Flying the long way to Europe to take the world's slowest express train (plus a wedding) - HCO

[PrezRegan]

Lazy morning today. Breakfast, which was absolutely packed, then went and checked out the hotel spa.

Stunning. A 15 metre pool, saunas and jacuzzis, all set in the original tiling and mosaic work. The Corinthia was built around an 1886 bathhouse and the spa is the restored version of it, so it's a genuine piece of the city rather than a hotel pool with a sauna attached.

Then across to the other end of town for a haircut. Possibly the best skin fade I've ever had, hair wash included, and the whole thing came to under AUD 50. They also take card, which is worth knowing because most barbers here are cash only.

Now in the executive lounge before heading out this evening. I'd expected the usual - cold meats, a hot dish or two, nothing to write home about. Instead: gourmet sandwiches with foie gras, pork terrine, duck with marmalade, crudites, and some genuinely excellent pastries for dessert.

The Corinthia takes the cake so far. Tram literally outside the door, and the service has been outstanding from check-in onwards.

 

[PrezRegan]

Friday afternoon was the countryside gastro-wine tour out to Etyek, booked through GetYourGuide at about AUD 140, pickup and meal included. Fourteen of us on a minibus, 1500 to 2000.

Three wineries, none of them large - these are small growers rather than estates. First was Optimus, which is very new and apparently started as a hobby operation. Beautiful setting. Second was in a cellar, which was atmospheric, and I thought the wine there was the best of the day. Third was a small family-run place. Food was a pork dish somewhere in the goulash family, though not a goulash as such.

The one letdown: no Tokaji. Which I'd assumed would be the most famous thing we'd try, and it never appeared.

So afterwards a group of us went on a recommendation to a small wine bar near St Stephen's Basilica, sat outside, and split a bottle of the top-shelf Tokaji between eight. Worked out around AUD 30 each, which is a significant markup but not outrageous for what it was.

Worth knowing that Tokaj is a region, not a style, in the same way Bordeaux is. So you have to specify - the sweet Aszu is the famous one, but they also make dry Furmint. The sweet drinks like a very good fortified or an ice wine, not cloying at all, and it comes in a small glass. The one we had was a Szepsy 6 puttonyos, and Szepsy is the name in Tokaj - the family traces back to the 1620s and the man credited with inventing Aszu.

Sitting outside next to the Basilica on a Friday night watching Budapest go out to party was the best hour of the week.

Early start this morning for the 0812 to Krakow. Checkout was simple, two stops on the tram and straight into Budapest-Nyugati, which is about as convenient as station access gets.

Then a lesson in checking your own ticket. I sat down in the carriage my notes said I was in, and promptly found myself in second class, in someone else's reserved seat. They asked me to move and also pointed out I was in the wrong class entirely - which was fortunate, because otherwise I'd have sat there the whole way thinking that's where I belonged, on the strength of a coach and seat number that was never on my ticket in the first place. My own fault for trusting an AI record because the ticket never had a seat reservation.

What I'd forgotten, having booked this back in May, is that I was never able to reserve a seat at all. That turns out to be a known quirk on this route. You can book second class with a reservation easily enough, but first class reservations on EC130 are difficult to buy through most retailers - the first class carriage runs through to Terespol rather than Krakow, so the through-ticket systems don't handle it and you end up needing two separate reservations bought elsewhere. MAV sold me the through ticket without attaching any.

The other thing that caught me out is that this is compartment stock. There are seat numbers, but reservations aren't shown at the seat. They're little yellow name tags slotted into a holder on the outside of the compartment door. No tag, not reserved. Took me a while to work that out, having spent the trip on open-plan trains with headrest cards. Found a compartment with no tags on it at all and have it to myself. The others look full. Ticket inspector didn't bat an eyelid so I think I'm ok! Will check out dining cart a bit later - no in seat service here.

I guess it did give me a chance to checkout the 2nd class seating - besides slightly more leg room there really doesn't seem to be much of a difference.

EC130 Bathory, Budapest-Nyugati 0812 to Bohumin 1423, change, then EC204 into Krakow Glowny at 1748. Nine and a half hours...

 

[Warks]

High point of the route is the Oberalp Pass at just over 2,000 metres. The train runs at about 40km/h for most of the day, which is the entire point - it's billed as the world's slowest express train and it earns the title.

Ahem. A point of order. We travelled on the Istanbul Express from Plovdiv (origin Sofia) to Istanbul. It took 14 hours to cover the 374km (about 26kph). Of course this isn't helped by two border crossings, leaving Bulgaria - an hour to depart Schengen - then another hour or so to arrive in Turkey (where we had to take all our bags off the train, this took well over an hour). And then all the endless stops to let the freight trains go by...

Please go on! I would have swapped placed with you in a second! (and we had a sleeper).

 

[PrezRegan]

Picking up from where the last post left off.

Are in the dining car - had a Hungarian paprikash and a salad and a Weiss beer. Pretty tasting and very filling, came to about 40 AUD.


About an hour and a quarter to kill at Bohumin, the Czech junction just short of the Polish border, where you change from the Bathory onto EC204 for the last run into Krakow. It's a functional station in a town of twenty thousand - there's a ticket counter and not much else, so don't plan on eating there. There was a dining cart for the second train too though. The second leg was the better one. I got a compartment entirely to myself, unlike the first leg where people joined partway through. Ran slightly late but nothing that mattered.

One practical note that caught me out. I'd bought a bottle of wine intending to drink it on the train, and went to the dining car for a glass - which is where I learned they'll give you a glass but not a paper cup unless you're buying a drink, which is fair enough. The more useful thing I learned afterwards is that Poland bans alcohol consumption on trains outright. It's statutory, under the Act on Upbringing in Sobriety, and the only exception is licensed restaurant cars, and then only for alcohol bought there. Applies to every operator and to station areas as well. Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia are all fine for BYO in your compartment - Poland isn't. I snuck in a glass (it was the wine from Corinthia)... And let's just say the wine wasn't worth drinking.

Arrived into Krakow Glowny and it's a short walk to the Radisson RED. Nice hotel with an interesting vibe, a bit Moxy-ish in style. Got a double upgrade off the back of status to a corner room with a good view, plus breakfast included, off a very cheap base rate.


Made some new friends and we ended up getting drinks - look how cheap beer is in Poland. It's about $1 a beer! As a result I ended up having a very late dinner of Uber Eats pierogi, which was an interesting way to do a first night, along with a beetroot soup that was considerably more sour than I expected. Barszcz is fermented, so that's the point rather than a fault, but it's a shock if you're not ready for it.

Breakfast this morning was the usual European spread - cold meats, scrambled eggs, the standard array. Not bad at all, and reasonably busy.

Then out to the Polish Aviation Museum, which is excellent and worth the tram ride. Spent a couple of hours there. Over two hundred aircraft, and the range across the decades is the thing - everything from First World War types through to Cold War Soviet jets.

Admin note for anyone booking activities here: my original food tour at two o'clock got cancelled by the operator because I was the only booking. Second time that's happened on this trip. Rebooked onto a different one at five, and filled the resulting gap with an afternoon tour of the old town instead.

Small lunch now before the afternoon starts.