An Adventure to Visegrád

The story goes that we headed to Hungary for the wedding of some Tartu Family members, and made an adventure of it. We landed, found our AirBnB, and rose early the next morning to make a train, that would lead to a bus, that would minimize the walking we had to do before the wedding. Then we'd have several hours to wander around Visegrád beforehand, and then witness a wedding in the woods. Sounds lovely, right?

Obviously, this did not happen.

We did leave early. We did head to the train station. We did buy tickets for that early train (since all the other trains, according to Google Maps, ended in a 51 minute walk). And then things went awry. As things are wont to do.

Our platform was the furthest from the ticket machine, and we rushed, and we puffed, and we got to the door just in time to press the "Open" button repeatedly... and still watch it pull away. People on the inside of the train had tried to help as well, but alas. So we grabbed breakfast instead, and chatted about the new plan, and waited for the next train.

The train lead to a bus, and we had an hour between the two, so we played Spot-It, among other things.

We expected to see other people also headed to the wedding, and we did in fact find a few. (The boys having previously met during the bachelor party.) The bus ride was about an hour, and during that time, plans were exchanged for how we'd make it from a bus stop up to the venue on top of a hill. Turned out, these other guests were the outdoorsy type, but their path seemed shorter than the map's suggestion. They got off at the stop we'd suggested, and then we followed their route.
This, dear reader, was the biggest mistake.

They were a bit ahead of us, as we'd stopped to put on some rain gear (which quickly became unnecessary), so they picked the path and we merely followed, having absorbed one member of their group. It began through a cute side street. It then moved up some stairs into the woods; we generally knew we needed to get up the hill, so this seemed fine. We reached a corner of the stairs, and turned to find more. At the top of those was a cross. Clearly this was the end of our journey. However, we knew the wedding was up by the Visegrád Castle, and we were not.

We continued following this path, and with each curve we hoped the trek was over. And with each curve, it was not. Disappointment grew. Heart rates rose. Incline increased. Sweat accumulated. Luckily, most of us were not wearing our wedding attire.

So what Google predicted would be a 45-50 minute walk, turned into more than an hour of hiking uphill. By the time we reached the "top" of the hill, the rain started coming down again. We were off a path and back on a road that continued to twist and turn uphill and downhill. 

Had all gone according to the initial plan, we would have arrived at the venue five-ish hours before the wedding. We ended up arriving about an hour beforehand, and found our way to the cabins we'd stay in for the night. Insert quick changing montage and.... 

Lovely venue in the woods

Grand Exit

The wedding was lovely, the party was great, and we headed back to the cabin in the (impressive and astounding) darkness around midnight, though the party lasted a few more hours. It very much felt like the couple, and was so interesting to watch a wedding happen in FOUR different languages! The interpreter did such a great job keeping up with ceremonies, traditions, speeches, dancing, and all the events of the night!

In the morning, we made sure to catch the bus that would take us right back into town, to catch the train back to Budapest, but not before helping the bride and groom to plant a tree on the property, and undecorate the dining space. Plenty of work to get to, but a wonderful day!