Ahhhh the day of Trexit! The day that The Travel Hogz get the hell out of Budapest! Everything packed, travel dogz unknowingly excited about what is to come of this busy morning. Silver Star Transfers Driver, Miro, ready to lead the pack at 9:30am promptly. The Hogz give their good byes to a wonderful Airbnb Host, Monika, as the van is loaded with luggage and a disappointed Coco, who did not want to leave. However, once on the road, his ears went from plastered down to full blown radar. He was back to his job of co-pilot . Despite of the 8 hour drive ahead the Hogz were quite relieved to leave the Cinderella City.
Though Budapest was beautiful the Hogz encountered some reoccurring awkwardness with a lot of the locals in Budapest which made their stay for the most part not so enjoyable. However, there were a handful of wonderful Hungarians!
One of the Hogz fell ill with a very odd virus. Red bloodshot eyes, hard to open in the morning and tears to say the least. He found an english speaking doctor who sent him to an ER to have him diagnosed better. Granted the hospital was located in the extremely local area on the Buda side, he felt a bit overwhelmed when walking in. No surprise there. People on gurneys everywhere, lost of nurses, doctors and patients walking back and forth was not a good sight for his sore eyes. He approached the nurse behind the counter to ask where to go only to be scorned as she yelled at him in Hungarian as if to say “Go away” and pointed to the door. Oookay were his thoughts as he exited a scene from The Apocalypse. The Airbnb hostess recommended an eye specialist whom by the way, was very nice. After a few exams, tests resulted in no virus, problems or any abnormalities. Odd.
Another encounter was the supermarket. Looking for coffee the Hog politely asked a worker, "Do you have decaf coffee?" They stand staring at eachother as the worker ignores them. “Excuse me, do you have.....” ." NO!!!", said the evil Hungarian and walked away. The decaf was behind her on the shelf.
Went to the mall and while checking out the Samsung tablet, one Hog had questions and summoned a sales guy.. All the while, the sales guy was scratching his forehead and face with his middle finger. Hmmmm was that a subtle flip off? We guessed.... Yes!
Ordered coffee at a place they always go, but that day, it tasted a bit watery. The waiter was offended and said in a stern unsavory voice, “What??? It’s a Hungarian latte!” He insisted that it was the way they always made it when a sweet waitress they knew came over and offered to make it again. The second round it tasted the same, and later she told them that they switched the brand of milk. Ahhah! So it was different! The Hog was not a favorite of this waiter and of course, they could never eat there again because you never know how close the guy was to the chef. Catch my drift?
While riding the e-scooter, many men tried purposely to knock one of the Hogz off of her scooter. While walking, they bumped into our touristy pals. Not a good experience. Wising up, the Hogz did the same back, and people could see it in their souls that they too had become just like locals. A bit ornery and unconcerned.
Overall, in the less touristy areas, they didn’t seem to like non-Hungarians. Was it because they felt threatened? Was it because touristy shenanigans were something they didn’t want to deal with? Who knows! From the looks of the Travel Hogz experience, if you are planning to stay in Budapest, pick something on the Buda side and or closer to the river. You may get a little more daylight and pleasantry from the people of Budapest that way.
Along with many other mishaps they were happy to get back to cheer & sunshine in Croatia. where yet another adventure begins!