I left Karin’s apartment early this morning. Karin, my lovely couchsurfing host – who probably was the part of my Vienna visit that I enjoyed the most. She cooked dinner for me and had so much to tell about Austrian agriculture and West Africa. And sleeping in her guest room was exactly what I needed, after my long days of sight seeing. And she lived in a very nice, calm neighborhood – close to the center, but still quiet.
But now, I’m sitting in the train bound for Budapest. A guy across the isle from me is reading “Game of Thrones”. A couple of Austrian teenagers are mixing drinks in empty soda bottles, and spraying soda all over their table, laughing loudly. And I just finished a very long and nice conversation with UC, a Indonesian engineer who lives in Los Angeles and is now traveling with his wife, daughters and mother across Europe. He’s been to Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague and Vienna.
And UC said that we seem to be so independent and brave, us European young women. I am the third that he’s met who’s traveling by herself. And I guess, in a sense, maybe we are. Independent, at least. Bravery requires things you’re afraid of doing, but you do them anyway. Riding on a train in a European Union country just doesn’t scare me, not the tiniest little bit.
The Budapest train station.
Katja Malmborg 