And One for the Hungarian Forint

And One for the Hungarian Forint

            Holy shit, we had a crazy night.  But, before I tell you about it, it’s time for the SECOND QUARTER STATS!  In parentheses after each number, you’ll find the change since 1^st quarter.  Some stats are new.  If something is tabbed in, it’s a subset stat (i.e., its number is included in the number above it).  Some things were not listed as subsets last time, even though they were. 

            If you have a question about a particular statistic, post it in the comments.  We will probably answer.

2^nd Quarter Statistics:

Trains Taken: 29 (+14)

Trams Taken: 2 (+2)

Buses Taken: 37 (+33)

Cabs Taken: 7 (+4)

Boats Taken: 3 (+2)

Countries Visited: 9 (+4)

Countries In Which American Music Is Not Played Almost Exclusively: 0 (N/A)

Capital Cities Visited: 6 (+3)

Cities/Towns Explored: 18 (+8)

Passport Stamps: 8 (+5)

Museums/Attractions Visited: 40 (+21)

War Museums/Armories Visited: 8 (+2)

Churches/Monasteries Visited: 8 (+6)

Ossuaries/Catacombs Visited: 3 (+3)

Local Food/Drinks Had (ignoring duplicates): 15 (+9)

Made It Just In Time: 15 (+2)

Times Picked Up by the Military: 1 (N/A)

Andy Specifically Picked Out By Customs: 2 (N/A)

Most Roommates at Once: 9 (N/A)

No Hostel to Stay In: 2 (N/A)

New Friends Met: 22 (+13)

Old Friends Met: 1 (N/A)

Foreign Versions of Friends Met: 4 (+1)

Crazy People Met: 8 (+2)

Languages Spoken At Us: 6 (+1)

Languages Spoken By Us: 4 (N/A)

Times Replied in Wrong Foreign Language: 3 (+1)

Items Lost/Broken: 9 (+5)

Items Jury Rigged: 6 (+2)

Items Lost/Broken : Jury Rigged Ratio: 1.50 (+0.50)

Souvenirs Bought: 2 (N/A)

Books Read by Andy: 7 (+3)

Books Read by Will: 2 (+1)

Videos Watched: 8 (+5)

Times Watched Appropriate Movie for Country: 3 (N/A)

Times Played Appropriate Song for Situation (e.g., London Calling in London): 13 (+8)

Meals Crafted: 5 (N/A)

Pizza Hut Buffets Eaten: 3 (N/A)

Gypsies Fended Off: 5 (+3)

Clutch Situations: 5 (+2)

Times Saved by Foreigners: 9 (+1)

International Mail Sent: 2 (+1)

Times Tried and Failed: 4 (+1)

Great Success: 1 (+1)

Fences Hopped: 1 (N/A)

Epic Fails: 8 (+4)

Times Taunted by Animals: 7 (+2)

Laundry Performed: 3 (+3)

Successful Bartering Performed: 1 (+1)

Prostitutes Observed: 6 (+6)

            Okay, let me tell you about this train ride.  At the Croatian border, this huge Slovenian dude bangs on the door.  He looks exactly like our friend Goulet.  He’s from passport control, and he explains to the Indian family that their visas are only good for one entry to the EU.  We were about to enter Croatia, which is not in the EU.  He told them that they had five minutes to wake up, get their shit together, and get off the train or they would get deported.  They then would have to find a way around Croatia.  Now, mind you, they weren’t actually getting off in Croatia, they were just going straight through to Hungary,  Nonetheless, they got kicked off and it sucked for them.  A lot.  Will and I then had the car to ourselves.  We got woken up 5 times during the night to get our passports stamped.  We had our passports stamped more times that night than we had in our entire trip so far.

              Also, at one of these waking-us-up points, we couldn’t get the door open.  I had jammed the lock by accident.  The Croatian customs dude was yelling at us and we were trying to get it open.  Once we finally got it open, he asked us if we had anything to declare and then trotted off when we said no.  I have no idea why he didn’t just ask through the damn door.  It was see-through and thin plastic.  We were talking to him about getting the door open, so he certainly could have just…talked through the thin plastic.  But no.  In Angry Croatia, you must open the door.  (P.S. the Hungarian dudes were super jolly and friendly.  We like Hungary.  Croatia not so much.)

            Finally, we were in Hungary.  We got to the hostel with no problems except that we walked past it twice.  It is not well marked.  We settled in and took a shower (we hadn’t had one in two days because of the night trains).  We then forked over our clothes for laundry (we were desperate for it). 

            The dude at the hostel, Nico, explained that he was taking people out for dinner – to a crazy Hungarian buffet. The food was super tasty.  I also noticed someone familiar at dinner.  It was the Argentine dude that I had met in Venice!  He just happened to be at the same hostel at the same dinner at the same time.  Small world!

            Dinner was this all-you-can-eat doom buffet of awesome.  Will had all the meat in the world.  We were also with a Scottish dude, Paul, and his girlfriend.  They had both been raised vegetarian, and Paul was like, “I am going to eat every meat in this place.”  Despite his girlfriend’s doubts, he kinda did.   Will outdid him (weird, right?  Will eating food.).

            After dinner, we went drinking with these two Irish girls, Hannah and Girl-Whose-Name-Is-In-Gaelic, and Paul/girlfriend.  Oh, and we were also with this dude from Califronia named Beau.  Beau, Paul, and Paul’s girlfriend were awesome.  The Irish girls sucked.

            We ended up doing shots of this gross Hungarian liquor called Palinka.  It smells like really bad tequila (think Sauza, but worse) and tastes like sadness and despair.  It also burns your stomach.  However, after the third shot, it tastes awesome.  

            We eventually went home.   

Will’s Corner

            Apparently, Italians aren’t the only ones I can drink under the table.  Scots are all talk.

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Dear Joe,

            You’re not all talk.  You’re all drunk, and we like that about you.  RAAAAAAAAAAGE!

Love,

Will and Andy