Budapest City Rotary Meeting
We really lucked out here. The only English speaking Rotary Club in Budapest, and in fact in the whole region, is the one in the fabulous Kempinski Hotel in downtown Budapest. We joined them for lunch on Tuesday and it was delightful.
It's a small club, around 25 people and not all were there, but there were several guests: us, another Canadian from Campbell River whose club is currently hosting an exchange student from Debrecen, our next stop after Budapest. Also a Scot and an American from Florida.
For all you Rotarians reading this, the Budapest City dues are a whopping $300 per quarter. This also gives them their operating money and project funds mostly for local projects. Any fundraising they do is icing on the cake.
TRANSIT PASS
Our 3-day transit pass has been a godsend. We've used it on the trams, buses and subways and only on the subway do we have to show it. On other public transportation you must have a ticket to show if and when an inspector asks for it. Or else.
COVERED MARKET
We browsed through here, which is a huge market converted from an old, old train station. They must have had very tall trains since the roof was high enough for a 2-storey market with generous ceilings on both levels. The main floor has fresh fruits and veggies down one side, and meats down the other. Linding them in between are the sausage and cheese shops. Upstairs they have lovely local handicrafts and a few stand-up beer stops. We stopped for one and the owner noticed Hans' Rotary shirt. Turns out he's also a Rotarian but in one of the Hungarian speaking clubs, though his English was quite passable. He had banners from several of his previous Rotary visitors hanging in the bar but unfortunately, we didn't have an extra one with us since we had already given it at the lunch meeting.
LOCAL PEOPLE
Lots and lots of good looking Hungarian people everywhere! The men are often quite tall - many well over 6' and as well dressed as the women.
It's a small club, around 25 people and not all were there, but there were several guests: us, another Canadian from Campbell River whose club is currently hosting an exchange student from Debrecen, our next stop after Budapest. Also a Scot and an American from Florida.
For all you Rotarians reading this, the Budapest City dues are a whopping $300 per quarter. This also gives them their operating money and project funds mostly for local projects. Any fundraising they do is icing on the cake.
TRANSIT PASS
Our 3-day transit pass has been a godsend. We've used it on the trams, buses and subways and only on the subway do we have to show it. On other public transportation you must have a ticket to show if and when an inspector asks for it. Or else.
COVERED MARKET
We browsed through here, which is a huge market converted from an old, old train station. They must have had very tall trains since the roof was high enough for a 2-storey market with generous ceilings on both levels. The main floor has fresh fruits and veggies down one side, and meats down the other. Linding them in between are the sausage and cheese shops. Upstairs they have lovely local handicrafts and a few stand-up beer stops. We stopped for one and the owner noticed Hans' Rotary shirt. Turns out he's also a Rotarian but in one of the Hungarian speaking clubs, though his English was quite passable. He had banners from several of his previous Rotary visitors hanging in the bar but unfortunately, we didn't have an extra one with us since we had already given it at the lunch meeting.
LOCAL PEOPLE
Lots and lots of good looking Hungarian people everywhere! The men are often quite tall - many well over 6' and as well dressed as the women.
Comments
in October. Got to sell those tickets! All the best.
Roger