Damn Communist!
Well, I had been warned that you had to be careful of being ripped off in former communist countries. I could not find call centers in Hungary or figure out how to use the public phones, so decided to use my calling card in the hotel. I checked at the front desk and was told it would be 200 Hu FL per local call ($1.30). I made the local call for my calling card to call Sandra. Next morning the desk clerk said I owed 1760 HU FL ($12). I ask for the manager and he said the hotel charges 120 HU FL per minute for local calls. When I protested that it was not what his desk clerk had said, and was outrageous, he just laughed and said I owed him 1760. Maybe it was a cheap lesson learned. My tip off should have been the hotel wanting to charge $40/day for WIFI hook-up!
We left the hotel in caravan for a 20 km guided ride out of town, which wasn’t bad for Saturday morning and not scary like the ride in, Thurs afternoon. The country side reminded me of the US Midwest, with small farms and 1950s era farm equipment, and horse drawn wagons. Life is much cheaper here too, where a dollar will buy you a cold beer or coke, a pound of cherries, or a whole watermelon. The good life!
A first…a Mercedes garbage truck!
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