PTR: larrygator's 2010 European Travels

[Wood Dragon 1988]

I'm not much of a flat ride guy, but I must say, Prater looks like an awesome place! I always knew there was a lot to do there, but I never knew there was THAT much to do. Thanks Larry for informing us!

 

Also, I've always wanted to do one of those side friction wooden coasters, and the way the park is set up seems really intriguing and not very common at all in the States.

[larrygator]

OK, I know there are plenty of dark ride and walk through fans out there and Wiener Prater has plenty of them to appease you. There were 17 attractions at Wiener Prater:

4 Fun Houses

3 Ghost Trains

3 Mirror Mazes/Glass Houses

2 Fairy Tale themed Dark Rides

3 Walk Through Haunted Attractions

1 Shooting Dark Ride

1 Miscellaneous

 

My captions are going to be long as I want to give a description of each ride and provide my commentary. Unfortunately many of these attractions blended together after awhile and even now looking at my notes I can't quite remember everything about each attraction. Pictures were not allowed or difficult to take in many of the attractions. So if we have any DAFErs reading this thread, break out a new box of Kleenex.

 

I just hope that when I am done that you all will enjoy what I feel is the most comprehensive overview ever shown of Wiener Prater and that it inspires others to visit. When I initially planned this trip I was so worried that I would be disappointed in Wiener Prater, but as you can see I was not.

 

First up will be the Fun Houses

This is Super Top Dance

They know how to have FUN in this house.

This was the best of the four Fun Houses and cost 2.5 Euros.

Highlights include this 5 story plastic slide, not for the claustrophobic.

And just when you think you are done and trying to balance as you walk over the last obstacle, the ride op starts firing at you with a high powered water gun.

Funball was the second best fun house and is priced at 3 Euros.

One of the first gags in the fun house is this short rope bridge with an arc of water that is practically impossible to avoid.

Not surprisingly, Funball is sports themed.

More sportiness

and a disorienting tunnel

Magic Dreamland was 2.5 Euros and was one story shorter then Super Top Dance, hence a shorter slide.

This was the sight at the other end of the spinning barrel.

Just like the other 3 fun houses there were plenty of floor traps and conveyor belts. The memorable part of this fun house was on the last set of conveyor belts the ride op was able to change the speed of them while you were stepping on and off. Another never in America moment.

Calypso was the most permanent looking of the fun houses (Magic Dreamland and Super Top Dance were clearly portable even if they have not moved in years).

It cost 2.5 Euro and was the only fun house with a glass maze room and had the best tilt room but many of the other gags were just working better in the other houses.

I just found some more photos from inside Calypso.

Dizzy Tunnel

Did someone order a picture of Larry with no sleeves?

Siamese twin Larry

Long Tall Larry with a big butt.

Edited October 8, 2010 by larrygator

[larrygator]

I over estimated the allure of fun houses, or cake walks as they are sometimes referred to in Europe.

 

As I stated in my last post the park also has 3 Ghost Trains (I thought there were 4, but in reviewing my notes one was a walk through) and 3 Mirror Mazes/Glass Houses. I did not do the mazes, in the interest of saving money, but I'm sure anyone who could find their way from the Kings Domnion entrance to Intimadator 305 would have no trouble getting through any of the mazes.

 

I did not get the prices of the mazes, but the Ghost trains were between 2.5 and 3.5 Euros.

Here is the Hallowien maze and that is all that I have to say about it.

And here is a much larger looking maze, that I think was named Lachspiegelkabinett.

As you have already figured out, those last three photos were just filler. And now the moment that ryancrash and cfc have been waiting for: The Ghost Trains

This huge building houses Geister Bahn

It bills itself as the biggest and longest Ghost Train in Europe, all for only 3 Euros. At least that's what I think the sign says.

Sorry, no pictures from inside the ride. It was very dark inside and great timing on all the stunts. In particular there was a great stunt involving a broken bridge that the car had to pass.

Geister Schloss costs 3 Euros and had some of the cheesier props, but all worked well.

The ride was very heavy on the animatronics (and cheesy artwork)outside the building to draw people.

The Ghost Train portion of this PTR is being interrupted as I found the picture of the "original" lachspiegelkabinett.

Close-up of awesome artwork on GeisterSchloss

The ride vehicle

Second level outdoor section.

Geister Bahn Zum Roten Adler was the third Ghost Train.

3.5 Euros to ride in these vehicles

Just like the other Ghost Trains, this had an outdoor portion on the second level.

The stunts were not as well times as to others rides, but this one had a shocking "Bug's Life" type effect in the seats that made me jump.

Keep following as walk-throughs, fairy tale themed rides and other indoor stuff is still to come.

Edited July 29, 2010 by larrygator

[Groteslurf]

Great update again Larry.

 

And yes, your TR will make me visit Wiener Prater. Don't know why, but I've always thought it was a very small park with a ferris wheel and a few other rides

 

You seem to have done most of the rides and I'm wondering how much money you have spent. Too bad they don't/didn't sell all day passes/whristbands.

[larrygator]

Benny - I did all the coasters (28.3 Euros) and all the dark rides (not the mirror mazes) for 41 Euros but only four flat rides (21 Euros). I spent a total of 90 Euros on rides, 20 Euros on food/drink and 2 Euros for the WCs/restrooms. It costs 50 Euro cents for each visit to the WC.

 

I spent a grand total of 112 Euros at the Wiener Prater, quite an expensive day.

 

Again my apologies for posting Wiener Prater piecemeal but I have to devote some time to real work, since that pays for the trips. I'm going to try to do the rest of the park in one shot

Edited October 8, 2010 by larrygator

[generaleclectic]

I'm enjoying reading this thread Larry. Got anymore stuff for us?

[chadster]

... I'm sure anyone who could find their way from the Kings Domnion entrance to Intimadator 305 would have no trouble getting through any of the mazes.

 

I think this just qualified as the classic quote of the week.

 

loved the latest park on your journey. definitely something you don't see in America.

[triggernel]

Wow, what an expensive day.

 

Always gotta appreciate what the higher-ups do for us regular folk.

 

Thanks for the updates, and keep the good times rolling!

[larrygator]

Eli - How coincidental that you ask. Next up are the remaining dark rides and walkthroughs at Wiener Prater. Then I'll post remaining pictures from the park, since these last couple of my posts only showed rides. Lastly, I'll have coverage from my last park of the trip VidamPark in Budapest and sightseeing photos of Budapest in my typical style.

This is Eisberg, a great shooting dark ride for two reasons.

1 - it is air conditioned in the building

2 - you shoot wild animals like seals and polar bears.

OK, so you shoot the animals with a camera and make scenes change, but still cool. Get it "COOL"!

Yo, we're hanging out on an iceberg, word. 3.5 Euros to ride

Looking at this Spectacolo sign I expected a fun house.

Then I see this sign and don't know that to think. Lasers in a fun house? WTF?

So I pay 3 Euros, end up in a room with surprise effects and then encounter this Stop Sign. The wall opens and I enter a room and sit in an indoor frog hopper. They turn out the lights, tilt the seats forward and then bounce us up and down staring at a laser show shown on a smoke filled floor. Very interesting. At this time I starting circling the park again to make sure I didn't miss any other indoor rides.

So now I have to ride Silberbergwerk 2.5 Euros.

It's an indoor dark ride themed to fairy tales.

Right across from Silberbergwerks is any family dark ride called Grottenbahn, that appears to be fairy tale and cartoon themed.

for 2 Euros, Mickey and Minnie are included.

and Joan of Arc being set on fire

On to the walk throughs: in my head, in my head

Since it was a walk through there were no sharp turns and I could actually take pictures.

It was a decent size for 2.5 Euros

but not too scary, props light up as you trip sensors

Blue Planet was just odd.

First you buy a ticket from this dog for 3 Euros

You stand in an elevator that shakes and you watch old dinosaur movies

Then you sit in a psuedo ride vehicle (still not sure if it actually moved) and these eyes stare at you. Then a T-Rex appears out of nowhere.

Then you go on the Dino Tour portion

and walk across a rope bridge and see dinosaurs. Shocking! Then there was another dark elevator to exit the building and of course you are attacked by T-Rex again

The last walk through looked most impressive.

And this sign is next to it, but it all looks like the same ride for 4.5 Euros.

Although the sign is not grammatically correct, it sounds like this is another ride with an elevator.

No pictures from inside, so you have to take my word. It's a long walk through themed to Jack the Ripper with a lot of well timed stunts, air blasts and scary sounds. No live actors. Then at the end you get in this elevator. Guess what? The elevator shakes a lot. Then you get to the Action House portion final room which is actually a small haunted swing. All in all a good attraction. In about twelve hours I'll post some more overview photos showing the rest of the park.

Edited November 23, 2010 by larrygator

[triggernel]

What an interesting park.

 

Were any of the walkthroughs at all like IB's?

[Moose]

Wow, I cannot believe the number of attractions at this park, nor the amount of money it cost to do just the number you did.

Thanks for this great report!

[cfc]

I think I would've gone absolutely nuts at this place. Thanks for the report, Larry.

[larrygator]

Tiggernel - I would say the Jack the Ripper house was closest to the Frankenstein's Castle experience. There's not a "watching the band" experience or anything like that room with multiple doors, but the Jack the Ripper house has multiple levels with plenty of surprises and can be walked through at a leisurely pace

 

Chuck - you are already nuts

[cfc]

Chuck - you are already nuts

 

[larrygator]

Wow, I'm almost upon that 12 hour self-imposed deadline to get the rest of the Wiener Prater pictures posted. I think you can all tell by my enthusiasm how much I enjoyed my visit. I initially started reading about this park a couple of years ago when Robb & Elissa were kicking around the idea of a Wiener Prater/VidamPark add-on, but had no idea the park was this big or enjoyable until now.

 

Since I have just focused on the rides in the past four updates let me show you other aspects of the park.

A view of the entrance plaza. Unlike a typical narrow walkway lined with shops the entrance to Wiener Prater has many open air eateries.

and those types of cafes exist throughout the park.

and the food prices are quite reasonable, but service appeared leisurely so I twice stopped at stands to purchase drinks and Wiener Schnitzel sandwiches throughout the day.

Another look into the park from the main entrance.

I'm not big on foreign films, so I passed on this.

This is my favorite picture of the trip.

A view from the top of the Dizzy Mouse.

There are a couple of rides that I did not show before like their Rockin Tug.

Mecky Express was an indoor train ride, the only indoor ride that a skipped.

One of the kid friendly driving rides I mentioned earlier.

and the children's bumper cars

Thee may have been more in the kid's area that I did not visit.

There are the random trampolines you see any many European parks.

Games of chance, like live Archery shooting.

I also mentioned before that you can rent a Segway, here are the prices.

Theming on the log flume!

In the middle of the park was a courtyard with statues

Another freaky statue

From the roof of one of the fun houses I spotted this house that parts of the side friction coaster were built around.

It appears Terry may have visted Vienna and traumatized the statues

I was exhausted after getting back to my hotel, but most of the food places in the area were combination pizza/gyro places. I'm very particular about my pizza and don't like gyros so I went to a supermarket and bought crackers and chorizo to make my own mini sandwiches, and spent my remaining Euros on snack food. That's all for Vienna folks.

[GeorgeT]

That place looks very freaky, very special and somehow really wonderful. Seems to be totally worth the visit.

 

Thanks for sharing...

 

GeorgeT

 

P.S. A great place to visit for another European tour, right ???

[larrygator]

Ah, my journey has come to an end and so shall this PTR. I caught the 7:58 train from Vienna to Budapest. When I arrived at Budapest the train station was under construction and I had trouble locating the storage area. Since my hotel was so close I just decided to leave my luggage at the bell hop, but to my surprise my room was ready at 11AM and they let me check in. I stayed at the Best Western Hunagaria and have to admit it far exceeded my expectations. It was $25 cheaper than any other hotel I stayed at during my add-on and had air conditioning.

 

Since I was still feel a little fat from too much eating with TPR I decided to forgo the subway and walk the 1.7 miles to VidamPark. It was a little bit of a challenge as the most direct route takes you through a recreational park with paths that sometimes go nowhere and no signage for VidamPark. But using my Boy Scout skills I was able to follow the sun and keep traveling north until I got to my destination. On to the journey.

 

Although there is a flat fee to enter the park, a few of the rides are NOT included in park admission, but those rides are clearly labeled on the park map.

Goodbye Vienna. I'll miss you.

Chilling in first class.

See the train station is under reconstruction.

Even though I didn't need any information I stopped at this kiosk in the train station.

and found this 15% discount coupon for VidamPark coupon rack. SCORE!

Did I mention that it was freakin hot!

Typical street in Pest. Budapest is actually two cities that have been combined. Buda is west of the river, Pest is the east bank.

The park I had to walk through had busts of Ronald Reagan

And Winston Churchill, two men that helped rescue the Hungarians from Hitler and then the USSR.

This bar is set up in the public park right near VidamPark

The parts of VidamPark that don't border on the public park look like this

And there's the park entrance.

Prices, there are about 200 Forint to a dollar, so entry is about $23 US, before my 15% discount which the cashier readily accepts. Actually there was a British family behind me that was very confused and couldn't see the prices so I pointed out this sign. That became a very strategic move on my part. More on that later.

Boo Hoo where's my friend Lou? I had to ride the Condor (Ikarus) solo.

They had a good ghost train that was pretty long.

If you can't read Hungarian, let me translate. 300 Forint to ride (about $1.50 US), no smoking, ice cream cones, dancing or photography allowed.

Ghastly ghost train vehicles.

I head to the side friction woodie and am greeted by this sign. I sure hope this means the ride will open at 15:00 and that the Hungarians don't work on Spanish or Italian time.

I got denied on the Wacky Worm (what is this South Carolina?) and it's pretty tough to explain credit whoredom and coaster enthusiast to a ride operator whom only speaks Hungarian. Showing her my TPR bag did not work. I repeated walked by the ride hoping the ride op would change or that some crying kid's parents wouldn't ride. But remember that British family I helped out at the front gate. Later in the day I ran into them and explained my predicament and they lent me their kid. SCORE!

Spinning Coaster is the last credit in the park. RCDB says a Jet Star is under construction. I did see an empty lot but no signs of a coaster.

Mesecsonak is a tunnel of love style boat ride with fairy tale theming.

Inside "Red" found BBW. waaaaah! waaaah! we can't find BBW at Busch Gardens anymore. waaaah! waaaah!

Smurfs with Gargamel, sorry no Smurfette!

Snow White and those little guys can also be found along the way.

and now we exist the dank tunnel.

and that's the structure of Mesecsonak underneath the side friction wooden coaster.

There's another dark ride on a train.

Story dealt with some dude fighting other dudes in a war, flying on a giant bird, slaying a dragon and marrying a babe.

I almost forgot the dark ride in the kiddie area of the park.

You get in a pimped out car.

and you watch happy animals, happy cannibals, and surprisingly even the dinner for the cannibals is happy.

Inside this building is the most impressive carousel I have ever seen or ridden.

Is this a carousel ceiling or the Sistine Chapel?

Here is where the sounds originate.

The turntable spins very fast and the horses face outward and rock like crazy.

Kanyargo is the third best Whip I've ridden, after Rye Playland and Camden Park.

From Panormakerek you can get a good view of most of the park.

A view from the Ferris Wheel

This is T-REX and the ride is pure evil. At one point I closed my eyes and wished the ride would end. It slowed down and ran the same cycle backwards, a fun ride if you can get into a comfortbale position. My shoulder was crushed in a bad position until the ride changed directions.

I did not ride the upcharge Gyroscope thingy.

The Drop Tower (Torony) was fun.

I made it through the house of dirty glass in about 40 seconds.

KidTums approved!

It was now almost 3PM so I decided to eat before the wood coaster opened. Now those of you that know me, know that I'm a huge pizza snob but the pizza looked and smelled awesome. I had not eaten much in the morning so I bought a pie and it was great. Thin crust, slightly brown, good cheese and sauce. With the Coke it was about $6-7. By the way, there are two bars in the park serving hard liquor, similiar to that bar I showed you earlier in this post.

It's was 3PM and the wooden coaster still wasn't open so I went to the Fun House.

There was a parlor room, when you sat in these chairs and couches they started moving and vibrating.

Crazy black light, neon light mirror room. By this point in the trip I had exhausted my supply of sleeveless shirts and had to wear my TPR Trip shirt.

about to join Hot Fuzz in First Aid.

Hullamvasut finally opened around 3:30.

Here comes my train. People just line up in an orderly fashion with no air gates. You wait for the person ahead of you to select a seat then you pick from what is left.

The dude in the orange shirt with no sleeves is not me, it's the brakeman.

He sits in a seat like this and prevents the train from derailing.

Look ma, no upstops!

Ready to roll!

More wood to take pictures of.

Flying Circus? Never heard of this before, what does it do?

Oh dear! I rode it. By myself. People seemed to be intimidated, but it was much more enjoyable than it looks even with a long cycle. I mean no offense to the Break Dance, Top Spin, Top Scan and Inverter or any other rides and their fans that didn't make the final cut for this report, but their pictures can be found in the Park Index. I'll have one more final post with my sightseeing in Budapest.

Edited November 23, 2010 by larrygator

[SharkTums]

Larry, about the Pizza we'll have to do some research into it. I have had numerous AMAZING pizza in Eastern Europe and Finland.

 

I'd love to find out why!

[Ledgy]

^ Maybe because the most of them are using a stone baking oven like in the past? That´s a more tasty pizza than in those sh... todays baking oven! For example in germany you have a lot of trouble to find a restaurant where they already have an original stone baking oven.

[sspaz1000]

Great report! I just got caught up on a few pages worth of stuff

 

Sounds like it was a really good time.

 

 

Nicole

[cfc]

On of my former coworkers rode the side-friction coaster in Budapest after he'd finished some project work at one of the courts. The ride scared the crap out of him! He'd never ridden one of those old coasters before and said that it had no restraints at all. (Even so, he rode it twice.)

[larrygator]

^No restraints (typical of the side friction coasters, I don't think any that I rode had any restraints) and this one had springs in the seats that caused you to bounce in the air a little.

Edited August 1, 2010 by larrygator

[larrygator]

So after walking back to my hotel I debated whether to take a dinner cruise on the Danube River to see the sights or just walk around. Since I like walking (and I'm cheap), the walking won out.

 

Before I left the hotel I reviewed this list of things to watch out for in Budapest, apparently minor crime is a problem.

 

Like in several cities of the world, in Budapest the major scams for the inexperienced tourist are taxis and restaurants.

 

Taxis used to be a traveler's nightmare, mainly for those arriving from or going to the airport. Luckily the situation is slowly getting better: Zóna Taxi, a company with exclusive right to wait for passengers at the airport terminals, is reliable and works according to advertised prices; for details read the Airport transfer chapter. Sometimes scam taxi drivers will solicit services in the terminal to take you for a ride with a very hungry meter. Zóna Taxi has a stand outside the terminal, so unless you, like some locals do, have called for a cab from a different company to pick you up, do not accept a ride with any other taxi drivers. The alternatives to Zóna Taxi are to call for another trusted cab, saving €5-10 on the trip, or to use the Airport Minibus service. Airport Minibus has a booth inside the terminal and they will allocate you to a minibus with several other travellers who are going to the same area of town depending on your luck you will be the first destination otherwise the bus may go to a couple other destinations before reaching your destination. If you travel the other way around (from the city to the airport), pre-order your taxi on the chosen company's phone number or call for the Airport Minibus.

 

Unfortunately, the situation around railway and bus stations is still not regulated. The worst is probably Keleti Pályaudvar: never trust drivers hanging around the arrival side; rather, pre-order a car. If that's not possible, take only taxis with a logo of the bigger companies, and with a proper sign on the roof and taxi licence plate. As a general rule, make sure the taximeter is on (and not set to the special "extortionate rate for unwary tourists") or agree the price with the driver beforehand. As recently as 2006, many cases have been reported in which taxi drivers have extorted hundreds of Euros from unwary visitors. Smaller crimes include being given change in worthless, obsolete Romanian or other currency, which is not instantly recognizable by tourists as non-Hungarian currency.

 

Similar abuses have also happened in restaurants and bars, almost all of them in the vicinity of Váci utca in the touristy heart of Pest. You should avoid the eateries and bars of the zone. However, the majority of restaurants and pubs in Budapest are reliable. In Hungary it's compulsory to put the menu card outside the entrance; if it's not the case, don't enter. Eat only where locals eat, drink where locals drink.

 

Don't take any tip on the streets, especially if the person is apparently a gift from heaven and is being very, very nice to you.

 

Don't befriend the girls hanging around Váci utca, and never accept any invitation for a drink from them: you can be sure that they will lead you to fake Champagne, but you will be left only with the bill, and it's unlikely that a small conversation with them will be worth the hundreds of euros. You'll find the same sort of girls in erotic and topless bars; avoid them unless you're ready to pay your monthly salary for a glass of wine. Currently the standard trick is to produce a menu with small print at the bottom stating that the first drink costs HUF 15,000 (about €60) and consumption is compulsory. This modified menu might be produced only when the bill is presented. Most of the erotic bars in Budapest are tourist traps. As of December 2009, this scam is still happening on a daily basis.

 

A common scam now is for attractive women to walk up to men and ask for directions to a particular bar. If you respond "I don't know", they will ask you if you have a map and say "let's go together" they commonly tell you a story such as "I just got in from Bratislava and am just looking for a good place to get a drink..."

 

The most popular scam is a blond girl with and a shorter girl with dark hair. They always act together and ask for a light or the time. Next they invite single men for a drink, in a bar at Váci utca only accessible by an elevator from the street. Once there each drink is something like 50 Euros, but you only find that out at the end when you receive the 500 euro bill. So never go to the elevator bar (Városközpont) at Váci utca.

 

The U.S. Embassy maintains a list of blacklisted erotic-clubs and restaurants.

 

If you don't want to pay more, have your forints ready at restaurants even if they accept euros as well. The conversion rate they use is usually way worse than the rate you can get forints for at exchange offices. If possible, avoid using exchange offices of airports and railway stations, those in the center of the city offer a much better exchange rate.

 

If you see people gambling on the streets, usually in popular tourists' destinations like Buda Castle, stay away! The modus operandi usually involves a guy playing the classic game of "hiding the ball". This involves covering the ball (or small trinket) with either a bottle cap or a match box and swirling it around with two other bottle caps asking people to guess the position of the ball. The game is set in a way that you can easily see the ball's position. This is done to lure the unsuspecting person into placing a wager. There are usually two main players and, between them, they will lose and win money back and forth to give the appearance that it is a fair game: do not be tricked! They are from the same gang. Once you get greedy and get lured in, you will surely lose your money! The person in control of the bottle caps will remove the ball from their position through sleight of hand and you will never see your money back. Besides the two or three other players involved, there are usually at least two lookouts: one on each side of 'stage'.

 

It was about 1.5 miles to the Danube River so I mapped out a walk to see some of the sights I deemed important and interesting. As I mentioned in my last update Pest the east bank and is very flat where the west bank (Buda) is quite hilly.

Heroes Square, along with VidamPark, is also within the larger City Park. There are statues of Hungary's heroes in this square. Cedar Fair did name the area.

This is Saint Stephen's Basilica

The Basilica houses the right hand of Saint Stephen who also founded Hungary and served as the first king. It's good to be king.

Beer Belly Jozsef protects the Basilica.

About a half mile north you come across the Parliment building.

Side view of the Parliment.

In remembrance of those massacred by the Soviets in 1956, this Hungarian flag with a hole in the middle flies in front of Parliment.

and the story behind the flag

Yes ma'am, that is Parliment and I'm in charge of guarding it. Now back away from the guard house.

This is the chain bridge, the most scenic of the 7 bridges that connect Buda and Pest. Across the bridge you see the hilly area and the Royal Palace

Protector of the Chain Bridge.

Looking north from the bridge you see the Parliment on the right and the Margaret Bridge in front of Margaret Island. Margaret Island is a big drinking hangout at night.

Looking south you see the Elisabeth Bridge and beyond that the Liberty Bridge

Proof that I set foot in Buda.

The old entrance to the to the lower levels of the Royal Palace (The Royal Gardens) are in dire need of sprucing up.

I initially thought this was a statue of St. Stephen, but it is actually St. Gellert. So who is St. Gellert and why does he have a statue on the middle of a hill?

 

 

He played a major role in converting Hungary to Christianity. He was the bishop of Csanád. Gellért was martyred in 1046 on a hill in Budapest which is now named after him. Allegedly he was placed on a 2-wheel cart, hauled to the hilltop and rolled down the now named Gellert Hill, then as still being alive at the bottom, beaten to death. Other unverified tales report him as being put in a spiked barrel for rolling down.

 

The more you know!

I resident of Buda returning home at the end of the day. I was trying not to laugh as I took this picture.

After an awesome dinner at an authentic Italian place I found (Il Terzo Cerchio) I was out of cash for these services. I'm certain that BeatleBen would have skipped the dinner.

For those that were on the Scandi Trip and remember my sneaker situation, you'll be happy to know I survived until the last day without duct tape. Barely!

Traveling in style the next morning on a Soviet made subway car.

Made in the CCCP.

I didn't realize my upgrade to Business Class allowed me to use the Virgin Atlantic lounge on my Heathrow layover. The complimentary food was great and I spent the 15 pounds that I had saved for dinner on chocolates.

My sleeper seat on the flight home.

If anyone wants advice on replicating this trip let me know, but here are some tips. My itinerary. Even though you get a Eurail Train schedule with a pass it only lists times between major cities. Always print schedules from each countries rail sites and know the other train an hour before and after the one you want to catch.

Print out logos, park times and basic travel needs. A picture is worth a thousand words when you can not speak the local language.

Pictures and address of your hotels and train stations can be helpful. Very helpful if you get off at the wrong train stop and need to catch a cab in the middle of the night and the cabbies only speak German.

Lastly, here's a bunch of more admission tickets from Amsterdam to Budapest, including a business card from that great Italian restaurant in Budapest.

Edited October 8, 2010 by larrygator

[sspaz1000]

Fantastic report

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

 

Nicole

[chadster]

You have taken us on a fantastic journey Mr. Gator, I have very much enjoyed reading of your adventure and learning a bit of other cultures. Many Thanks!