A shots tray, the wrong train, & a bunk bed bus

Story [lesson] Time:
A wise lesson to be learned whilst traveling via train tracks.

It was a bored, extremely hot afternoon in the construction site of rural Krakow. Deep within the alleys and turns from our hostel lay a quiet little bar. With hours to spare until our night train to Budapest, the thought of leisurely passing the time with some pizza and beer sounded perfect. That was until we met Goushka and her shot sampler tray.

With our train leaving in a few short hours we thought: “a shot sampler tray; why not!”

**Oh God, obviously no. why. what was going through our heads**After finishing our tray (or maybe two) and losing a few rounds of pool, time was passing FAST. We  then realized our train was departing in less than an hour. So, we RAAAAAN to the hostel, packed, checked out, then, RAAAANNN to the train station, only to become so lost. If you’ve never seen Polish, it is not easy to understand, to say the least.  Frantic, we ran into a very kind lady. We then conjured up all of our extra polish coins and gave them to her asking for her guidance to our very shortly departing train.  When we were finally, aboard we could breathe. Phew! It was just us, our belongings (securely strapped to our limbs) and, most importantly, our last piece of pizza.

 

“KATOWICE, KATOWICE!!” As we woke up in a hungover stupor, a woman yelled “KATOWICE” as she smacked us in the face with pamphlets.  What the hell is a Katowice? Welp, its a city. And its where we were currently. It also happens to be in the opposite direction of where we were supposed to be heading.

Hungover, exhausted and miles away from where we should be,  we stumble the train in a stupor. Luckily we quickly find the bus platform to Budapest. We climb aboard a bus with three-tiered bunk beds. Yes, a bus with bunk beds. When hungover, with a Sahara-like throat,  not being able to sit upright in search of much-needed water is definitely an experience we will never forget.

So, what did we learn? Don’t do a shots tray hours before you depart a city via train. Then again, if you do decide to do a shots tray… just make sure you know where you are going and board from the correct platform, before you guzzle down.