Parliament Won’t Let Me In | Day 10

Checkout was at 1pm and the train wasn’t until 7pm. I slept in a little but then took the rest of the late morning to pack. With me getting a little out of hand at the Bran Castle gift shop my bar was getting a bit more difficult to close, not to mention the weight. I finally wrestled everything in and got it all zipped up. I headed down to the lobby to see if they could store my bags. I ran in to the same two guys that checked me in and they waived as I came around the corner. They were happy to watch my bags until it was time to head to the train. 

I headed out the door and first stop was to exchange the money I had in to Hungarian Forint. The exchange center was back where the casino was as well as the pickup spot for the castle tour. The gambling side of me kicked in and thought ohhhh why not just swing through and see if there was still more luck to be had. There wasn’t haha! Put in a quick $200 Ron and bailed. I walked across the street to the exchange place but they were on their 20 minute break. The odds of that seeing as the sign says “24/7 Any Time.” Well in the mean time I would find a spot to eat and continue with the day. That pizza yesterday was the bomb dot com and unless I found another place to eat then I would go back to the Kilkenny Pub and grab a pizza. I explored a few spots but nothing exactly caught my eye so back to the pub I go haha. The same girl was working the street again flagging down anyone and everyone. She saw me coming and Im sure I was an easy target, but I was going to come in anyway. She didn’t recognize me from the previous day but I guess she sees like 10,000 people a day. She smiled and started with the sales pitch but I stopped her and said I would sit for food. I ordered the trusty Hop House IPA and just sat. I had seen all kinds of weather in Bucharest. The day I arrived it was overcast and cool, the second day was raining, and today was sunny but 80% and a bit humid. I just sat and enjoyed my beer for a bit watching the people go by and dodge home girl in the front. She was more successful today than she was yesterday getting probably 7 or so people to sit. After a while I ordered the same pizza. Two kinds younger than me sat down and chatted and smoked away. Have you ever wondered what your conversations sound like to other people. Like what you talk about, how you talk, etc. The kids sucked haha. They talked the ENTIRE time about their dating life. The one who might have been from Romania kept giving the other one dating advice and how his last girlfriend wanted to fit a million things in to a day and that was just to much for him so he dropped her. And this is the hottest girl I know my man, and all the chicks are not with my standard but I get tons of chicks etc etc. It was truly remarkable and I prayed for silence. Finally they left and I cashed out. I had 3 hours before I needed to head to the train so I decided to go check out the Parliament building. 

I walked the 30 or so minutes across town and finally came to the Parliament building. Along the walk when you came to a large round-about they had underground cross walks. You go down the stairs and underneath the road there were stairs leading to the street level in all directions. It was actually pretty genius and convenient. The Parliament building is massive. The Parliament Building stands 273ft tall and is one of the heaviest buildings in the world weighing it at 9.04 billions pounds. Also, the Parliament Building is the second largest administrative buildings in the world. It took 13 years to construct (1984-1997) and had a team of nearly 700 architects. I followed the signs to the tourist entrance and wasn’t all that surprised to see it I wasn’t the only one with this idea. The line was a bit long to get tickets but we had time. I finally got to the window and asked when the soonest tour was and he said there is one in 5 minutes since you’re a single. I said perfect I will take one. He asked for my passport which I showed him my Hawaii drivers license instead. I don’t take my passport out with me in fear of it getting stolen or lost. He said that won’t due and I need to see your passport. I tried telling him that this is our proof of identification where I am from but that didn’t seem to help. He asked if I had an international ID or passport to which I had neither. He told if you don’t have one then you can’t come in and waived up the next person. So that was that. I walked out the door a bit defeated and disappointed because I was really looking forward to seeing the inside. Not to leave empty handed I walked across the street to the park to see if I could fly the drone.

The park appeared to be huge. There were play areas for kids and walking/bike paths going in every direction. People were laying on blankets, sitting on the benches, and walking. I found a spot that was out of the way of people and setup the drone. Turned it on and took of. The building as I mentioned is huge but when you see it from the air you really get to see how big it is. Just the plot of land it sits on is remarkable. I flew the drone around snapping some photos and a few videos and then decided it was time to land it and not press my luck. The drone came back and I packed it all back up and was off back towards the hotel. 

There was one other place I wanted to see before returning to the hotel and that was the street of umbrellas. The walk was maybe 20 or so minutes and was just pouring sweat. I finally reached the alleyway and it is pretty neat. It is a small alley with a cafe in it, which was busy, and hung up with string are tons of colorful umbrellas. With the sun shining down in to the alley the colors really pop as the umbrellas swayed in the wind. I walked down the whole alley taking some photos and admiring the view. It is a pretty crafty idea to put those up and I’mm sure it draws a lot of people to walk down there. With social media being about the only thing that matters to people I can only imagine how many photos and videos have been taken there. After walking up and back I returned to the hotel in hopes of find a shower in the spa before heading to the train. Unfortunately in order to access the spa level I had to have a robe, slippers, and board shorts on so I was dead in the water. Another swing and a miss. Instead I decided to return to the currency exchange. I walked the 10 minutes and luckily enough they were open this time. I walked up to the desk and said I wanted to exchange this for Hungarian Forint. He asked to see my passport. Again I gave him my photo ID but like the Parliament building this didn’t seem to work. I don’t recall last time me showing my passport but I could be wrong. I tried explaining that this is my form of ID but that didn’t work. He huffed at me and sent the money back through the window. I turned around and walked back to the hotel to get my passport. The poor people at the front desk were nice enough to let me go in and out to get things out of my bad. I went in there so many times that I probably could have been an employee. With passport in hand I walked back down the street the 10 minutes and opened the door to the currency exchange. Sure enough there was a line of 5 people and the folks at the window were in some type of discussion with the teller. I waited about 5 minutes and still no end in sight for the people at the window. I gave up. It frustrated me to no end that I tried to exchange this stupid money 3 times with no success. Honestly I have no idea why they need to see a passport to exchange currency but what do I know. Regardless I head BACK to the hotel and just sat in one of the lobby chairs for a moment trying to stop sweating. I ordered my Uber and the nice kid helped me with my bags to the curb. We chatted a bit and he shook my hand and hoped to see me again. 

The Uber dropped me at the train station. There was about 30 minutes before the train left and I saw a currency exchange. Like the last place this one had a line but I was only 2 people back so no problem. The exchange was split in to two sides. Whenever one person was finished you head to whichever side it was. There is a privacy door you can close if you wish. When the lady was done and walked out I took her place. The teller was nowhere to be found. I waited and waited but he never seemed to return. The gentleman who was behind me was starting to lose his mind. He kept pacing back and forth and then finally got a phone call which I’m sure he told whoever was on the other end all about it. The lady who was in the room across from me what finished and she walked out. That is when the teller appeared. It dawned on me that when he was finished with one side he walked to the other. Why on earth not just have one window that way you don’t have to keep switching sides? Seemed a bit ridiculous if you ask me. The whole currency exchange had flustered me I suppose because I changed my Leu to Euros. Not thinking anything of it I tucked the money in my wallet and headed to the large departure board. When I boarded this train from Vienna there were maybe 100 people getting on. However, this train you would have thought the whole station was getting on. Every single person who was looking up at the board raced to the platform when the train was announced. I had another sleeper car because this train was 18hrs. When the train arrived everyone descended on to it. Like myself, a bunch of people bombarded one of the train attendants asking which car was theirs. Naturally the one I was in was much further down the track. I quickly bobbed and weaved through the people and found the proper car. Launched my bags up the stairs and on to the rail car.

Searched for my cabin and came to find out that unlike the last train my cabin didn’t have a bathroom in it. Last train the odd numbers had a bathroom and shower but this train was the opposite. A minor inconvenience but last time I wasn’t super interested in using either so not the end of the world. I sat on the bed just profusely sweating and was almost glad I didn’t take a shower because it all would have been for not. The train shook and started moving down the track. I turned the AC to as low as it could go but I came to find out that the air didn’t work at all. That was a much bigger inconvenience if you ask me. So I popped open the small window in hopes the rushing air would cool the room off. I sat there for probably 10 minutes and then decided I needed to hit the snack car to focus on work and get some water. I headed down the rail car and when I came to the next one there were folks out in the hall as well as a train attendant. I asked if the dining car was further down to which he replied, “there isn’t one.” I heard what he said but I knew that couldn’t be true. I changed the phrasing as maybe he thought I meant like a table service restaurant. I inquired about the snack car to which he again responded with “There isn’t one.” I then asked where would someone get a water? The answer again was “We don’t have that on this train.” Holy shit an 18hr train, sweating, I didn’t stop for snacks or drinks, no shower, and no air. This was to be a long train ride. I slunk back to my cabin and closed the door. I laid on the bed and listened to the countryside go by. I nodded off to sleep and hopped that there wouldn’t be a 2am passport check. The day worked out differently than anticipated that’s for sure but knew the next stop tomorrow would be Budapest. Adios Hungary!