Wednesday Sept 16
This is going to be a short one, as this was the second ‘busted play’ of this portion of the trip. We took the IC 377 BEGA train from Budapest to Timisoara. The train trip was around 5.5 hours, leaving at 1:30 PM and arriving around 7:30 PM. We got ahead of the schedule this time, arrived at the train station with 90 minutes to go, stored our luggage and went for lunch. We found a nice cafe, had sandwiches and a coffee. We popped into a grocery store and picked up some supplies in case we got hungry.
Observations about the train trip. First, when we were leaving Budapest, it was ~28C / 82F outside. Getting on the train, there wasn’t any air conditioning, so it was really, really hot. We were in a car that just had those small, half foot windows that lean open at the top of the larger window. Even when we got moving, only about half of the windows were open, and unlocked. We moved to the back of the car just to pick up a little more breeze. I had to go to the toilet a few times to get paper towels to wipe off the sweat. About half way through the trip, we hit the Romania border, we stopped for about 20 minutes for Passport Control, and we were back on our way. The irony? The air conditioning finally turned on. I really have no explanation for that.
Finally, we arrived, if slightly late. We got a taxi to our apartment. The instructions weren’t super-clear, but we figured out a little while later that we were trying to get in at Building 1, when we were at Building 2. We got in, dropped our bag, and by that time we were quite hungry. We got a late / light bite at Jack’s Bistro in the town centre, and went back to the apartment for a sleep.
Thursday Sept 17
We stopped at a small grocery on the way home and had breakfast pastries and coffee in the apartment. We were heading out mid-morning, and my partner mentioned in the elevator that the AirBnB had advertised a gym, but when she enquired when we arrived, the Host said use either the outdoor / public equipment, or there was a dedicated gym in the nearby mall. So, they didn’t actually have a gym, just options around. My partner mentioned this in the elevator and there was a young woman in the elevator with us. We all walked out, and my partner remembered she needed something from the apartment upstairs. So I waited on the street. The other woman came up to me, and said she was already a member of the gym at the mall, and would we like ‘trail’ passes. She must have stood with us for 20 minutes trying to figure out how to get us the passes. It involved having her send the invite to her brother, who then had to forward it to us – as we couldn’t use international phone numbers for the passes. Then she had her brothers’ flatmate do the same. I was really quite touched that she offered, then spent so much time to make sure we got them.
We went to Piccolo for a light lunch, then we hit the gym in the afternoon. Finally, we wanted to switch it up, and found a Japanese style izakaya (in Romania!!!) for dinner.
Timisoara Town Center | iPhone 16 Pro | 2.7 mm Back Camera | 6.8 mm | f/1.8 | 1/6400th | ISO64
Last time we felt good | iPhone 16 Pro | 2.7 mm Back Camera | 2.7 mm | f/1.9 | 1/40th | ISO400
Friday Sept 18
This is when things went wrong. I don’t think it was the restaurant, but my partner and I had quite a stomach bug when we woke up Friday morning. I thought maybe some food would help me settle, but my partner didn’t think she could walk. I walked by Jack’s Bistro again, but ended up at Scotland Yard. I ordered sausage and mash, but by the time it arrived, I didn’t think I could have a bite. I took the whole plate home.
We both just watched TV and laid on the catch for the rest of the afternoon. By the time evening came around, again, I thought food might actually help, so I went back to Riyo Izakaya, but I literally had 4 bites of my chicken teriyaki and had to take the rest home. Back to the apartment and to bed.
Saturday Sept 19
Saturday was check-out day again. It was all I could muster to get myself out of bed and get dressed. My partner helped me finish packing my things into the suitcase. We both made our way downstairs, and we had a private driver to go from Timisoara to Belgrade. For the first 90 minutes of the drive, all I could do was put on my eye mask and my AirPod Max and sleep.
