Sorry for the lack of updates, but we've been busy rioting and moving to Berlin. Read on...
We were getting regular power cuts, setting off dozens of alarms in the surrounding area, typically it was due to the Hungarians thinking that the best way to re-wire the electrics is to cut through live wires and leave them hanging out:
We also spotted a man in a cherry-picker hacking away at an overhead cable with what seemed like a plank of wood, with busy traffic underneath. Any tourist to Budapest will have become familiar with these glorious sights.
Peter is pathetically ambling through The Da Vinci Code in my vague attempt to get him to read something other than physics or maths. He keeps saying "I don't care what's in the damn cryptex!", of course he's lying and scrambling to save his remaining grace.
I did, yet again, bake another delicious batch of scones in preparation for the coming riots. A box of delightfully cheesy scones and a bottle of semi-frozen water to aid in the refreshment arena and win over those damn zany neo-fascists.
We went out for a few drinks with those American chaps again, and what jolly folk they are too. Though they can make quite the cock-a-hoop of situations. They love our colloquialisms. We settled in an interestingly sewage-smelling bar called Sark (pronounced 'shark'), which had a 'Politics-Free Zone' sign on the door:
Conversation was limited by this 'rule', so we spent the evening telling jokes in the cozy upstairs den, from the comfort of bean-bags:
We met some more Americans that night, and it seemed a shame to be leaving so soon after making new friends. One of said Americans may be studying maths at Cambridge soon, so we talked about that. Meanwhile, Peter explained to a very drunken mathematician that she had no right to claim 'mathematician' status when she could only count to 2^10. She has no recollection of the following video being taken:
Now we had to preapre for the riots. This is us in our riot gear:
Peter listened to live radio feeds of riot locations and danger zones. Here are some pictures of the day's events:
The Kevlar made them look like cybermen
Phwoar! Szekszí lédí!
The rioters rather quite enjoy settings bins on fire. One would be led to believe that they have some sort of issue with Budapestian waste disposal as well as the Jews.
And the firemen put them out again
For more pictures, click here.
We were in the wrong place when the riots got bad, which was probably for the best. According to news reports, a restaurant full of people on Andrássy street were just eating, watching the riots go past outside, when the police shot a tear-gas canister through the open door, shortly followed by everyone running out screaming.
Due to the increased amount of press coverage and leaked feeds about the neo-Nazis being armed with AK47s (which had already been used prior to this to do a drive-by on the police headquarters), we felt the safest thing to do was to head towards the embassy. This was not like October -- the police were heavily equipped head-to-foot in Kevlar. Thankfully, our safety-conscious mentality also allowed for ticking off one of those things to do before you die: "Run to the embassy whilst clutching your passport". Erich had to catch a train to Belgrade at 11:35pm. Here is our video footage:
The next day, my parents arrived. We did the usual of marching them up to Citadella on the first night, and taking them to one of the many Medieval-themed restaurants where you're encouraged to eat with your hands:
My mother wanted to shop, and my dad didn't care. We did manage to show them all the essential sights though. Sights which I won't put here because I'm sure you're bored of seeing them by now. You won't have seen this though:
She was rather proficient, too. Peter spent the last couple of days running a long list of errands and cleaning the flat like an OCD child:
The day we left was 'chuck your rubbish on the street' day, so every street corner had a big pile of random furniture, windows, television sets, etc. A field day for street urchins and the homeless:
Peter made two 10kg blocks of ice to stick on the pile as some sort of "latent-heat practical joke" as he put it, but in the end we didn't have time so we put them in the sink to melt. Due to Peter's incompetence, we have no pictures of them.
Erich gave us a kiwi to remember him by. Peter has (in an horrific attempt to propagate his gay-rights [Oi! Not funny! - Ed] agenda ) renamed this "The Erichiwi", and we will keep readers updated on its progress.
The Erichiwi - Day 1:
That was it. Goodbye Budapest. Hallo Berlin, ja!
Berlin is certainly a big change from the petit Budapest. We now face the tough challenge of finding our way around this sprawling German mess, which is only accentuated by the lack of a grid system for the most part. More photos will follow in the next blog, but here's the obligatory shot:
Things haven't gone great so far: I casually threw away the guidebook on the first day, things aren't as cheap as they should be and the internet in the flat doesn't work. Still, sitting in internet cafés means Peter can excrete his geeky and nerdy ectoplasm by taking photos like this:
Everything in Berlin is very efficient and green -- they even have 'smart' escalators:
In closing, here's a music video of our first 36 hours in Berlin:
- Philip + Peter
P.S. The Erichiwi - Day 5:
We were getting regular power cuts, setting off dozens of alarms in the surrounding area, typically it was due to the Hungarians thinking that the best way to re-wire the electrics is to cut through live wires and leave them hanging out:
We also spotted a man in a cherry-picker hacking away at an overhead cable with what seemed like a plank of wood, with busy traffic underneath. Any tourist to Budapest will have become familiar with these glorious sights.
Peter is pathetically ambling through The Da Vinci Code in my vague attempt to get him to read something other than physics or maths. He keeps saying "I don't care what's in the damn cryptex!", of course he's lying and scrambling to save his remaining grace.
I did, yet again, bake another delicious batch of scones in preparation for the coming riots. A box of delightfully cheesy scones and a bottle of semi-frozen water to aid in the refreshment arena and win over those damn zany neo-fascists.
We went out for a few drinks with those American chaps again, and what jolly folk they are too. Though they can make quite the cock-a-hoop of situations. They love our colloquialisms. We settled in an interestingly sewage-smelling bar called Sark (pronounced 'shark'), which had a 'Politics-Free Zone' sign on the door:
Conversation was limited by this 'rule', so we spent the evening telling jokes in the cozy upstairs den, from the comfort of bean-bags:
We met some more Americans that night, and it seemed a shame to be leaving so soon after making new friends. One of said Americans may be studying maths at Cambridge soon, so we talked about that. Meanwhile, Peter explained to a very drunken mathematician that she had no right to claim 'mathematician' status when she could only count to 2^10. She has no recollection of the following video being taken:
Now we had to preapre for the riots. This is us in our riot gear:
Peter listened to live radio feeds of riot locations and danger zones. Here are some pictures of the day's events:
The Kevlar made them look like cybermen
Phwoar! Szekszí lédí!
The rioters rather quite enjoy settings bins on fire. One would be led to believe that they have some sort of issue with Budapestian waste disposal as well as the Jews.
And the firemen put them out again
For more pictures, click here.
We were in the wrong place when the riots got bad, which was probably for the best. According to news reports, a restaurant full of people on Andrássy street were just eating, watching the riots go past outside, when the police shot a tear-gas canister through the open door, shortly followed by everyone running out screaming.
Due to the increased amount of press coverage and leaked feeds about the neo-Nazis being armed with AK47s (which had already been used prior to this to do a drive-by on the police headquarters), we felt the safest thing to do was to head towards the embassy. This was not like October -- the police were heavily equipped head-to-foot in Kevlar. Thankfully, our safety-conscious mentality also allowed for ticking off one of those things to do before you die: "Run to the embassy whilst clutching your passport". Erich had to catch a train to Belgrade at 11:35pm. Here is our video footage:
The next day, my parents arrived. We did the usual of marching them up to Citadella on the first night, and taking them to one of the many Medieval-themed restaurants where you're encouraged to eat with your hands:
My mother wanted to shop, and my dad didn't care. We did manage to show them all the essential sights though. Sights which I won't put here because I'm sure you're bored of seeing them by now. You won't have seen this though:
She was rather proficient, too. Peter spent the last couple of days running a long list of errands and cleaning the flat like an OCD child:
The day we left was 'chuck your rubbish on the street' day, so every street corner had a big pile of random furniture, windows, television sets, etc. A field day for street urchins and the homeless:
Peter made two 10kg blocks of ice to stick on the pile as some sort of "latent-heat practical joke" as he put it, but in the end we didn't have time so we put them in the sink to melt. Due to Peter's incompetence, we have no pictures of them.
Erich gave us a kiwi to remember him by. Peter has (in an horrific attempt to propagate his gay-rights [Oi! Not funny! - Ed] agenda ) renamed this "The Erichiwi", and we will keep readers updated on its progress.
The Erichiwi - Day 1:
That was it. Goodbye Budapest. Hallo Berlin, ja!
Berlin is certainly a big change from the petit Budapest. We now face the tough challenge of finding our way around this sprawling German mess, which is only accentuated by the lack of a grid system for the most part. More photos will follow in the next blog, but here's the obligatory shot:
Things haven't gone great so far: I casually threw away the guidebook on the first day, things aren't as cheap as they should be and the internet in the flat doesn't work. Still, sitting in internet cafés means Peter can excrete his geeky and nerdy ectoplasm by taking photos like this:
Everything in Berlin is very efficient and green -- they even have 'smart' escalators:
In closing, here's a music video of our first 36 hours in Berlin:
- Philip + Peter
P.S. The Erichiwi - Day 5:
posted by Philip Proudfoot at
9:36 pm
1 Comments:
Seems like your having fun! Is running for the border away from police one of your checklist fantasies? I mean you did the whole embassy thing but borders are where it's at these days.
It's a shame the internet in the flat doesn't work. Still I hope it's a nice flat. I can't wait to join you in just over a week-and-a-half's time!
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