MY HUSBAND and I just returned from a trip to Central Europe where we rented a car and drove for three weeks through the countries of Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia, and Austria.
We started our adventure in Budapest, arriving there after a full day and night of travel. Neither of us are very good at sleeping on planes so we weren’t very rested when we landed. However, picking up our vehicle from the car rental company was easy, and we were soon driving our little Skoda Fabia north towards the city.
Like most old European urban areas, Old Town Budapest has many tiny one-way “roads,” some indistinguishable from sidewalks. There are a lot of cobblestones and Google Maps doesn’t always get the directionality right. Plus, there is occasional construction to disrupt the process, which was the case in our challenge to get to our hotel.
After circling the area of the Gerloczy Cafe and Hotel for 45 mins (a short distance, a lot of traffic), we eventually did not arrive at last. Choosing to park the car and roll the suitcases to our lodging, we parked around the corner from the hotel in front of what appeared to be a drugstore.
We checked in and got settled in our room. We knew we had to move our car to a parking garage, but we were exhausted. We decided to nap first and then get back in the car and make our way to a parking garage.
A couple of hours later, we emerged. Rounding the corner to where we left our car, we stopped and said, “Something looks different!” Quickly, we determined our hubcaps were missing. We couldn’t believe it! We were in a very nice part of town, it was full daylight, we were only gone a couple of hours, heck – we just got there! We burst out laughing – what else could we do?
As we drove around the area looking for a parking garage – again a 45 minute adventure to go 0.3 kilometers – my brain was addressing the issue of reporting the theft. Usually when we travel, I buy the insurance offered by the rental company. On this trip, and for the first time, I was relying on rental insurance offered by the credit card company. Therefore, I had to do some claim research. Also, it seemed likely we would need to make a police report.
Now, some of you may know a lot more about hubcaps than I do. My impression is that they are heavy, made of some kind of metal, and expensive. This belief made me worry about charges for the theft of the Skoda’s missing wheel covers. However, after we got the car parked, this gnawing worry faded as we decided to walk up the hill to beautiful Budapest Castle. The next day we rented bikes to get out to the Roman ruins, and the next day we took a tour of Parliament and a cruise down the Danube, and the next day we went to the Gellert Thermal bath, and then we were leaving Budapest on our way to the Tokaj region in northeastern Hungary – without making a police report.
I thought about reporting the theft in Tokaj and then in Aggtelek, then in Slovakia and in Cesky Krumlov in Czechia, but I didn’t. Finally, we made it to Prague and I was determined to address the issue. The bellman at the Hotel Rott walked me across the street to the police station and I told the officer my story. He was not helpful, mostly because of the language barrier. He was very focused on pointing out that our location in Prague Old Town was in the middle of government buildings where there were cameras everywhere, and that there was no way anyone would steal hubcaps here. He sort of patted me on the shoulder, like I was a flaky American tourist, and sent me on my way, telling me “It must have happened before you got here!”
I guess I didn’t make myself understood.
On our way back to the hotel, the bellman gave me the idea of buying new hubcaps. He said I could walk to a department store 15 minutes from the hotel and, for $15, buy them there. This seemed unlikely, but I gave it a try and no … there were no hubcaps alongside the clothing that was for sale there. Also, I did not believe hubcaps could be purchased for $15. Did this guy own a car?
A few days later, we were leaving Prague and heading to Steyr, Austria. We were about to cross the border when I saw this organized junkyard on our left that had a lot of stacked tires, wheels, and HUBCAPS. We pulled a u-turn and entered the fenced-in property. We were excited because it was a Saturday and they were open. It was hard to tell who was working there and who was a customer. We wandered around the grimey enclosure, eagerly looking for what we needed. Eventually, my husband found someone and showed him our car. No one there spoke English, but it was pretty easy to point to the missing wheel covers.
The mechanic, a gruff, stocky, bullet of a man, shook his head, fired off some rapid Czech at us, and finally said “Similar, yes?” We said “Yes, yes!” hoping we were getting what we needed and not a whole new set of tires and wheels.
He strode into a greasy shed and disappeared, returning with 4 BMW hubcaps, carrying them all in one hand. This perplexed me as – remember – I thought all hubcaps were metal and heavy (and expensive). Apparently, at least in Europe, some hubcaps are plastic. The BMW hubcaps fit perfectly. We decided to keep them, hoping the rental company wouldn’t notice the tiny BMW emblem in the middle.
We were out of Czeck korunas (currency) so Mike offered him his credit card. The guy shook his head, speaking a stream of Czech and holding up 2 fingers. He said “camel” a few times and then pointed to a gas station across the street. Finally, we understood we were to buy him two packs of Camel cigarettes in exchange for the hubcaps.
We went across the road to complete our purchase and returned with the required “currency.” Giving the gentleman the cigarettes, he smiles and points to the vehicle which now has Skoda instead of BMW buttons in the middle of the covers.
We all laugh jubilantly.
Two packs of Camel cigarettes for 4 plastic Skoda hubcaps? Just about exactly $15, as the bellman in Prague predicted.
The deal of the century.