic tourist attractions.

Suleymaniye Mosque

This was another of my favorite mosques in Istanbul (probably because it was the first one I visited). Overlooking the Bosphorus, the mosque also features several mausoleums with the graves of Sultan Suleiman I and his family, which I thought were beautiful. It was also slightly less crowded than its sisters the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya.

SLIGHTLY OVERRATED PLACES

Okay, you should still visit these places. But due to high tourist activity and general tourist-trappiness, I was not super impressed.

Grand Bazaar/ Spice Market

So in general I DO NOT appreciate when people heckle me to come into their restaurant/ buy their wares and I WILL NOT engage if someone tries to heckle me in this way. Unfortunately, in these markets (and in the historic peninsula in general) this sort of heckling was really aggressive, which really put me off.

The spice market in particular was kind of disappointing. It's in a very new building, which though decorated nicely has lost the kind of historic charm that the Grand Bazaar, at least, has. The shops (which are all pretty much identical) are pretty overpriced and cater exclusively to tourists, which kind of got on my nerves.

Later I had the opportunity to go to what I considered a "real" market and enjoyed that much more.

Basilica Cisterns**

This place SHOULD HAVE been cool, but unfortunately I went at a bad time and it was absolutely chock-full of other people, which made the entire experience kind of awful (save for a few friends I made along the way). Would definitely recommend going when it's not as crowded.

 All right! That's the end of Part 1! Check out Part 2 (FOOD) and Part 3 (love letter/cats) for more about Istanbul!

A Quick Dip in Dubrovnik

An adventure to the sea: that was what we were after. And when we decided to take the plunge last weekend and head down to the Dalmatian Coast in Croatia, fifteen hours on a night bus (two night buses, accounting for the transfer) seemed like a tiny obstacle.

We boarded the bus on Friday night in high spirits- the first leg to Zagreb was empty and we all took two seats each and played hearts in the aisle. At the midnight transfer, the coastal bus was another story.

First bus good vibes!

Second bus... sad vibes...

We rode all night and tried to doze in the crowded bus, our knees pushed up against the seats in front of us. At 3 am the lights flared on and we groggily handed over our passports at an absurd border crossing into Bosnia because for some reason there's a mile long chunk of Bosnian land that bisects the Croat coastline. But it wasn't all bad. Poets with wavy hair like to say the night is darkest before the dawn- in this case, we woke up to see the sun rise along the Adriatic.

And a mere few hours later, the views of the sea only becoming more breathtaking, we arrived to our destination:

Dubrovnik- a UNESCO world heritage site and home of some of the most beautiful sets from certain fantasy dramas on HBO, is a walled city perched on indigo seas and adorned with terra-cotta roofs. It's a city from a dream, to be slightly dramatic about things.

We spent all of Saturday and Sunday in Dubrovnik, and some higher power must've been smiling down at us because in terms of excursion choices, lodging, and food our experiences were pretty darn spectacular. Not to mention, the forecast was for rain all weekend and the weather turned out to be perfect. Anyway, some advice:

1. Go in April.

Obvious advice, but it was crowded in Old Town even in very not-peak season. I shudder to think of how many more people will be visiting in June/July/August. The weather may be nicer but is it really worth it if you're fighting for elbow room? At that time of year, I think I'd rather stop in one of the many villages along the Dalmatian coast architecturally similar to Dubrovnik and hopefully a little less hectic.

2. Do the stuff you came to see, but be quick about it...

Even if it's expensive and hot and crowded, ya gotta walk around the city walls and ya gotta explore Old Town. We spent the first few hours in the city doing exactly that- the walls are one of the best places to get any kind of view of the city and surrounding ocean.

But don't spend all your time doing the generic things because...

3. Go swimming!

Not going to lie, it was probably too cold to swim (in the high sixties). But the sun was beating down on us and we were hankering to get inside the beautiful turquoise water. We headed to Bellevue Beach, which was absolutely empty save for a few sunbathing locals. The more adventurous of us scoped out a cliff-diving spot, and eventually every one of us crazy twenty-something-year-olds could say that we've jumped off a cliff in Croatia. To show Avicii we were cool, I guess.

4. Bring your own food (and NEVER go in a restaurant with hecklers stationed outside)

We brought a grand total of five loaves of bread (and other accoutrements) which combined with occasional gelato splurges lasted us four meals. We ate out twice, both at fast casual places. Barba was a seafood place with great salads and fried anchovies. But I'd recommend Preša for the budget traveler. Portion sizes were great, food was hearty and tasty, and price was stellar for the area. I remain deeply suspicious of the street-side cafes with aggressive hecklers. Seem like textbook tourist traps.

5. See the sunset.

This I can't recommend enough. We scoped out a little rocky peninsula (which jutted out of a park outside of Old Town) that had a good westward facing view and watched the sun set over the ocean. I'm not sure how touristy this place gets in peak season, but we ran into our Airbnb host who seemed surprised (and kind of proud) that we had "discovered" the spot.

6. Wake up early.

I wasn't a fan of the hard water from the taps in the Airbnb (which, if I haven't mentioned, is twenty feet from the gates of Old Town for $10 a night per person!) so early on Sunday morning I trekked into Old Town to hit up a grocery store (warning: most of the big grocery stores outside of Old Town are closed on Sundays). The inner city was deserted. I was absolutely alone walking through the narrow alleys and cobblestones, and after I had gotten my water I sat by the sea, utterly secluded with only the chittering of the ubiquitous swallows and the dull roar of the waves to distract me... romantic stuff. The takeaway here is that I guess most tourists are not super early morning people (also the tour buses take some time to get there from the cruise ships) so if you have it in you to set your alarm a few hours early, it'll be well worth it.

Early morning on the water. This little bay (Kolorina) is right outside of the Old Town gates, with views of the city and the fortress.

7. Go to Lokrum Island (on a government ferry) and hike as much as possible.

Lokrum has some vague historical buildings (a fort, a ruined castle/gardens, etc.), but these all paled in comparison to the island's natural beauty. By far the most beautiful things to see were the Dead Sea (not sure why they call it that- all those annoying peacocks strutting around trying to steal our food were alive enough) and the views along the southern edge of the island.

The Dead Sea. It's a calm, secluded bay in the island that turns turquoise in the sunlight. Probably among the calmest waters you'll see in Dubrovnik, home of rocky rugged beaches and coasts.

These peacocks got really aggressive. We concluded that they've gotten fat and lazy from the lack of natural predators and the omnipresence of tourists with food to feed them.

Pro tip: if you hike due east from the Dead Sea for about half and hour and brave unmarked paths and rough white rocks and scratchy pines (it won't be too bad, the foaming indigo vistas will be worth it) you'll stumble upon Pigeon Cave and will get to walk around the perimeter of the sheer cliffs there. It was breathtaking.

The rocks may be rough and the path may be nonexistent... but soldier on! There's a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow.

Pigeon cave, the absolute enormity and awe-inspiring-ness I was positively unable to capture with my wee iPhone.

Believe it or not, the water down there was actually this color.

8. Make sure to have a 3-hour-layover in Zagreb at the most inconvenient possible hour.

Our trip winding to an end, we took the night bus from Dubrovnik once again on Sunday night. Right before we got on the bus, we realized that our layover in Zagreb this time was about three and a half hours instead of an immediate transfer. So when we awoke at 3 am in Zagreb (starving, too, I might add) we trekked into the city to find something, anything open with food.

Luckily for us what seemed to be the only 24-hour joint in the city was only a 30 minute walk away, and turned out to be a pleasant pizzeria in the heart of town. I cannot tell you how delicious the four-cheese and mushroom pizzas were at four in the morning steaming between my fingers. Five stars to the owners for making fresh pizza for us at such an ungodly hour.

Okay, so this is a bad picture. But it was 4 am and all I wanted to do was eat this pizza.

Afterwards, we decided to walk around the city a little bit as it shook itself awake. We were dead on our feet (except I guess for Kevin and Daniel, who had reserves of energy from I-Know-Not-Where) but gosh darn it, we saw the capital of Croatia.

Here we are, waiting for Zagreb to wake up and posing next to a giant egg which had the word "Zagreb" on it to prove to ourselves later that we have, indeed, seen the city.

At 7:30 am we stumbled back to the bus station and took the last leg of the journey back to Budapest: when we arrived at Kelenföld, the afternoon sun was shining and we were positively dripping with what I like to call "bus grease." So with the remains of salt from the Adriatic sea still clinging to our hair and faces, we parted ways to head home, shower, and get some much-deserved sleep!

An all-inclusive-comprehensive-expialadocious review of study spots in Budapest

Seeing as this week marks the beginning of Midterm Season at BSM, all of us students are stumbling around looking more grey-circled and out-of-it than usual (which is saying something-- we are, after all, a bunch of math majors).

So I thought it might be a good time to do a little café review/ranking of all the places I've studied (or tried to) here in Budapest as I've explored the vibrant café culture in the city. A note about my own tastes: I'm not very big into coffee (definitely a tea person) so the cafés that most impressed me drink-wise have been those with the best tea offerings. Unfortunately, I have not been taking very good photos of the cafes I've been in, so all the photos you see here (with one exception) have been taken directly from the café website (with website linked in caption). And we're off!

11. Massolit Books & Café

An okay café, but definitely not my favorite. Website

This was actually the first café I visited in Budapest, and while the wooden-shelves bookstore vibe was pretty nice, there wasn't a lot of seating. The big dealbreaker for me was the mediocre "apple tea" which was essentially apple juice warmed up and sprinkled with cinnamon.

10. Goat Herder

A nice place, but not great for studying. Website

The closest café to the BSM building and a haunt for caffeine-deprived math students who don't feel like indulging in the 75 cent coffee from the machine at school. The café is pretty, bright, and airy, with nice couches and tasty cakes. But I wouldn't recommend for studying- it's quite small and as a result gets a little loud and cramped.

9. Solinfo

A pretty space and quality food, but not quite my vibe. Website

Solinfo really tries to be aesthetic, and to some degree it succeeds-- its furnishings and decor are impeccable, and there are some nice spots of greenery. It's also good for studying: it's quite big and has a lot of seating and plugs. But, ultimately, it's a little too clean-cut for my taste. But you really can't complain- it's a nice café.

8. London Coffee Society

This is a neat café. Would go again for the delicious food and cool music. Maybe not to study though. Website

I liked this place. I wouldn't come here to study regularly, but the one time I did I bopped to electronic music (the only thing they play) and had some delicious banana bread while at it. Its vibe is super chill (and German) and the brunches look absolutely delicious. A cool place.

7. Mon Cherie

It looks and feels like a chain, but you really can't argue with chocolate pear tart that good. Website

Out of all the cafés on this list, this one felt most like a chain. It's clean, big, and has a ton of tables. Its decor is generic but tasteful, and its cakes (I had a chocolate-pear tart) are very good. This is a dependable option if you just need a decent place to study and aren't looking for a special vibe.

6. Nem Adom Fel Kávézó és Étterem

Loved this place. A great café to study in when they're not having events. Website

I loved the vibe here: it's vaguely cellar-like with flowers and pictures dotting brick walls. The space somehow manages to be large and bright but maintains an aspect of coziness. The sandwiches are cheap and good. The only real downside (or upside?): they tend to have a lot of events. I got caught in a random Bach concert while there. Check their website for event offerings!

5. Café Csiga

This place became my second home while my roommate was sick. Now it holds a special place in my heart. Website

Café Csiga, I learned, is expensive, but only if you order from their regular menu. On weekdays they have a student menu with cheap, delicious food available at a bargain. The great thing about this café is that in the evening it seamlessly transitions into a dinner location while maintaining a vibe that's chill enough to have your laptop out on the table (make sure to sit near a plug-- I recommend the corner table upstairs). When my roommate got really sick, I exiled myself from the apartment and spent a good six hours here ordering various goodies and dinner from the student menu while studying.

4. Neked Csak Deszo 

Drinking and studying? Who would've thunk it. Website

When one of the people in my project group suggested coming here one evening to do work, I was skeptical that we'd be able to pull out our laptops at a place that Google Maps called a "brewpub." Surprisingly, I was wrong. The place is fairly well lit with a super great vibe (and plugs!), and on a weekday night we got a project proposal typed up while sipping on well-priced beer and cocktails. Unexpectedly fun. I recommend the cucumberry!

3. Madal

Crowded, but for good reason. Great tea! Website

Located by the ELTE library, this is the OG study café in Budapest. I can see why. The vibe is picture-perfect, with big windows letting in lots of light and pleasant wooden decor, and the desserts are lovely. I had a mango-blueberry cake, but there were plenty of other healthy-ish (plant-based) and traditional offerings. The tea was a real winner-- a big pot of Rooibos vanilla that lasted me a good hour costed me only 600 forints or so. It's crowded though, and fills up quickly even on weekday afternoons.

2. Írok Boltja-Parnasszus Bookstore

A pleasant place to study if you're like me and like to study in the quiet (no music). I was surprised by how much I liked sitting here. Website

I came here on a sunny Saturday afternoon to pick up a book to read over spring break, and I was pleasantly surprised by how lovely the bookstore is. Situated on Andrássy Út, I expected this place to be busy and loud, but it was neither of those things. I spent a couple of quality hours in the cozy upstairs surrounded by books and using the free Wifi after I had purchased my book. There are only three tables up here, but I was the only one who was sitting for an extended period of time. Refreshingly quiet after so many other crowded study spots!

1. Magvető 

Don't mind Eric- he's just being weird. But look at how lovely! Website

My ABSOLUTE FAVORITE café in Budapest. It's a well-lit, beautifully decorated place with an entire wall of books and lots of window seats to set the mood. The desserts are to die for, and if you're only going to be there once I highly recommend the cheesecake-- light with an unbearably delicious crust, it's easily the best cheesecake I've ever had. The tea, too, is phenomenal, with custom herbal blends like goji-pomegranate or grapefruit-apple in good-sized pots. The music is great (I've been here long enough and often enough to hear their entire playlist, can attest to every song they've got). Also, if you're a fan of dogs: lots of dogs come here. It's a great place. HIGHLY recommend. My only piece of advice: go before 4 pm as they tend to close early.

A Szob Story: How a trip to Visegrád Turned into a Fantasy RPG

Four nerds decided to go on a trip to Visegrad over the weekend, and just like that a simple trip turned out to be straight out of a fantasy RPG-- a veritable quest to reach a castle.

Getting to Visegrád is, I repeat, very easy. You buy tickets at Nyugati station for five bucks, hop on a train, ride just shy of forty minutes, then hop off and you're there! And you can begin the hike to the castle and see the sights.

Unfortunately due to a riveting conversation about category theory and a general lack of awareness, when Owen asked "where are we supposed to be getting off?" he immediately answered his own question-- "it's here, it's HERE!"

We rushed to the doors. They had already closed and as the train was pulling away from Visegrád, we saw a glimpse of the castle we were supposed to be hiking towards fade into the distance as we zoomed into the abyss. We had missed our stop. It was 9 am.

So we got off at the next stop and contemplated sneaking onto the next train in the opposite direction, which was conveniently just about to leave from the station. We hesitated-- what if we were fined? What if the train didn't stop at Visegrád? And in those two seconds of hesitation the train pulled out of the station and we found ourselves in Szob, a completely random village along the Danube.

We took stock of our situation: at least we weren't in Slovakia! And, of course, we whipped out Google Maps.

This is what we saw.

The best plan seemed to us to just walk along the Danube until we got to Visegrád. That way, we wouldn't get lost and it would be a pleasant walk by the river. The first mile or so was enjoyable. The day was crisp and clear, the river was blue, and we even stopped to share a steaming lángos at a small riverside stand and let the crispy, cheesy, bacon-y treat burn our fingers as we devoured it.

The clouds rolled in, though, and it got windier by the river. At the all-important crossroads at Zebegény, we decided to abandon our river plan and brave the woods. After all, we had Google maps. There was no way we'd get lost if we just kept heading in the same general direction. So we turned off from the river path and headed into town.

Welcome to Zebegény, young travelers. Stop by the local Spar to refuel with chewy candies and water and be on your way!

Unfortunately, we got sidetracked by the side quests (why does that always seem to happen?) There were a few trails marked in the back of Zebegény with interesting castle signs. So we walked up, saw a few nice vistas, and ended up at a memorial which after reading the signs is to commemorate (or lament) the splitting of Hungary after WWI. Which I suppose makes sense, as we were along the northern border of Hungary.

The view of Zebegény and a sliver of the Danube.

A memorial.

Here, again, we found ourselves at a crossroads. Our options: continue to a valley path which Google Maps told us would head straight to Visegrád OR head directly uphill to another, less travelled path which had a very indeterminate final destination.

We talked a bit about our options, then decided in Kevin's words "as long as we head in the same general direction it's probably fine." We headed uphill.

At one point (our thighs burning and our breaths heaving), we considered going off-trail and cutting back down the mountain to intersect the valley path, which we knew was large and flat and easy. But after a few scary moments of being almost lost in the woods, we decided it was too late to change our minds (no way do we turn around: that would be ludicrous) and we had to keep charging forwards.

So we ended up climbing up a mountain.

Natalia and Owen are confused because we are lost.

Ah, but what awaited us on the other side? At around 12:30 pm we finally arrived at Nagymaros, the town just across the river from Visegrád.

Welcome to Nagymaros, young travelers. Admire these yellow flowers, because it is almost spring. +10 happy points.

We walked through the town and passed many country houses, each of which had its own dog (or two) to bark at us for walking past their owners' houses. Finally, we had reached the Danube again. And just across the river, our goal the castle was in sight.

Back on the Danube, we can finally see the castle. It is 1:30 pm.

We had to get across the river. So we did what anyone would do in an RPG and asked around to get some information. A waitress and a shopkeeper were both unhelpful, but then a fellow hiker (and boys' camp leader?) took pity on us and told us about the ferry that was leaving from the dock in fifteen minutes for a small fee of 450 schmekels. I mean, forints.

So, after approximately six hours which included climbing a mountain, passing through multiple small villages, and fording a river, we finally arrived at our goal: the hike to the castle.

Of course, it started to rain. We considered turning back and hunkering down in a cafe, but Kevin with his indomitable attitude convinced us that the rain would be over in an hour. So we continued up the steep, steep, road (as it turns out, there is also a hiking trail meant for walkers without cars, but that would've been too easy) and into the mountains until we finally reached the castle.

We made it!!

The castle itself was interesting with a few small historical exhibits, a wacky wax museum, and some fun medieval torture devices open to the public to try (it's fun!)

Oh no, I'm trapped! My friends will probably have to go on a side quest to find the key.

One side of the fortress.

The castle was beautiful, and the views were also stunning. But as it turned out, there wasn't more than about 2-3 hours worth of sightseeing and hiking to do in the vicinity. So our RPG adventure seemed to be well timed. And we were all happy to have not been eaten by wolves along the way.

Happy travelers

But the adventure was not over. We headed down the mountain and saw a paper sign saying that the next ferry would be at 6:45. So we stopped for dinner, took our time, and returned to the ticket vendor at 6:20. The window was closed and dark.

Had we misinterpreted the paper sign? Did those lists of times not in fact correspond to the ferry times? We panicked (well, I panicked) a little bit as we headed to the dock to do some sleuthing. Luckily for us, a few other people were in the same boat (ha) who could actually read the Hungarian on the paper and who told us that the ferry would, indeed, be coming and that we could pay for the ride to the ferryman directly.

It was dark, and the stars were out (more stars than I had ever seen yet in Hungary). As the ferry quietly took us across the river, we shivered in the dark and pointed out Orion and the Little Dipper.

We got to the train station, and realized that the ticket booth here, too, was closed. Predictably so, I guess. We whipped out our phones and tried to buy tickets online before the next train came... and then the next train came. Another crossroads: do we hop on and try to buy the tickets on the train or stay off and catch the next one?

The warmth of the train beckoned. We hopped on. And realized, to our extreme chagrin, that once the train leaves a station, you can't buy tickets from that station anymore. The ticket man was coming. We had no tickets. So we got off at Kismaros, and realized NOT ONLY that the next train would be coming in an hour, at 8:30 pm, BUT ALSO that the train we had just gotten off from as well as the next train leaving from Visegrád would both reach Budapest before we got on the next train stopping at Kismaros.

This is what distress looks like. I am holding a carrot that I am stress-eating.

Of course, we did make it back to Budapest around 9:30 pm, which all things considered is not bad at all. And after a day full of adventuring around the Danube, I'm pretty sure the four of us collapsed in bed as soon as we got back to our apartments.

So our Szob story ended up turning into a wacky fantasy RPG adventure and with the strength of the paprika in our systems and a sense of "general direction" we had a fantastic day.