Absolutely Anything Else

fluffy2560 wrote:

I always argue for a discount when buying fish.

You say piscator, I say pistacor...

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

Or more generally, people from the British Isles tend to eat sea fish more than freshwater fish. Nothing to carp about.

True enough. Sea faring nation.

More actually to do with the Industrial Revolution and the railways enabling quick transportation of fish from the ports to hoi polloi in the dark satanic mills... and that most of the rivers were turned into open sewers or full of chemical discharge.

Now the cod is nearly gone, of course, so you just end up with a load of pollocks.

SimonTrew wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

Or more generally, people from the British Isles tend to eat sea fish more than freshwater fish. Nothing to carp about.

True enough. Sea faring nation.

More actually to do with the Industrial Revolution and the railways enabling quick transportation of fish from the ports to hoi polloi in the dark satanic mills... and that most of the rivers were turned into open sewers or full of chemical discharge.

Now the cod is nearly gone, of course, so you just end up with a load of pollocks.

I don't think there's that much of a connection between fishing and transport.  I'd have thought fish caught locally was sold locally.  You'd have to have refrigeration involved in that equation as well or at least ice in order to move the fish at higher speed and keeping it fresh.

Anything else contradictory reported is just a result of trawling the net for hake news.

BTW, latest pollution and fish news picture:

Thought I'd share details of this "insanely" expensive house for sale:

WTF?

Expensive house in HU for £2.3M

fluffy2560 wrote:

I don't think there's that much of a connection between fishing and transport.  I'd have thought fish caught locally was sold locally.  You'd have to have refrigeration involved in that equation as well or at least ice in order to move the fish at higher speed and keeping it fresh.

Indeed, that would have been the case before (relatively) high-speed transport by rail made it possible to get fish from port to market while it was still fresh. Ice was readily available, but expensive.

From BBC Schools "GCSE Bitesize": "4. More people were able to add fish to their diet because ports could transport fresh seafood to markets." (Here.)

Of course with Brexit, the UK wants to keep all of the shrimp for itself, but that's just shelfish.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Thought I'd share details of this "insanely" expensive house for sale:

WTF?

Expensive house in HU for £2.3M

Why did you put "insanely" in quotes? Do you think that is expensive or not? I have no idea of what prices are like around Balaton. It would seem rather pricey to me though.

I am trying to decide whether the Hunglish description is more or less decipherable than UK estate agents' or US realtors'.

SimonTrew wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

My bro hardly ever posts photos but today he has a few up from a trip to Santa Barbara, Huge bloody Mary drink and jumbo shrimp cocktail...I hate him now!! looks way too good.

Hmm, I miss a proper Texan Marguerita. I think the ones they do in the Iguana restaurant/cantina near Parliament are very good. That restaurant is not too bad price-wise considering where it is and the food is reasonable although not amazingly tex-mex.

Sorry if the wait staff is not speaking Mexican mixed with a bit of American/English then it's not real Tex-Mex.
I am sure the place in the UK is very nice but the real experience is to be actually in a Tex /Mex region.
Have to have old Jose bringing on the salsa.
There was a UK pub located on the corner of Spring Mountain and Flamingo in Vegas, Heard it was a hang out for Brits stuck in Vegas but doubt they were the real deal.
I personally like NM /Mexican better then anything "Mexican" I've, ever tried.
It;s almost like eating at  H. Salt Fish and Chips in Vegas, not really the same as enjoying fish and chips in then UK with a newspaper wrap.

SimonTrew wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

Thought I'd share details of this "insanely" expensive house for sale:

WTF?

Expensive house in HU for £2.3M

Why did you put "insanely" in quotes? Do you think that is expensive or not? I have no idea of what prices are like around Balaton. It would seem rather pricey to me though.

I am trying to decide whether the Hunglish description is more or less decipherable than UK estate agents' or US realtors'.

Because it IS insane pricing and I thought the quote based description apt. I could have used excessively without the quotes.

I am monitoring house prices in Balaton because I'm thinking of buying some land to build on.   That house is priced for foreigners who don't know better. It's very expensive for what it is. 

I would think a house like that in the burbs London might cost £2M but in Hungary, no way. 

Even where I live (and it's an expensive area) there are no houses I know of priced like that (ok, not with a view like that but what is it worth?). 

I was wondering who in their right mind would pay £2.3M for it.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Sorry if the wait staff is not speaking Mexican mixed with a bit of American/English then it's not real Tex-Mex.
I am sure the place in the UK is very nice ...

The Iguana is in Budapest. www.iguana.hu. I should have made that clear.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

It;s almost like eating at  H. Salt Fish and Chips in Vegas, not really the same as enjoying fish and chips in then UK with a newspaper wrap.

It's unlikely you will have found fish and chips wrapped directly in newspaper any time after the late 1970s. While there is no specific law against it, it will generally be covered under the Materials and Articles in Contact with Food regulations (there are separate ones for each constituent country of the United Kingdom) which in turn are kept in step (and in turn inform) the EU regulations on "materials and articles intended to come into contact with food", e.g. 80/590/EEC.

Newsprint is not particularly toxic, it's just hard to find a guaranteed hygienic source for it.

SimonTrew wrote:

...... fish and chips wrapped directly in newspaper any time after the late 1970s. While there is no specific law against it, it will generally be covered under the Materials and Articles in Contact with Food regulations (there are separate ones for each constituent country of the United Kingdom) which in turn are kept in step (and in turn inform) the EU regulations on "materials and articles intended to come into contact with food", e.g. 80/590/EEC.

Newsprint is not particularly toxic, it's just hard to find a guaranteed hygienic source for it.

They used paper printed to look like newspaper now but I've not had fish and chips in the UK for years.  I've become continental now and I like my chips Dutch/Belgian* style (in a paper funnel) with mayonnaise.  But I still have some malt vinegar in the cupboard just in case.   

On the other hand, if you are desperate to find something to say wrap up a new born baby in an emergency, newspaper is quite a good insulator and good enough in the immediate short term.

*There's a handy Belgian chippie on the motorway between Liege and Calais.   Chippies on the motorway is a brilliant idea.  I reckon Langos on the motorway would be an excellent too.

Call me crass but I'd settle for good ol' Taco Bell just about anytime one is in the mood for "junk food".
So far Taco bell has not ventured over the sea to my knowledge. If so, They would give Pizza Hut, Mc Donald's  and Burger King a run for their money.
Hard to say no to a flour tortilla shell stuffed with re fried packaged beans, ( freeze dried with hot water added) loads of cheddar cheese and onions all covered up in taco sauce for one buck. One will do, anymore then that and you might be sorry in the morning... As they say, their motto is: they give you a run for your money!! Or is it a run for the boarder...More like a run for you know where.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Call me crass but I'd settle for good ol' Taco Bell just about anytime one is in the mood for "junk food".
So far Taco bell has not ventured over the sea to my knowledge. If so, They would give Pizza Hut, Mc Donald's  and Burger King a run for their money.
Hard to say no to a flour tortilla shell stuffed with re fried packaged beans, ( freeze dried with hot water added) loads of cheddar cheese and onions all covered up in taco sauce for one buck. One will do, anymore then that and you might be sorry in the morning... As they say, their motto is: they give you a run for your money!! Or is it a run for the boarder...More like a run for you know where.

Tacos as far as I know aren't really European food so I think it'd be hard to get people to want them in the same was pizzas or burgers (maybe also not European) unless it was in some massive cosmopolitan city.   The $1 version would be attractive.

Fries are of course universal.  In the UK, Tacos might work if it had a certain flavour to them, like Indian or Chinese. Every town in the UK has an Indian and Chinese and it's all very familiar.  Maybe here, Goulash or Porkolt versions?

We have Nandos in the UK which I've never been to but I think it's a fancy burger place.  People seem to rave about it.

I keep driving around Deak Ferenc Ter these past couple of days and I'm more and more surprised at the choices down Kiraly Street for example.  Something for everyone and looks like just about every style as well.

It's sadly getting harder and harder to find a little hole in the wall place that serves Hungarian food.
Too international here lately.
I could go on and on about all the great little places there used to be here for a good HU meal at a reasonable price.
Gyro shops have taken over just about ever corner of the city.
One of my fave fast foods but still, way too many shops around.
There's a little place right on our st. the serves Hungarian dishes daily and everytime we walk past i say we have to try this place, some day" .
The cook is extremely heavy set so it's obvious he eats his own cooking, must be good then.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I could go on and on about all the great little places there used to be here for a good HU meal at a reasonable price.

For genuine Hungarian slop I think the "menu" gyorsetterems are the best. The one at Lehel Piac is quite good, but pretty much everywhere. Some of the ones on the markets are all right, too.

The difficulty of course in Budapest city centre is finding a Hungarian restaurant that does proper Hungarian food instead of tourist Hungarian food. But then, that's the same (mutatis mutandis) wherever you go in the world.

Taco Bell have 17 branches in the UK (according to Wikipedia) but none in Hungary I think. They are in Romania though (https://www.taco-bell.ro/). The website has the products with that odd combination of languages like McDonald's etc do too (Csirke McNuggets etc), made worse with the addition of Spanish, so I was monetarily left wondering whether "carne de porc" is Spanish or Romanian or both.  (Romanian: Spanish is "cerdo").

Not difficult to get tacos, mexican ingredients etc in the supermarket, though.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

So far Taco bell has not ventured over the sea to my knowledge. If so, They would give Pizza Hut, (...) a run for their money.

Yum! Brands owns both. And KFC. (Which is soooooooo pricey here, isn't it?)

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

There's a little place right on our st. the serves Hungarian dishes daily and everytime we walk past i say we have to try this place, some day"

Ain't that always the way. Then one day it closes down...

fluffy2560 wrote:

Fries are of course universal.

My missus was working in Brussels a few weeks ago. Of course she always asked for French Fries as a side dish... stand well back and watch the fireworks...

fluffy2560 wrote:

We have Nandos in the UK which I've never been to but I think it's a fancy burger place.  People seem to rave about it.

Accordingt to WP, "Nando's specializes in Mozambican-Portuguese style chicken dishes". It was founded in South Africa.

I went to the one in Cambridge once I think, and I presume they use Mozambican-Portuguese microwave ovens for that authentic flavour.

fluffy2560 wrote:

On the other hand, if you are desperate to find something to say wrap up a new born baby in an emergency, newspaper is quite a good insulator and good enough in the immediate short term.

Yes, I always carry a newspaper for this purpose, rolled around the tool for getting stones out of horses' hooves (which stops it from freezing).  Be Prepared!

SimonTrew wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

On the other hand, if you are desperate to find something to say wrap up a new born baby in an emergency, newspaper is quite a good insulator and good enough in the immediate short term.

Yes, I always carry a newspaper for this purpose, rolled around the tool for getting stones out of horses' hooves (which stops it from freezing).  Be Prepared!

Tablets don't quite work the same.  Android not so cuddly.

I had a massive pile of old newspapers in my shed left by the previous owner.  They are quite good for cleaning up car parts on as well and absorb oil spills etc. 

BTW, if anyone has definitive knowledge of where to correctly dispose of used engine oil on demand, I'd seriously like to know.  That's been a subject in these forums for a while and I am still none the wiser.

SimonTrew wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

We have Nandos in the UK which I've never been to but I think it's a fancy burger place.  People seem to rave about it.

Accordingt to WP, "Nando's specializes in Mozambican-Portuguese style chicken dishes". It was founded in South Africa.

I went to the one in Cambridge once I think, and I presume they use Mozambican-Portuguese microwave ovens for that authentic flavour.

Like McDs, Burger King or KFC then.  Nothing to write home about. 

I've got some nice spicey chili sauce here from Senegal. I picked it up on a trip.  Really very spicey indeed.

I am sure with correct marketing it could be a supermarket winner.  If a fancy looking piri-piri chicken restaurant works.....anything can...

fluffy2560 wrote:

There's a handy Belgian chippie on the motorway between Liege and Calais.

Where, in one of those rest areas ("aire", kinda "pihenőhely")? On (or off) A1/A16 I presume?

One of those British peculiarities is directing you everywhere by pubs. Go past the White Lion, carry on until you see the Green Man, you have the Admiral Benbow opposite, carry on until you see the Moon On A Stick, etc... there are of course good historical reasons for this, although it is hardly surprising that some people think the AA Road Atlas is published by Alcoholics Anonymous.

SimonTrew wrote:

.....
Taco Bell have 17 branches in the UK (according to Wikipedia) but none in Hungary I think. They are in Romania though (https://www.taco-bell.ro/). The website has the products with that odd combination of languages like McDonald's etc do too (Csirke McNuggets etc), made worse with the addition of Spanish, so I was monetarily left wondering whether "carne de porc" is Spanish or Romanian or both.  (Romanian: Spanish is "cerdo").

Not difficult to get tacos, mexican ingredients etc in the supermarket, though.

I've worked extensively in Romania prior to EU membership. 

The Romanian language is really easy to get the gist of.   I reckon anyone understanding even just school French or better Italian will find it quite quickly it is mostly understandable in written form. I was able to read their documents almost immediately. 

If one was working there full time and a Latin language speaker, probably within 2 years, one could be close to fluent.

fluffy2560 wrote:

I like my chips Dutch/Belgian style (in a paper funnel)

Those things are ridiculous as you can't put them down. Some chippies in UK now have them.

I visited Manchester last year and it was quite hard to find a chip shop anywhere in the city centre. Eventually found one off Liverpool Road not too far from the Museum of Science and Industry (which is not as good as I remember it from student days). The owner (British Asian I think) said everyone wants pizza etc now. Got some Pukka Pies to go in the freezer.

fluffy2560 wrote:

I've worked extensively in Romania prior to EU membership. 

The Romanian language is really easy to get the gist of.   I reckon anyone understanding even just school French or better Italian will find it quite quickly it is mostly understandable in written form. I was able to read their documents almost immediately. 

If one was working there full time and a Latin language speaker, probably within 2 years, one could be close to fluent.

Yes, I know French pretty well, some Italian, Spanish and Latin, so I find it quite easy to understand. The bastard language the fast food chains use for their products (mix of local language, English, and in this case sort-of-Mexican Spanish) is something else, though...

It's a bit the same at Aldi and Lidl (where sometimes Romanian is a good safety net as I am no good at German), a mix of Hungarian, English and German on their product names so that you're never quite sure what to call something. You know what it is, just not what it is called - thus Wittgenstein is routed by my shopping list. We bought Wiener schnitzel, Becsi fank and Viennoise (I think, not Viennese) icecream the other week. And "Nature" crisps/chips (yes, with the "E").

And, at least in the Dulux "Colours [not 'Colors'] of the World" range, the fancy paint colour names often don't translate directly.

SimonTrew wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

I've worked extensively in Romania prior to EU membership. 

The Romanian language is really easy to get the gist of.   I reckon anyone understanding even just school French or better Italian will find it quite quickly it is mostly understandable in written form. I was able to read their documents almost immediately. 

If one was working there full time and a Latin language speaker, probably within 2 years, one could be close to fluent.

Yes, I know French pretty well, some Italian, Spanish and Latin, so I find it quite easy to understand. The bizarre language the fast food chains use for their products (mix of local language, English, and in this case Spanish - presumably Mexican Spanish) is something else, though...

Might be Portuguese at Nando's!

SimonTrew wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

There's a handy Belgian chippie on the motorway between Liege and Calais.

Where, in one of those rest areas ("aire", kinda "pihenőhely")? On (or off) A1/A16 I presume?

One of those British peculiarities is directing you everywhere by pubs. Go past the White Lion, carry on until you see the Green Man, you have the Admiral Benbow opposite, carry on until you see the Moon On A Stick, etc... there are of course good historical reasons for this, although it is hardly surprising that some people think the AA Road Atlas is published by Alcoholics Anonymous.

Absolutely - navigation by pubs is a British tradition.  Getting harder though as so many are closing.

The Belgium frites places are on the E42 (A15) (click here).  It's in both directions, not more than about 100-120km from the French border.  I always stop there when driving from here to Blighty and in reverse.

My quickest route across that bit is Aachen, Liege, across Belgium (so boring), then to Lille, onwards to Calais.   It's easy to miss the frites place so you have to be looking for it.

I've tried all the routes to the UK from HU - via Munich, via Frankfurt.  France has tolls so that's out, Netherlands is outrageously expensive for fuel,  Belgium is quite expensive to and it's hard to get fuel using cards - France is easier.  Germany is good as super fast motorway speeds but weekends are best - no trucks.  I must have driven that route 100s of times - at one point I was doing 3-4 times a year but I think now I won't be doing it very often.  Maybe once or twice every 3 years.  Easier on the plane and a lot less hassle now that the cheap airlines are operating from here.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Might be Portuguese at Nando's!

Yes... or any of the Bantu languages, Swahili, or a couple of dozen or so other languages indigenous to Mozambique... or I suppose even Afrikaans...

I was thinking of Taco Bell though.

fluffy2560 wrote:

I always stop there when driving from here to Blighty and in reverse.

You drive all that way in reverse?! Doesn't that hurt your gas mileage?

fluffy2560 wrote:

I've tried all the routes to the UK from HU - via Munich, via Frankfurt.  France has tolls so that's out.

Yes, astonishingly expensive

fluffy2560 wrote:

I must have driven that route 100s of times - at one point I was doing 3-4 times a year but I think now I won't be doing it very often.  Maybe once or twice every 3 years.  Easier on the plane and a lot less hassle now that the cheap airlines are operating from here.

Yeah, makes no sense unless you have a hell of a lot to bring with you (or something you can't take take on the plane). I've done various routes too. Our main objective is usually to get across Austria without stopping as "Austrian customer service" seems a contradiction in terms. (Tarred brush at the ready.) 

Main thing against air travel is all the hanging around you have to do each end, and you're stuck when something goes wrong (and no smoking of course).  Gone are the days when you could turn up ten minutes before departure.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Absolutely - navigation by pubs is a British tradition.  Getting harder though as so many are closing.

And the pubcos' annoying desire to 'rebrand' pubs, changing their names. On the other hand, British people always abbreviate pub names or give them nicknames, regardless of how pithy the names are to start with. The Red Lion will always be just "The Lion", for example, or the Edward The Confessor will be "Ted the Grass". Presumably if your pub is called just "The Sun", one must call it only "The".

SimonTrew wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

I've tried all the routes to the UK from HU - via Munich, via Frankfurt.  France has tolls so that's out.

Yes, astonishingly expensive

fluffy2560 wrote:

I must have driven that route 100s of times - at one point I was doing 3-4 times a year but I think now I won't be doing it very often.  Maybe once or twice every 3 years.  Easier on the plane and a lot less hassle now that the cheap airlines are operating from here.

Yeah, makes no sense unless you have a hell of a lot to bring with you (or something you can't take take on the plane). I've done various routes too. Our main objective is usually to get across Austria without stopping as "Austrian customer service" seems a contradiction in terms. (Tarred brush at the ready.) 

Main thing against air travel is all the hanging around you have to do each end, and you're stuck when something goes wrong (and no smoking of course).  Gone are the days when you could turn up ten minutes before departure.

Oh don't get me started on Austria.  Their vignette is as much a rip off as Hungary.  At least in Germany, no need to worry about that.   You can traverse Austria in about 2.5-3h which is no problem.  One thing though, fuel is cheaper in Austria generally than Germany or even here and of course, motorway services fuel needs to be avoided.   You need to get off the motorway and get to the nearest town where it'll be 10-15 Eurocents cheaper (if I remember correctly).  BTW, we've just acquired an Aldi self-service unattended petrol station.  Tried it out and looks 15 HUF cheaper there.

SimonTrew wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

I always stop there when driving from here to Blighty and in reverse.

You drive all that way in reverse?! Doesn't that hurt your gas mileage?

Nah, it's easier to pedal that way.

If this was Expat.com the Musical, I'd feel a song coming on....

So walk out backwards, if you must go... And please don't wave goodbye, just wave one last hello......So walk out backwards and I'll think you're walking in

......like my driving style ....

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

The cook is extremely heavy set so it's obvious he eats his own cooking, must be good then.

I don't see how that follows. Even assuming he does eat his own food, he may be a glutton for punishment.

fluffy2560 wrote:

BTW, we've just acquired an Aldi self-service unattended petrol station.  Tried it out and looks 15 HUF cheaper there.

Oh, don't get me on oil prices. It cost me an extra two or three forints the last time I oiled my bicycle.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Because it IS insane pricing and I thought the quote based description apt. I could have used excessively without the quotes.

The house is located in Tihany. Where Brad Pitt and Angeline Jolie once vacationed in Hungary. Sort of the Bel Air of Hungary.

Such prices are not unheard of there. Where oligarchs go to sell houses to each other. For a status symbol trophy house in a status symbol trophy area, for people with money to burn, and don't care how much it costs.

Here, for example, is a $2.9 million Tihany house shown in the NY Times some years ago:

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/grea … ngary.html

fluffy2560 wrote:

I am monitoring house prices in Balaton because I'm thinking of buying some land to build on.

After four, I stopped buying property years ago around the Balaton. Prices are no longer a bargain. Not worth it anymore.

fluffy2560 wrote:

I was wondering who in their right mind would pay £2.3M for it.

I particularly like the suggestion it could be used "as a holiday home". And my other car's a Learjet...

SimonTrew wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

I was wondering who in their right mind would pay £2.3M for it.

I particularly like the suggestion it could be used "as a holiday home". And my other car's a Learjet...

Last time I was there, Siofok airfield only has a grass strip and your Learjet jet intakes would be buggered.  You could get a chopper out of Budaors or even Budapest airport.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

Because it IS insane pricing and I thought the quote based description apt. I could have used excessively without the quotes.

The house is located in Tihany. Where Brad Pitt and Angeline Jolie once vacationed in Hungary. Sort of the Bel Air of Hungary.

Such prices are not unheard of there. Where oligarchs go to sell houses to each other. For a status symbol trophy house in a status symbol trophy area, for people with money to burn, and don't care how much it costs.

Here, for example, is a $2.9 million Tihany house shown in the NY Times some years ago:

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/grea … ngary.html

fluffy2560 wrote:

I am monitoring house prices in Balaton because I'm thinking of buying some land to build on.

After four, I stopped buying property years ago around the Balaton. Prices are no longer a bargain. Not worth it anymore.

There's a movie I saw where a helicopter took off from a garden in Tihany.  It was very recognisable but I don't remember the movie name just now.

I was thinking of building a house there for my own purposes hence the land interest.   Mrs Fluffy and the Fluffyettes (and me) get fed up and frustrated with sharing on a rota the house down there with the other family members.  It's everyone's and no-one's place so nothing gets improved.

The problem with Balaton is it's only usable about 50% of the time.   The weather is only good a few months of the year.  And if you live on a hill and its winter.....oh dear...Price tags don't match common sense.