Travel is fun, but exhausting. My name is Chad O’Connor, and my experiences prove people are kind and helpful, but is it because you have money and contribute to their income? What would it be like if you were hopelessly lost, without any money? Basically, a homeless person in a foreign country, where you don’t know anyone or speak the language.
It’s a frightening thought, but it could happen. And it did to me on a river cruise down the Danube, the first full day of touring Budapest. The cruise director told us to be back on the ship no later than 10:00 pm because the boat would be leaving at 11:00. Under no circumstances would they hold up departure if you were late. I thought to myself. No problem. Most people on the ship take a guided tour, but I wanted something more authentic. A chance to experience the people and life without a guide. Really how hard could it be? The only requirement was to be back on the ship by 10:00. Besides, I had a plan, although a little ambitious, but I would have twelve hours, piece of cake.
I walked off the ship with confidence. Truly, my confidence was spilling out of me like a waterfall.
My first stop, a bakery to get a strudel. What a great way to start my day, I bought three. - apple, poppy seed and cottage cheese chocolate. They were all amazing as you might expect, but my favorite was the cottage cheese chocolate. Not the lumpy cottage cheese you get in the US. After gorging on these delightful strudels, I took a bus to see the parliament building, an architectural wonder. Unfortunately, the bus got stuck in traffic on the bridge. This delay cost me an hour. After spending another hour taking photos of the parliament building, I headed over to Central Cafe & Bar, a well-known spot where writers congregate. It’s a great place to get a bite to eat and just past lunch, so maybe getting a table would be easy. After a thirty minute wait the waitress seated me at a table on the terrace. I enjoyed a leisurely meal, but time was ticking away so I needed to move on, 3:00 was approaching. The tram took me to the market to experience how the locals shop, and taste what they eat. As expected, it took longer than I planned, everything I did took longer. My first mistake was getting off the tram at the wrong location. I got back on, but passed up my stop on the second try, so I just walked. The market proved to be interesting. Glad I made time to see it, but now I was really late.
Almost 7:00 and I wanted to have just a taste of the Hungarian nightlife, so I stopped at a local spot called A38 Boat. The nightclub was on the river, and so I figured my cruise ship couldn’t be that far away. Uber would be my transportation back to the ship. Great food and watching the locals party made the time fly. Before I knew, it was 9:00 so I asked for my bill, but when the waitress returned, I discovered my wallet with my money, credit card and ship ID was gone. Now I was freaking out. The clock said 9:10 pm and I was without any money to pay my bill or an Uber driver.
My panic must have shown because, Dimitri, the guy at the next table asked what was wrong. I explained my situation, and he came to my rescue by paying my bill. What a lifesaver, but my troubles weren’t over. I still needed to get back to the ship. I left the nightclub at 9:30 pm. I checked the GPS on my phone for the ship's location. An hour and a half walk to get there, which meant I could make it 11:00 pm, departure time. I hoped that if I arrived before the boat departed, they would let me board. Since I was marathon runner, I took off running toward the ship. I watched as Dimitri, my Hungarian savior passed me in a car. He recognized me and waved as he flew by. Running as fast as possible I could see the ship was finally in sight. This inspired me to run faster, but as I got closer, I could see the ramp had been pulled and the boat was moving. By the time I reached the ship, it was sailing down the river.
Discouraged and frustrated, I sat on the dock with my head drooping. I took out my phone and suddenly realized that I had loaded my credit cards on my phone. Had I been thinking clearly, I could have taken an Uber and paid with a credit card on my phone. “What a dumbass!”
Should I call to cancel my credit cards? If I did that I wouldn’t be able to use the credit cards in the wallet on my phone. Not doing it risked the chance of multiple charges against my card from a stranger. What a predicament! Ultimately, I decided to leave it open and deal with the issue after I was safe and secure at my home. There wasn’t much of a chance that I would run into more generous people like Dimitri. so I would have to pay my own way.
Time now approached 1:00 am and an all-night café seemed to be the best place to go to allow me some time to sort things out while sipping a hot cup of coffee. I stumbled into a café called Extra Budapest. Perfect, thanks to my screwup I would be getting extra Budapest. I ordered a bottomless cup of coffee and sat at a corner table to plan my escape. The waitress was kind enough to get me a pen and paper after I told her my story. I sat there for four hours, dozing off on occasion, only awakened by the drunken patrons entering the café. I wrote down a list of things I needed before my trip to the next town. The waitress offered some direction on where to buy the stuff at a more reasonable price than a typical tourist might pay. I left the café a little after 6 am. I decided to walk since my experience on the bus and tram had led to delays.
The next town the ship docked would be Bratislava, two and a half hours away. But before I made arrangements to travel there, I needed the items on the list. My first stop, to get a change of clothes, phone charger, and personal care products at the shop recommended. Lucky for me, this shop had everything on the list. My purchases also included a backpack. I looked like a well-organized traveler. Ha! Looks are deceiving.
Getting something to eat was a priority but not a fancy leisurely meal. Something quick so I picked up a breakfast sandwich from a street vendor. One of the most popular breakfast sandwiches was the Korean Egg Drop sandwich. I must admit it wouldn’t have been my first choice, but it came highly recommended. So, what the hell! Fluffy eggs, melted cheese, tangy mayo on toasted brioche. Nothing seemed out of whack with it. I ordered one. It was so delicious so I ordered a second.
I went to a nearby park and started a search for an Uber driver willing to drive me to Bratislava.
My stomach was a little upset, probably from the stress of travel, and I guarantee my trip brought on a way more stress than a typical one. After an hour of searching, I found a driver who agreed to take me there. His name was Edwardo, but I’m sure I would pay dearly for his generous nature. He would be by in a half hour. Yippee! Things are looking brighter. Damn! My stomach is churning. No doubt my stress must be peaking, unless it’s that second sandwich, the delicious Korean Egg Drop sandwich. I wondered if they actually dropped the egg. It did seem a little gritty. . . pepper, that was the pepper. No! I’m sure it’s fine. It’s just stress.
I decided to run to the bathroom before my driver arrived. I didn’t want to delay him with a bathroom stop. I quick stepped to the men’s room. There was a line. Really? There’s never a line for the men’s room. Third in line, bouncing and dancing as I waited. Finally, I got in. The relief was needed. Yep, definitely the sandwich, that gritty but tasty egg-drop sandwich. I walked out and exhaled. “Yeah! Definitely the sandwich.” That bathroom stop took longer than I expected. My phone jingled as I hurried back to the meeting point for the Uber driver. I had a message from him. He was pissed that I hadn’t shown up. Oh! No!
I quickly texted him and delicately explained my situation. Thankfully, I was able to convince him to return but I used up all my favors.
Edwardo the Uber driver picked me up, and we left for Bratislava around 11:00 am. We had a few unscheduled stops on the way due to my weakened condition, but the most concerning problem was unexpected. Edwardo hit a curb on one of the bathroom stops and blew the front tire. Now a flat tire is not a tragedy unless you’re without a spare. Well, guess what? No spare. We were at a rest stop, one without a gas station. So, we spent an hour negotiating with other drivers to buy their spare. We finally got one from a guy after paying a ridiculous amount of money for a half-worn donut spare. We changed the tire but, in the process, I scraped my knuckles raw when the tire iron slipped off the lug nut. Edwardo finished the tire installation while I picked the pebbles out of my skin and wrapped my hand with a shop rag he had in his trunk. We lost an hour and a half with this stop before we were back on the road. This was sure to be an expensive stop.
We arrived at Bratislava on the dock at 2:45 pm with five hours to spare before the boarding time. I gave Edwardo a big tip since he went out of his way to get me there on time. He let me keep the shop rag. Such empathy!
My ship the Avalon Impression, was docked next to a Viking ship. I had to pass through the Viking ship to board mine. When I entered the Avalon, I explained my situation to the young girl, Karla, at the reception desk.
“So your name is Chad O’Connor and you’re claiming you belong on this ship, but you have no identification. Is that correct?”
“Yes, in a way. Actually, I do have a passport but it’s in my room in the safe.” I shrugged. “If you could open the safe, I could show you.”
“That’s impossible, sir. Privacy laws . . . you know.”
“I understand, but the passport is my proof.”
“Well, all I can say is the real Chad O’Connor has left the ship for a city tour that was scheduled to return at noon. Unfortunately for you, he chose to spend a little more time in the city.”
I held my hand up to stop her conversation. “Excuse me. I’m the real Chad O’Connor which you would know if you looked at my passport.”
“Well! O’Connor is a pretty common name. There could be more than one in Budapest.” Karla picked up a pen. “By the way, I do not have a copy of Chad O’Connor’s passport on file so checking it is not possible. The ship leaves at 9:00 pm, so he’ll have to be back on board an hour earlier. Maybe you can catch him when he returns.”
“Great, can I wait here?”
“No, I’m sorry sir but you’re not a registered passenger. You’ll need to wait on shore.”
“Thanks, this has been special.”
“Always happy to help our customers . . . Oh! Wait! You’re not a customer.” Karla smiled.
I begrudgingly left. It was 3:30 pm. No decent coffee shop by the dock, so I walked to a nearby café. I had no idea what the other Chad O’Connor looked like, but I was close enough to see people enter the ship. I grabbed a to-go cup and walked back to the dock. I couldn’t wait until the last minute to go to the reception desk and ask about O’Connor, so I sat on a nearby bench by the ramp. My view there was much better than the café.
It was only a few hours later when I thought I recognized Dimitri, the nightclub hero. What a surprise, but the bigger surprise was the Nolan Arenado Cardinal jersey he wore. Ironically, I’d brought that very same jersey with me. I left it in my room. Well, it was, but now I grew suspicious that my buddy Dimitri was wearing it. What were the odds that Dimitri owned the same jersey? Nada. Zilch. Not a chance. I followed him on the ship but lost him when he passed through the Viking ship. I had found the other Chad.
I was able to sneak onto the Avalon ship with a crowd of people, then started searching for Dimitri. Looking around on the top deck, I saw him go below; I followed, but he moved fast. The next time I spotted him, he had returned to the Viking ship. He motioned to me, then opened his hands like a wallet and mouthed, lost and found. At first, I didn’t understand then I realized he was telling me to go to the lost and found. I hustled down to the reception desk on the first level. Ugh! Karla was there.
I tried to get the attention of the other the young girl behind the desk, but Karla interrupted. I pretended not to recognize her. “Excuse me. Where is your lost and found?”
“What did you lose?” Karla asked.
“My wallet.”
“I feel like we’ve met before.” She pulled out a box.
I shrugged. “I’m sure you’ve seen me around the ship.”
“Seems more significant than that.” Looking through the box, she pulled out a wallet. . . My wallet.
“That’s it. Thank you so much.” I held my hand out.
“Not so fast.” She opened the wallet. “Chad O’Connor!” She nodded in
affirmation. "Now, I remember. The O’Connor brothers, real and fake.”
“I’m the real Chad O’Connor. My driver’s license will be in there.”
She checked the photo on the license. Held it up to my face. “I don’t know. This guy doesn’t have a beard.” She laughed.
I dropped my head. “I haven’t shaved in a couple of days, and I have a heavy beard.”
“Hmm!.” She squinted as she looked at my photo. “I guess this is your lucky day Mr. Chad O’Connor. It was turned in just a few minutes ago.”
“Thank you very much. You don’t know how much I appreciate this.”
“Oh! I have a pretty good idea.” She said, handing it to me. “I’m so glad I could be of assistance.”
I immediately opened it and found everything inside except for a few missing dollars,
but there was also a note. I headed to my room to clean up. When I got in my cabin I flopped
down on the chair and read the note.
Chad
First, I must apologize for not picking you up when I passed you in the car, but I was going to your ship to be you for a couple of days. I hope you enjoyed your extended visit to the city. I certainly had a wonderful time on the ship. All experiences are valuable, but I hope yours was joyful as well.
To repay you for the inconvenience I’ve included a gift card for dinner at a very fine restaurant in Vienna. My compliments, but no need to thank me, because I used your money to pay for the gift card. Please thank yourself and enjoy a great meal at Georgio’s. Make your reservations early because as you already know the ship waits for no one.
Dimitri, the other Chad
I should have been furious, but Dimitri’s exposé of the events was done with such flair that I will have to list this as one of my greatest adventures. I almost think I should thank him for the experience.
That night after dinner, the cruise director gave us a rundown of the next day’s events. She also had an unexpected announcement. “Last night we had a singing contest and tonight we will present a bottle of champagne to the winner-none other than Chad (the other) O’Connor. Will the real Chad O’Connor come up to accept his prize for the other Chad?” I laughed as I stood and went up to accept the gift bottle of champagne.
She handed me the bottle and said. “Congratulations, from one Chad to the other.”
“Thanks, I don’t deserve this.”
“You’re right you don’t.” Everyone laughed. “I have one more thing for you . . . a package arrived.” She handed it to me.
I opened the box. It was my Nolan Arenado jersey with a hand-printed sign “Go Cards.”
I jumped up and yelled, “Best trip ever!”
