Navagation System Gone Aray!!

Sunday, August 1, 2010
Oh my goodness it’s August!!! We actually cannot believe that we have been on the go for over 6 weeks now. It’s quite unbelievable! Anyhow, we are on the road again getting our train to Croatia this morning. We woke up in good time to get the train station (and blow some Hungarian cash that we had leftover in the supermarket) and make sure we get a magnet for Heather’s collection. So we went to the train station and the train was already there and waiting. So we boarded and were told that Hungarian train reservations are mandatory...apparently not! But the 5 people who did reserve, I think on the whole train all sat in the same cart. So it was us and 3 young German guys were crammed and sweating in one car built for 5. Not so pleasant but they were fun. We had quite the long journey ahead of us and after Heather and I pooled our change together and I went to the food stand (that sells beer) and asked for the cheapest beer and to purchase as much as I could for the money that we had. So we got seven tall cans and off I went back to the train. The five of us all had a tall can together to start off a great train ride. So the three of them, as it turned out, were from Hamburg! We told them that we were there for Hamburg day and impressed them with all of our knowledge of German culture, or what we know of Oktoberfest anyhow.  They were on a three week vacation together and we had some good laughs...especially when the train was stopped dead for about 45 minutes to clear customs. Customs you may ask??? Yes, we finally had to actually properly cross a border. So we had our passport stamped by Hungarian border control and Croatian. It was great how quickly they cleared us although the German’s didn’t even need a passport, just an I.D card. We definitely counted our lucky stars though because there were two Oriental girls in the car beside us who got their passports taken for awhile and then we didn’t see them afterwards...not sure of the story there but they disappeared off of the train. On we continued until we finally made it to Zagreb (which is Croatia’s capital apparently). It was nearly 8 by the time we arrived and we had simple instructions to get on tram number 6 and get off at the fifth stop Slavonska. The instructions clearly warned us that there was also a stop on tram 6 in the opposite direction called Slovenska and that was the incorrect stop. However, we weren’t able to clarify this as we were out of juice on the laptop and our ghetto train didn’t have an outlet (or A.C. for that matter). Anyhow, so there was this huge sign in the train station for our Hostel Lika and the directions. So we glance at them and head on to the trams. We get on number six as instructed, count 5 stops and get off. We were then supposed to follow the yellow footprints and that would lead us to the hostel. Well to our surprise there were no footprints. We searched around and found nothing...so we went to the newspaper stand to ask the young girl working there if she knew where the hostel was or the street as we did have the address. She told us that she wasn’t sure but thought it was 1 or 2 stops back on the tram. So we walked back and tried to find the footprints or even a map. We finally found a tram map and saw that we had got off one stop too early...or so we thought. So back on the tram to the proper stop and we discovered that the stop names were displayed on the ticket validation box but was easy to miss. So we got off at the stop and once again, looked for the yellow footprints and found absolutely nothing. It was now getting to be darker, our bags were heavy and it was Sunday so we didn’t know how long trams and stores would be open until. So we went to a supermarket to ask for directions. Instead, after asking a dozen people, we asked if we could use an outlet and look up our directions that we had saved on the laptop. As it turns out, we went to the wrong stop in the complete opposite direction!! So we had to head back to the tram stop and hope that trams ran past 930pm on a Sunday. We anxiously waited at the stop until low and behold, the number 6 tram rolled up. Perfect! So back through town, past the train station and to the far east side of the town we went. We got off at the proper stop and followed the yellow footprints. I must add that the footprints were worn and difficult to see in daylight never mind by the sporadic streetlights that were now our only source of light. We did however, make it and actually arrived just shy of 10 when reception was closed. We literally caught her on her way out. It would have been ok though because the owner and everyone was having a BBQ out back. Phew! We made it and now when we pass through again on our way to Greece we will know exactly where to go. So thirsty, dirty and hungry we had made it and were ready for bed. We tried to be a little social and at least talked to the young German guy in our room but otherwise were not into the garden party that was happening. Quick stop in Zagreb but we will be able to appreciate it better in a weeks’ time when we are back.