Nighty Night Adventure

Krakow is amazing!  Here's how I started the day...could it get any better? Being the efficient traveler,  I skipped to the train station early this morning to buy my night train ticket to Budapest.  When I got to the counter, I asked the lady if she spoke English and she said, "A little." I told her I wanted to take the night train around 10:20.  She handed me a pen and I wrote down 10:20 pm.  Without question, she printed my ticket and handed me my ticket.  She even told me which platform my train would be leaving from and I confidently went out in search of a latte.

After a perfect day of sightseeing, people watching, gelato, and coffee - I made my way to Krakow-Glowny train station with plenty of time to spare.  I smugly walked past the long line of folks getting tickets for the evening trains.  When I arrived to my platform - there was no train, so I asked a nearby lady if this was where the Budapest Night Train would be departing.  She pointed to the next platform over.  In no rush at all, I made my way to the revised train platform.  When I handed my ticket to the conductor - he sternly looked at me and swished his finger in my face. Puzzled, I found another gentleman to help.  He showed me the train schedule and helped me figured out that I had missed the 10:20 MORNING train. In Europe, they go by our military time, thus the correct time would have been 22:20. Panic stricken, I rushed back to the ticket counter only to find the long line that I ridiculed earlier.

After standing in line for 45 minutes - I missed the night train.  When I finally got to the window, I explained my situation and found that my ticket was non-refundable and a new one must be purchased for the morning (10:20) train.  (The earliest departing train to Budapest.)

Now I sit in McDonald's and wait for dawn!  Tune in tomorrow to see if Kyle makes it to Budapest!