It was not a dark and stormy night...in fact, our tale begins during a rather sunny afternoon in Hungary. Having spent a month enjoying Budapest, our heroes were preparing to leave the city for Malta, the next stop on their world tour. As all planes to Malta seemed to stop in Italy, however, the intrepid duo decided to spend a night in Venice first, so on October 31, 2009 they bid farewell to their cozy apartment and boarded a train bound for Ferihegy Airport.
Between a late night of saying goodbye to all their new Hungarian friends and an early morning spent packing and cleaning the apartment, neither Jon nor Elyse had gotten much rest the previous evening. Both fell asleep almost immediately upon boarding the train.
But fear not, gentle reader! They did not miss their stop. The train did not derail. No tragedy has befallen our heroes yet!
They arrived at the airport with ample time to check in, pass through security, and find the gate. They even indulged in a breakfast of grilled cheese with ham, and managed to make somewhat-respectable mimosas with orange juice and a lilliputian bottle of champagne found in one of the terminal's shops. When they tried to board the plane, however, things took a turn for the worse...
Claiming that they were carrying one bag too many, the two flight attendants scanning boarding passes refused to let them on the plane! Jon and Elyse pointed out that no one had mentioned this at either the check-in desk (despite the fact that the same two people were the ones who had checked them in) or security, and that holding the plane while arguing with them was clearly a much more disadvantageous situation for all parties involved than simply letting them aboard. A "manager" was called, and she claimed that she could do nothing but call someone from the airline (which apparently does not actually have any personnel working in the airport, because that would just be silly...) and ask for permission to let them on the plane.
Said permission was denied. More arguing ensued.
Eventually, the "manager" rang the captain of the plane, who gave the ok. Victorious and smugly triumphant, our heros waved goodbye to their foes, rode an unnecessary bus to the plane that was waiting thirty feet away, and climbed aboard. Scores of empty seats and free overhead bin space greeted them, prompting a few more disparaging comments about the incompetency of the airline before takeoff.
* * *
One short flight later, the protagonists of this tale arrived in Italy. They quickly found a cab and took off for their accommodations for the night, which happened to be in a small town just outside of Venice. Always industrious, they worked for a while before grabbing dinner at a restaurant across the street and heading out to experience the local nightlife.
As it turns out, Venice itself does not have much to do in the evenings unless you're looking for a quiet night sipping a bellini or a cappuccino. Since it was a Saturday night - and Halloween!! - something a little more exciting was in order. Jon and Elyse decided to take a train to Mestre, a location just outside of Venice that was home to a club that looked promising. Unfortunately, as it was later in the evening, the train did not stop at the closest train station. They stopped instead at a station farther away and had to take an expensive cab to the club.
The night went off without a hitch...a drink, some dancing, some terrible Halloween costumes. Both Elyse and Jon were quite tired since they had gotten very little sleep in the last 48 hours, so they decided to call it a night around 2am. They left the club and walked to the road, where they proceeded to wait for a cab in the freezing cold.
None came.
They continued to wait.
None came.
They huddled, hoping that the combined heat would be sufficient to keep them from shivering.
Still none came.
Shivering continued.
Finally, they spotted a cab in the club's parking lot. They hurried off in its direction, desperate to claim it before anyone else did.
No such luck. Dejected, they returned to the street and waited once more, and once more no cabs came by. With considerably dampened spirits, they trudged back to the club and asked one of the employees if he could call a cab for them. He shook his head, saying that he didn't know the phone number. Two more employees offered the same answer.
Tired and convinced that frostbite was setting in, Jon and Elyse waited under the less-than-sufficient warmth of a heat lamp and tried to avoid the inebriated and ill revelers that exited the club in a steady stream. Though they did manage to avoid being vomited on, they were still unable to find transport home. An hour and a half went by, and employees and patrons alike continued to be unhelpful regarding calling a taxi. Eventually, one doorman offered to drive them home after his shift for the "paltry" sum of 40 Euro, more than twice what they had paid to take a cab part of the way there. The offer was declined, as it was clearly ridiculous.
Finally - miracle of all miracles! - Elyse found someone that both had a cellphone and knew the number for the taxi service. He kindly called...and no one picked up the phone.
* * *
Still stranded by 4am, Elyse and Jon decided that the only remaining option was to travel on foot...all six miles back to the hotel. In need of exercise, they started jogging, but quickly abandoned the idea as neither had shoes that were even remotely suitable for the undertaking. Elyse gets sharp pain in her shins from jogging that lasts for several days after doing so in the proper shoes...no telling what the pain would have been like after running in flats for 3 times her normal distance!
The weary travelers passed an unlocked bicycle, and for a while considered abandoning their moral principles temporarily in favor of stealing a bike and spending less time in the freezing cold. The bicycle was old and battered, however, and neither of them could figure out how to effectively transport two people for 6 miles on only one bike. Physically, emotionally, spiritually drained, they left the bike behind and continued to walk.
They arrived at the train station and promptly checked the bicycles that had been left there. Most were in terrible shape, and all were locked.
Giving up on the bicycle idea once and for all, Jon and Elyse clambered onto the train tracks and proceeded to walk along them. Not the safest plan, perhaps, but as it was pitch black out and completely silent except for the sound of their footsteps on the rocks, they knew it would be nearly impossible to not notice the blinding light and roaring sound of an oncoming train. They hadn't gotten far before they realized that stumbling through rocks - and God only knows what else - in the dark was not a particularly good idea. It was doubtlessly going to prove an injury-inducing plan.
A train chose that moment to pass, and the rush of Arctic air that accompanied it convinced Jon and Elyse that the train tracks idea had to be totally abandoned.
That left only one option: waiting at the train station until service started up again in the morning. The blessed event was not due to occur until 5:50am, which meant a wait of an hour and 20 minutes in the bone-chillingly-cold weather.
Noses full of sniffles and bodies wracked with shivers, the depressed duo attempted to seek shelter in one of the station's elevators as they were the only areas in the vicinity that offered complete protection from the thoroughly unfriendly elements.
Neither functioned, apparently shut off for the evening, so Jon and Elyse turned to their last resort: cuddling in the short tunnel that ran underneath the two sides of the tracks. They huddled beneath his jacket, attempted to nap, and tried to stay warm enough to survive until morning.
* * *
When the telltale rumble of an approaching train sent shudders through the station, our heroes leaped off the ground and bounded up the stairs with an alacrity that belied their exhaustion, their whoops of joy filling the air. It was like the final scene of a horror movie when, bloodied and mentally shattered, the survivors crawl out of the cave/basement/haunted house (whatever dark location the catastrophic event took place in) and re-enter the sunlight. Ah, the hope and promise of a new day!
They climbed aboard the train and, ignoring the many strange looks their battered appearance was earning, proceeded bask in the pleasures of warmth and a comfortable place to sit. They arrived at the next station and disembarked. As their next train wasn't going to arrive for 40 minutes, they purchased cappuccinos and took up residence at the nearby McDonalds, which appeared to be full of Halloween-ers who had not yet made it to bed after the night's festivities.
One train ride, one walk through streets full of fallen Autumn leaves, and one elevator trip later, and the adventurers were finally able to collapse into the welcoming embrace of their hotel bed.
As it was 7:30am, however, the relief was short...check-in time arrived all too soon, and Jon and Elyse had to vacate their room. They made plans to take a train into Venice, though they only had an hour and a half to see the city before they had to head back to the airport. Jon asked the woman working at the front desk of the hotel for the time, and she announced that it was an hour later than he'd thought it was. There was, in fact, only a half hour of free time that could be used to see Venice.
Refusing to allow the whole trip to be a tragedy, Jon and Elyse rushed to the train station and began the journey.
Short though it was, the trip was utterly worth it. The city - even just the little bit they saw - was breathtakingly gorgeous.
And so we must leave our heroes...nestled contentedly amongst their baggage on the banks of a Venetian canal and dining on two scoops of truly magnificent gelato!
**The End**
No comments:
Post a Comment