I’ve long since lost count of the number of days on the road. For 2 years I’ve not experienced winter — moving from one city to the next following clement weather; yet, how quickly the one season replaces another. The pass few days have witnessed the first hints of Autumn in central Europe. This morning, I set out on a bus in southern Bohemia bound for Budapest. In all, today’s journey totalled two buses and two trains traversing three countries: including a bus from Cesky Krumlov > Ceske Budejovice > Brno, then buying a ticket on-the-spot at a dear cost to Breclav, connecting to Budapest. Slowly again the mesmerizing landscape glides by the window. With each stop and transfer, various languages are heard from the locals going about their daily routines. I gaze transfixed at the receding landscape of town and country out the window. The scattering of light and shade casts a flickering display of my own reflection superimposed over the distant view. For hours on end both bus and train meander through the early autumn scene.
The high tourists season is now over and I’m often left one of a sparse wandering guest at the terminals. Just now, the train passed through Nove Zamky, Slovakia and all the passengers on my train car disembarking, leaving me alone and contemplative in the compartment. Soon, this locomotive will reach its destination in Budapest; and the routine of navigating the labyrinth of a new city begins.