5:30am came pretty quickly. We were packed already so we got dressed, loaded up and down to the taxis stand for a trip to the train station. At the taxi line, all the cars were tiny and as I asked each one, they appeared disinterested in dealing with our luggage. Finally, a guy pulls up and puts one case in the trunk, one in the back seat with me and Mom rides up front. Problem solved. Like I said before, in this area the people have a hard time dealing with ...

Sleeping on a train, or trying to, is a whole new experience for us. We get settled in and I lay there for an hour before I start to get used to the crickets-clack, the rocking and all the other sounds trains make. But we dozed off until about 2am when the Hungarian police boarded the train to greet us. Passports please. We had them now. We're in bed with our cabin door open while they compare our faces with those on the passport. Can you see the differenc...