Day three it’s time to learn something about getting around.
First attempt: Go online, get the app, purchase a one-month pass apiece. Of course that didn’t work because for some reason my credit card was rejected. I suspect I’m the reason, but I prefer to blame the app.
So we walked to the nearest metro stop, read the instructions, bought 10 tickets. Given our track record we figured we might need all 10 to get to our first destination. We asked the nearest person “Now what?” He told us which trolley to catch and of course we caught the opposite, thinking we knew better. He also told us how to validate our tickets, which was handy because if you don’t, it turns out, a random check could get you heavily fined. Fine.
The trolleys are quick, with comfortable seats for those lucky enough to get one, and comfortable thingies to hold onto for those who don’t. We had no idea where we were going until I opened the app and sure enough, it had a map that located us and our destination, which was only partially useful because we didn’t have a clue what that destination actually was. The saving grace was that we assumed the train would come back the same way, so no matter where we were going, we’d end up back where we started.
We apparently got to the end of the line, because everyone but us got off. It’s a little conspicuous being the only people on a trolley that isn’t going anywhere, but since we had all the time in the world, we stayed put and soon it started filling back up, reversed direction, and whisked us back up the line. We have since committed to a rule of thumb: If the trolley stops and everyone but us gets off, we should get off too.
It was time to get a little more sophisticated. On the app, we could plan a trip by picking a destination. It would show us several options, none of which meant anything to us, for getting there with estimated times depending on how much we wanted to walk vs use the metro. We chose the Ethnography Museum as a destination because we’re so new that we actually don’t know many places we’d want to end up at. Predictably, we missed a crucial transfer and ended up walking 30 minutes instead of riding.
Since we were there, we decided to check out the museum, an architectural wonder shaped like a huge barge or boat or a long piece of baclava that sank in the middle. It’s intriguingly beautiful and Hungary boasts that it’s the first purpose-built museum of its kind in Europe. I haven’t Googled to see if that’s true, but really, can 1,800,000 Budapestians be wrong?
I told the ticket person that we were from the U.S. and that we wanted the senior discount. He said that the discount only applied to members of the EU, so I told him I was sorry I hadn’t been clear and we were actually from France. He thought that was funny, but not funny enough to get a discount.
After an hour and a half during which we marveled at how nice the museum was and how sparse the exhibits seemed, we were told that it wasn’t finished and it will really open in the fall. Oh well, we had a splendid time interpreting, misinterpreting, and reinterpreting the exhibits that were there. The ones with no translations into English were especially easy to misinterpret.
Of note was a hall with a long mural exhibiting 375 or so portraits of people from all over the world. It was touching, really, to see the diversity and to think to myself, “All of these people, in all of their various clothing and customs and experiences and worldviews, are my people. We are all together in this project of living the best lives we can.”
We got our warm fuzzy of the day when we asked one of the staff some questions about the museum, and Nora told him how nice it was. He asked her, “Are you from North America?” When she answered “Yes,” he said, “I thought so, because North Americans are always so happy and positive.”
I’m not going to say our first ventures in the metro were a complete failure. Maybe C-. Suffice it to say that we walked all the way back home rather than trying to figure out which bus would take us where. It turns out that when you want to get to a place you want to get to, you have to know more than we did.
Besides, we were getting rather hungry and figured we wouldn’t be able to dive into whatever eatery looked inviting if we were on a bus. It being 5:00 and all, we joined a throng of rush-hour workers walking, biking, scootering, driving, and lining up for buses and trains, and felt like we were part of the mass of humanity in the pictures. And the inexpensive Turkish diner was an excellent choice.
We used up so many of our tickets that the next time we purchased a monthly pass for something like $20.00. Since then we have learned that seniors are allowed to ride all parts of the metro system and the national trains for free. All they have to do is show their passport. Learning from experience can be expensive.
