Storyline: 2024 Fall trip to Europe
Sept 29
A month after we took off to Europe.
It is Sunday afternoon and we’ve been back for a couple of days now. Fighting jetlag and enjoying the lovely weather: sunny, warm and dry. Perhaps the best month that we missed.
We have just dodged Boris, the storm that created havoc in Central Europe. The joy of travelling in climate change conditions. Posts and videos from this trip will be showing here in no particular order.
This trip wasn’t long planned. It was a last moment decision. After getting sick (both of us) shortly after returning from our winter trip to Portugal, Alex declared that we are not travelling any more, although we really couldn’t pin the sickness to the travelling. Yet his health seemed to be stable enough to handle another flight over the ocean. His coughing fits had reduced and coughing up blood almost stopped.
And there was a compelling reason to visit my friend Vanya, in Sofia, Bulgaria. In June, she lost her elder son to the mountains.
It was well after midnight there, when I received her e-mail. She wasn’t sleeping. Who would!? I called her. There was nothing I could do to comfort her, but listen. Although initially she wouldn’t talk, eventually she opened up and talked for hours. It was early for a visit. She wanted to grieve alone. Perhaps later, she said. I had no idea when this later might be.
Our last trip to Sofia was in September 2018. At that time, we had great vacation in Scotland and Bulgaria. It was also a sad trip because we knew we were seeing Krasi, Vanya’s late husband, for the last time. I’d never forget the way he held me. I knew he was saying goodbye.
When Alex felt well enough to travel again (not really, but I knew we had to support Vanya – A), he suggested we go. By then it was the end of July. Booking flights and finding seats at the last moment (just a month ahead) was a chance. Why September? Alex had some doctors’ appointments in early October and after that it’d be cool and wet in Central and Eastern Europe. Ha! Boris proved me wrong!
There was a reasonable priced Toronto to Vienna flight, from where we’d take a flight to Sofia. There was also a reasonable price from Amsterdam to Toronto some 28 days later. At that time seemed like Austrian Air had lots of availability to Sofia return. And so, I booked the Toronto to Europe flights and begun working on an itinerary. We’d spend a week in Sofia. Or so I thought.
We’d visit Budapest, for a different reason. And since we were flying to Vienna, it’ll be nice to see the city. Bratislava is only 40 min driving away from Vienna, and I have fond memories of there, from many moons ago (1993 to be exact).
It would be cheaper to stay there than in Vienna. And a great place for Alex to fight off the jetlag. I learned during the years not to plan anything for the first few days, because it takes him that much to change the clock. As I was working through a few options, I noticed that the Austrian Air seats from Vienna to Sofia and back were selling fast. I grabbed what I could.
We’d be only 4 nights in Sofia. With flights booked, I had to split the rest of the time between Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Amsterdam. I then booked a night train from Vienna to Amsterdam. The latter unfortunately was just a fly-out point. My Haarlem post (coming soon) will clarify this part.
The worst during the storm was finding the right information. All booked in advance, sometimes we were an hour away from being cut off from our next destination. Trains, buses and flights were canceled for days. We were somehow extremely lucky.
It was also coincidental that I booked the Vienna to Amsterdam night train instead of Vienna to Munich via Salzburg. While our Nightjet delivered us to Amsterdam albeit huge delays, the Salzburg area was still cut-off and we would have had to find alternate (i.e. expensive) transportation to our return airport.
Below are our notes from the stormy times.
Alex: Attitude – The difference between an adventure and an ordeal
Sofia, 1:20 pm Friday September 13 and we are sitting aboard our scheduled 12:25 pm plane at the departure gate waiting for clearance to leave. It’s not Austrian Air’s fault and also not entirely unexpected…
Two days ago, Diana started to receive notifications that our scheduled Saturday rail trip from Vienna to Budapest might be delayed or cancelled due to forecast of heavy rains over several days beginning last night. We immediately began to research the issue. The heavy rains were forecast to drench much of Central Europe, with up to 40 mm falling in a short time. We discussed changing our itinerary completely but couldn’t find last minute flights to anywhere outside the rainfall area for a reasonable (to us) price.
So here we are, push back finally at 1:30 and it will probably be a bit of a rough ride. We left Vienna 4 days ago, when the temperatures had eased from the mid-30’s Celsius we’d experienced since our arrival in Europe two weeks ago, to the mid twenties. Four days later we are returning to a deluge, high winds and 7 degrees. Apparently, they’ve had to close down the second runway in Vienna and we’re lucky (?!?) to get a landing slot. Remember…attitude.
When we arrive in Vienna we need to find ground transport to the central railway station, about 15 minutes away, then dash about 200 metres to our hotel. Uber maybe? But I bet prices will be through the roof. We’ll see.
1:37 and we’re in the air. 80 minutes from now we’ll see what kind of adventure we’ve had so far today.
2:14 Austrian Air provides decent meals even on short-haul flights. At home a 90-minute flight may include a drink and a bag of peanuts. On our Vienna-Sofia flight we had poached salmon and cake. This flight included a chicken pasta dish and cake. After we were served it got a bit bumpy and I was chuckling to myself about how amusing it would be for someone watching me have difficulty aiming my fork to my mouth without poking my eyes out – there are certain benefits to wearing glasses that I’ve never before realized. The drawback to being served a full meal on such a short flight is that one is a bit rushed. It feels like “here’s your meal sir. Inhale. Can I have your tray back now? We’re about to land.” Then they offer you a nice golf ball-sized Lindor chocolate. Who needs the rest, anyway?
2:24 descending. It’s as rough as many of our roads in Toronto.
2:15 (huh?) We gained an hour in Vienna. The descent was pretty bumpy at times but the pilot landed so smoothly that it deserved an ovation. What he got from me through was a request for our flight attendant to thank him.
2:38. Sitting in the airport train station waiting for our 15-minute ride to the central rail station (Hauptbahnhoff). Deplaning was a bit unpleasant since we were deposited on the apron into a shuttle bus. But it wasn’t too bad. The huge lineup at the ÖBB ticket office in the terminal quickly resolved itself as large groups departed together. 9 Euros on the credit card and we had tickets to our final stop for today. We’ll probably pick up something for dinner at the station so we won’t have to venture out into the storm once we’ve ensconced ourselves in our room for the night. We’ll still have to sort out tomorrow’s schedule once we find out if our Budapest train will run. Attitude always gets one through!
Saturday 10 am. We were lashed by driving rain and gale-force winds in the 7 degree Celsius morning. Fortunately, it was only 200 metres or so to the train station entrance. Pausing to catch our breath inside the station we prepared to head up to platform level. We were early for the train and wanted to get sandwiches for the trip. Unfortunately, all the services were at the other end of the platforms and could not be reached from inside. Well, I thought, there will be wind-breaking walls at either side of the platforms area. Nope. And to top it off we had to walk into the teeth of the gale to reach the stairs down. In the end we got our sandwiches and, checking the departures board, found that the train would be late.
A little late, that is, and not entirely unexpected since this area of Europe was being hammered and reports of severe flooding and several deaths were coming in. We finally arrived in Budapest about 90 minutes late. So far this trip, every intercity carrier has had similar delays. Not that we cared so much. We have plenty of time and no schedule to keep here.
Sept 18
Lots of excitement and turbulence during this trip. We thought a strike by Air Canada pilots might strand us in Amsterdam. It was Boris, though, who put in question our train trips. When in Sofia some news began trickling in. Some storm was coming our way. The flight from Vienna on Sept. 13 was delayed. An hour later Austrian Air eventually landed in Sofia. Disembarking, catering, boarding and off we went. Landed in Vienna right into the height of the storm. Kudos to the pilots for the very smooth landing. Not that we actually understood at that time the magnitude of it all. The damages, the cancelled trains, buses, boats, and flights. The flooded cities. Our friend Milan, who had surprised us by waiting for us upon arrival at Sofia Airport, also saw us off. Friday the 13th he said. I don’t think that at the time anyone knew the chaos that would follow. Deplaning onto the tarmac (no airbridge for a dry exit) we dreaded the stairs, the blustering winds, and the rain. Have you ever wondered how your checked luggage gets lost? In the middle of taxiing, I noticed 2 bags fallen off some luggage cart, right there on a tarmac. Other carts were driving around, but in that weather, no one seemed to care about lost bags.
We didn’t know if the trains from the airport to the city will run. Had a hotel booked for the night by Vienna central station. The next day we were taking the train to Budapest.
Luckily, we got on one of the last trains from the airport to the central station. Usually booking a train online well in advance is much cheaper. But this time I waited to the last moment. Just because I didn’t know the exact time of our arrival, and as it happened an earlier train would have been a waste due to the delay. The next day, Sept. 14, our train to Budapest departed. Many trains to many destinations were cancelled, but again we were lucky.
Although when we were stopped for “operational reasons” just before Tatabanya, Hungary, we wondered if this would be it.
Big delay but we were safe. Or so we thought.
When Alex posted the video Dodging Boris, we didn’t know how close we were to it all. Because of my fond, but vague memories from 1978, when I was in Budapest, I had booked a week there. We’d have time to see more of it.
Well, we may need to re-visit it, but not because of Boris (although it also had something to do with it). More on this in my Budapest post.
Sept 20
I’d say we were just lucky with our travel dates and itinerary. I had thought of taking the train from Vienna to Salzburg and Munich, but the dates did not work out. A lucky coincidence, because even now, Sept 20, trains to Salzburg don’t run. I just received an e-mail from the Austrian train service site ÖBB. Our train tomorrow seems to be running. Hope also on time. (Ha, good luck with this one)
The Danube River breached the city’s quays on September 17, sparking urgent flood defense preparations throughout the Hungarian capital, Budapest!
Didn’t pay much attention to the news until yesterday morning, when walking on the Buda side we saw the river rising towards road height and the road closed for cars. Crews were filling sandbags in key locations. In the evening, we went to take just a few photos. This is when water was already spilling onto the road. And another two metres of rise is forecast to crest on our scheduled departure date. At the moment, no trains or bus services between Budapest and Vienna. Wish us luck.
Did I say it was hard to obtain information in any language. Below is a quote we found:
Read Brandon Wright, our Meteorologist & Solutions Operations Team Lead’s summary of how ICEYE’s radar satellite constellation helps disaster response in the affected regions.
“Storm Boris has been “stuck” over Central and Eastern Europe since September 12, cut off from the primary jet stream flow. Boris, tapping into the warm and humid air over the Mediterranean Sea, generated prolific rainfall across parts of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Austria,” explains Brandon.
…………
“The Danube has also seen flooding issues, including around Vienna and Bratislava. In addition, Boris brought early-season snow to the higher elevations of the Alps, with nearly 1m of snowfall observed. This will melt in the coming days and prolong river flooding in the region through late September.”
Sept. 21
Looks like our tarin to Vienna is on.
We checked out of our Budapest accommodation at 11am. We had plenty of time to wander to the train station. Hurried on our way in we didn’t notice if there was food or anything in the station. But I had read somewhere that it was pretty basic. Arriving in its vicinity we decided to find a café or so (No Starbucks or McDonalds, thank you very much).
Mr. Google in hand Alex found as a small café on a quiet street. I had a croissants and espresso and Alex had tea and really good warm sandwich. I’d take two more croissants to be eaten in the train. Glad I did. As we departed the train station a service lady from the buffet arrived and began selling coffee and drinks. After she distributed the drinks, and ppl actually began sipping them she announced that she had no wifi and could only accept cash. In euros. Some peoples in front of us didn’t have cash. In a typical German manner, she said that if they couldn’t pay she could not serve it to them and too the already used cups of coffees and other drinks. What in the world? What is she going to do with half used drinks but pore them out. It wasn’t passengers’ fault that she didn’t announce first that she only accepted cash!
The train usually goes to München via Saltzburg and Vienna Hbf is just a stop. This time however Vienna is the final stop. No major trains are running to Saltzburg. The conductor said that they are trying to send a train towards München every now and then via slower train lines.
We arrived at Vienna Central Station with some delay, but we had plenty of time for our night train. We’ve spent enough time at this train station already. Last visit to the gift stores, some gift purchases, then with our Nightjet (that’s how they name the sleeper trains) we had access to a lounge. Not much there, just coffee, some tea and some non-alcoholic drinks. A small muffin. We informed ourselves about it and decided to have some dinner in the food court.
We are on our final leg to The Nederlands. Our Nightjet departed on time albeit with a mad rush for a late platform change due to another delayed train from Budapest. Then settle down for the evening and the night.
Sept 22
Arrived at the Amsterdam Central Station with big delay because of the water and, believe it or not, Octoberfest, according to our train attendant. Fingers crossed no more storms before we fly out.
And yes, we had a perfect flight back to Toronto. Almost no turbulence, clear skies and sunny weather upon landing.
Climate change: this trip for us was a bit of a lark with some moments of uncertainty. We recognize that others’ lives were severely damaged or ended by Storm Boris and by other major weather disasters that are increasing in frequency and magnitude. Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring, but we wish for health, safety and perhaps a bit of adventure to all who read this.
Join the conversation around our e-Table