Austria Sept 12

The excitement never stops.

We had purchased train tickets to Vienna before we left, but I screwed up. I punched in the wrong date, so I had to go to the train station to change them. Agnes, the lady who picked us up at the airport went with me. Because of the change I would have had to pay more, and I was told that there was no guarantee that the trains would be running, it was a day to day event. I had a discussion with Agnes, and I made an executive decision to hire her to drive us to Vienna in her car, and I got a refund on the tickets I bought.

It turned out to be a good decision. By Friday no more trains to Vienna were running, and the border was closed.

So, Plan A had been the train, no go.

Plan B was to drive to Vienna with Agnes, IF the border was open.

Plan C was to drive to Slovakia, and the to Vienna. This would add only about an hour to the trip.

As it turned out, we didn't need Plan C, the border was open, and we drove straight through, didn't even have to stop.

We didn't see a single refugee the entire time we were in Budapest. They were at a different train station, and from there most were taken to a camp outside the city. From there a large number decided to walk the 250 km on the highway to Vienna. That's when the Hungarian government decided to bus them to the border.

As I said we didn't see a single refugee.

The ride took about 3.5 hours, and the weather was beautiful. Our Hungarian Angel, Agnes, had a brand new Opel, and the ride was very comfortable. And she only charged us 30 Euros more than the train tickets, and delivered us to the door of my cousin.

My cousin, and family, live about 20 km outside Vienna, right in the Wienerwald, or a huge wooded area outside the city. There is even a meadow with sheep grazing across the street where they live.

Photo 1 Sandy and Sonja enjoying dessert on our last evening in Budapest

Photo 2 with Agnes, our Hungarian Angel, on our arrival

Photo 3 part of the backyard at my cousins