Going around like crazy - had to endure a lGetting ready for the big move. I took the car (not the fregata, it was the lada now) from Avai, because my attempts to replace the battery in the trabant have failed. I replaced it alright, but it seems there's an extra cable which looked like some extra grounding, which I'd have to reattach with what tools I have, and all the rain which was suppressed during the bombing was pouring now... I just gave up and asked Vanji if I could have the car for the remaining days. "Pour and ride" he said... meaning "if you have the cash, buy gasoline wherever you can". I bought about six liters, I think, from some dealer in my area, which is three pepsi bottles and the guy knows that I know where he lives.
Going around like crazy - had to endure a long hour of waiting in queue at the post office to pay the border exit fee (aka bail, as we called it, but then it seems we won't see the day in court anyway) in advance - it can be paid at the border, but there'll be ten of us, which means at least half an hour when we're in a hurry.
Burt emailed an offer to crash at his place, there's furniture enough in the house (including Zyanna's part) for all of us to stay a night, depending on our flight schedule, of course.
This to Greg:
Csak kézpénzzel lehet fizetni forintban. A környéken sok pénzváltó van, az árfolyam mindenhol más.
Tisztelettel: Utassy Dóra
OK, here's what she says: it's payable in forints cash only. There are many exchange offices around, and the rate is different everywhere.
This means you may have to carry cash for about 20 meters or so. I'm sure you can cash your Visa or your traveller's checks anywhere in Vaci street.
Follow the links at the hotel's page, about dangers and such - and get the names of five reliable taxi companies, you may run into a wrong cabbie. The Budapest cab drivers are notorious for overcharging and such. It shouldn't cost you more than 1$ start and 1$ per km, and the distance from Nyugatti Pályaudvar (west railway station) to the hotel shouldn't be more than 4 km, so if the guy tries to drive you over the Danube twice, he's surrely a crook. I think you should arrive to the west station, and the hotel is also on the west side, on the slope of the hill or so. The Moszkva ter (the Moscow square) should have a bridge on one side, and the hotel is just at the other end of the block.
BTW, another friend of mine is working in Budapest, and he's working in some offices on - guess where - the Moscow square :). Now isn't the world small?
That evening, the folks of Avai staged a farewell dinner in my honor. The whole company was there (not sure of Joška, though), plus our accountant (who used to work at KuPro). I drank only špricer, thin, because I had the office lada so the duty of taking the girls home (the accountant and Cica) was mine. It was all cordial and nice, though there was a bit of the "what are we going to do now" tension in the air, and also that I was a bit overdressed - what with a both sweater and jeans jacket as if for october, one would have sufficed. But I thought it'd be cold because it rained in the day again. So we didn't stay for too long, I got the accountant and Cica in the car, and drove them to ruža and Čurda respectively (and with due respect...), and then swung to the novogradnja surrounding Lesnina and somehow managed to call Marina to come down. The whole event is described in the article about her. Arrived home at 1:30, wiped the lipstick off my cheek (fuckit, I may come out guilty for nothing). The next day we seriously started packing.