COVID-19 and expatriation in Hungary

Cynic wrote:

We had a similar "thing" some time ago on the Dutch/German border where my daughter lives; the Germans closed it for some COVID reason, but because of Freedom of Movement rules, couldn't actually do it, so you had the bizarre scene of the Grenzschutzpolizei and Koninklijke Marechaussee trying to persuade people to turn around and return to their respective countries; all live on Dutch TV.

That's pretty weird.  I lived in NL for some years.  Before Schengen anyway.

I wonder what happens at that oddity of a place called Barle-Nassau and Barle-Hertog?  I used to take visitors there to show the weird goings on.

I was also somewhere there where there are multiple borders in the middle of the town (might have been Roetgen, DE or Vaals, NL don't exactly remember) is right in the middle of the town and all the side streets have signs up saying it's another country and don't go down there.  Really strange.  Must be chaotic with different rules in one place to another. 

I heard while I was in the UK that COVID19 is used for all sorts of nonsensical reasoning to refuse service - one of which was the store saying  getting paint mixed at the DIY store was not allowed.  Definitely in the WTF(?) category!

fluffy2560 wrote:

Cynic wrote:

We had a similar "thing" some time ago on the Dutch/German border where my daughter lives; the Germans closed it for some COVID reason, but because of Freedom of Movement rules, couldn't actually do it, so you had the bizarre scene of the Grenzschutzpolizei and Koninklijke Marechaussee trying to persuade people to turn around and return to their respective countries; all live on Dutch TV.

That's pretty weird.  I lived in NL for some years.  Before Schengen anyway.

I wonder what happens at that oddity of a place called Barle-Nassau and Barle-Hertog?  I used to take visitors there to show the weird goings on.

I was also somewhere there where there are multiple borders in the middle of the town (might have been Roetgen, DE or Vaals, NL don't exactly remember) is right in the middle of the town and all the side streets have signs up saying it's another country and don't go down there.  Really strange.  Must be chaotic with different rules in one place to another. 

I heard while I was in the UK that COVID19 is used for all sorts of nonsensical reasoning to refuse service - one of which was the store saying  getting paint mixed at the DIY store was not allowed.  Definitely in the WTF(?) category!

The Gronau/Glanerbrug crossing was the one on TV.  The whole border thing is weird; one of my wife's cousins has a house in Glanerbrug, the house itself is in Holland, the garden is in Germany; nobody is sure how it happened, but the whole street has the same issue.  It could be caused by the fact that they sometimes re-arrange the borders (link), to take into account the topography and other local issues, but it seems this street in Glanerbrug they really screwed it up because the stream was always known as the border, but the farmer re-routed it years ago and nobody realised until they built the houses when his family sold the farm.

The Belgians had resorted to placing ISO containers over the small country roads to try and control movement, but the Dutch farmers just pushed them off the edge.

There's a couple of loony Jocks who keep trying to close the motorway between Scotland and England, they reckon the English are infesting Scotland!

Cynic wrote:

....
The Gronau/Glanerbrug crossing was the one on TV.  The whole border thing is weird; one of my wife's cousins has a house in Glanerbrug, the house itself is in Holland, the garden is in Germany; nobody is sure how it happened, but the whole street has the same issue.  It could be caused by the fact that they sometimes re-arrange the borders (link), to take into account the topography and other local issues, but it seems this street in Glanerbrug they really screwed it up because the stream was always known as the border, but the farmer re-routed it years ago and nobody realised until they built the houses when his family sold the farm.

The Belgians had resorted to placing ISO containers over the small country roads to try and control movement, but the Dutch farmers just pushed them off the edge.

There's a couple of loony Jocks who keep trying to close the motorway between Scotland and England, they reckon the English are infesting Scotland!

That's an interesting and amusing story.  There are quite a few stories of border readjustments.  Hereabouts there's a raft of them as fall out from the Yugoslav breakup  - some more official places than others.  Plus of course all the other oddball micronations. 

There's an island in the Danube which has been given the name Liberland - bit like that old fort in the North sea - Sealand.   Of the two, I prefer Liberland. At least they have a plan!

I don't see how the UK can continue with different entry rules. Obviously someone can fly into London and be in Cardiff a couple of hours later.   Unexpected result of devolution.

Entry rules can be managed if the organisation has the desire/resources to do it.  On another Forum they were discussing the in's and out's of travel between the US and UK at the moment; some guy recently flew from the UK to New York, went through whatever process is in place.  He got home and within 2 hours there was a knock on the door, it was a policeman checking he was OK and reminding him of his "duty" to isolate; he's been back 3 days now and that policeman has been back twice a day ever since, just to make sure he's OK.

I posted a few items on the topic and I remain very pessimistic, in a way people in Europe are spoiled (ie low infection rates (as compared with eg US , Brazil, ..), even in Hungary things seem to speed up now quite a bit.
At the start of the pandemic it was mentioned that up to 70% of people could catch this (perhaps this can be avoided).

What scares me a bit is that whereas elderly people were very much in focus at the start, they (they meaning also me) are now far less in focus (although I have to say that I heard for visits to elderly homes you have to have negative Corona tests).
The virus is there and even if younger people seems to be taken a bigger portion, for me it does not mean that elderly people are less impacted then before.

I wish all good luck in the upcoming period (young and old and please stay safe).

By the way I have received some comments on hamstering, I have to admit I did so again (notably sparkling water (400 liters, dog food (well into next year), cat food)). Butcher and wine are online now. Online providers seem to be happy (and so is ALDI).

Lets see how things go.

Cynic wrote:

Entry rules can be managed if the organisation has the desire/resources to do it.  On another Forum they were discussing the in's and out's of travel between the US and UK at the moment; some guy recently flew from the UK to New York, went through whatever process is in place.  He got home and within 2 hours there was a knock on the door, it was a policeman checking he was OK and reminding him of his "duty" to isolate; he's been back 3 days now and that policeman has been back twice a day ever since, just to make sure he's OK.

So that's the US cops knocking on the door of a US home?

When I was in the UK, there was nothing.  No tracking, no calls, no apps, nothing at all.

Mrs Fluffy was in a conversation with someone on the phone about my quarantine and was told the police come around more often or specifically on some people more than others. Presumably as a British person I'm considerably more risky than others.  But also said age has something to do with it - younger people far less likely to obey than the older set (like me).

cdw057 wrote:

I posted a few items on the topic and I remain very pessimistic, in a way people in Europe are spoiled (ie low infection rates (as compared with eg US , Brazil, ..), even in Hungary things seem to speed up now quite a bit.
At the start of the pandemic it was mentioned that up to 70% of people could catch this (perhaps this can be avoided).

What scares me a bit is that whereas elderly people were very much in focus at the start, they (they meaning also me) are now far less in focus (although I have to say that I heard for visits to elderly homes you have to have negative Corona tests).
The virus is there and even if younger people seems to be taken a bigger portion, for me it does not mean that elderly people are less impacted then before.

I wish all good luck in the upcoming period (young and old and please stay safe).

By the way I have received some comments on hamstering, I have to admit I did so again (notably sparkling water (400 liters, dog food (well into next year), cat food)). Butcher and wine are online now. Online providers seem to be happy (and so is ALDI).

Lets see how things go.

You might find some people hoarding again the next wave.  Rumour of HU schools closing are rife.

I heard on the radio - it was some expert  - that there are signs in some places that there's been a precipitous drop in infection levels in some places.   Theory is that the virus has mutated and is no longer as dangerous as it was..   

As with all things on the Internet, it's hard to know if it's authoritative reporting although The Washington Post has the same story but it's behind a paywall.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Cynic wrote:

Entry rules can be managed if the organisation has the desire/resources to do it.  On another Forum they were discussing the in's and out's of travel between the US and UK at the moment; some guy recently flew from the UK to New York, went through whatever process is in place.  He got home and within 2 hours there was a knock on the door, it was a policeman checking he was OK and reminding him of his "duty" to isolate; he's been back 3 days now and that policeman has been back twice a day ever since, just to make sure he's OK.

So that's the US cops knocking on the door of a US home?

When I was in the UK, there was nothing.  No tracking, no calls, no apps, nothing at all.

Mrs Fluffy was in a conversation with someone on the phone about my quarantine and was told the police come around more often or specifically on some people more than others. Presumably as a British person I'm considerably more risky than others.  But also said age has something to do with it - younger people far less likely to obey than the older set (like me).

Yeah, that was the story.

The UK seems to be a bit more hit and miss in as much as I've never heard of anybody getting a house call, but I'm wondering who would do the checks as we don't really have the kind of law enforcement structures that many countries have.  Taking the Dutch example, they have no problem openly using Military Police outside of the military environment; never see that in the UK.

We're off to Holland in a few weeks, so as it stands when we get back, I'll be in quarantine; I doubt if I'll get a house call, we're too far off the beaten track.

Cynic wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

Cynic wrote:

Entry rules can be managed if the organisation has the desire/resources to do it.  On another Forum they were discussing the in's and out's of travel between the US and UK at the moment; some guy recently flew from the UK to New York, went through whatever process is in place.  He got home and within 2 hours there was a knock on the door, it was a policeman checking he was OK and reminding him of his "duty" to isolate; he's been back 3 days now and that policeman has been back twice a day ever since, just to make sure he's OK.

So that's the US cops knocking on the door of a US home?

When I was in the UK, there was nothing.  No tracking, no calls, no apps, nothing at all.

Mrs Fluffy was in a conversation with someone on the phone about my quarantine and was told the police come around more often or specifically on some people more than others. Presumably as a British person I'm considerably more risky than others.  But also said age has something to do with it - younger people far less likely to obey than the older set (like me).

Yeah, that was the story.

The UK seems to be a bit more hit and miss in as much as I've never heard of anybody getting a house call, but I'm wondering who would do the checks as we don't really have the kind of law enforcement structures that many countries have.  Taking the Dutch example, they have no problem openly using Military Police outside of the military environment; never see that in the UK.

We're off to Holland in a few weeks, so as it stands when we get back, I'll be in quarantine; I doubt if I'll get a house call, we're too far off the beaten track.

Interesting about the USA - maybe it's only NYC or NY State.  Governor there, Cuomo, seems a capable guy but it might simply be experience to have a workable process/system as they were hit hard.

If you go via vehicle I think you've far less chance of being checked, especially if you have a HU car.  They will probably just think you're locals.  When we've crossed to Austria - way back when - they paid  little attention to us in our HU car.  I've also crossed in a UK car many times and they were always interested - we used to get stopped and in previous decades always searched our car.  Mainly looking for cigarettes and perfume.  Utter waste of time - don't smoke and we smell horrible. 

But here, I think they will come around and check you on your return.  They might be obliged to do it regardless.   

Mrs Fluffy and I have worked out a vague system.  I will only do things like going in the bathroom when she's here in case the cops turn up.   That's proving a bit inconvenient, so we're thinking just carry on as normal as we don't have to muck about,   When she's not here, I'm often in the garden but I cannot see the front from the back so unless they call me I wouldn't know they were there.  I'm usually making stuff with power tools like angle grinders and I use ear defenders for that. 

A drill sergeant could be shouting behind me and I wouldn't hear them!

When I had "unexpected" gov. visitors, I was still in my PJ's and told my husband to keep them in the kitchen while I took a full bath and dressed, they are lucky I didn't curl my hair and put makeup on too. Hate it when people just pop over.What, they want to interview you in your nightgown? Crazy, they should call you first, fr sure they must already have a tracking device following your ever move as it is.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

When I had "unexpected" gov. visitors, I was still in my PJ's and told my husband to keep them in the kitchen while I took a full bath and dressed, they are lucky I didn't curl my hair and put makeup on too. Hate it when people just pop over.What, they want to interview you in your nightgown? Crazy, they should call you first, fr sure they must already have a tracking device following your ever move as it is.

I think this idea of "they work for us" as a person subject to Government doesn't work in this place.  I guess they'd drag you out the bathroom as they don't want to wait or risk you skipping out the bathroom window.  They aren't going to be polite about it. All this surveillance seems to treat people in a criminal way rather than just visitors.

I wonder if this is how things work in North Korea or how it worked in the commie GDR?   

Makes me have sympathy for those against big government and complaining about a lack of accountability and transparency.  I am beginning to think borders and border control as becoming anachronisms. Maybe I ought to move to Svalbard.

I can tell you that it was not unusual for people who did not comply with the "rules" in the former GDR to find themselves unloading trains full of coal by hand; I sat there on the other side of rail siding watching them do it.

Cynic wrote:

I can tell you that it was not unusual for people who did not comply with the "rules" in the former GDR to find themselves unloading trains full of coal by hand; I sat there on the other side of rail siding watching them do it.

Sounds like a good anecdote.  You have to tell us more about that. 

What were the circumstances of you being able to watch them?

fluffy2560 wrote:

Cynic wrote:

I can tell you that it was not unusual for people who did not comply with the "rules" in the former GDR to find themselves unloading trains full of coal by hand; I sat there on the other side of rail siding watching them do it.

Sounds like a good anecdote.  You have to tell us more about that. 

What were the circumstances of you being able to watch them?

I was serving in the British Military in Berlin at the time; that's about the sum of what I can tell you; nothing exciting.  Oh, I can tell you where it happened - Magdeburg.

Cynic wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

Cynic wrote:

I can tell you that it was not unusual for people who did not comply with the "rules" in the former GDR to find themselves unloading trains full of coal by hand; I sat there on the other side of rail siding watching them do it.

Sounds like a good anecdote.  You have to tell us more about that. 

What were the circumstances of you being able to watch them?

I was serving in the British Military in Berlin at the time; that's about the sum of what I can tell you; nothing exciting.  Oh, I can tell you where it happened - Magdeburg.

Haha, I've been there - one and half times.  I drove from NL to Berlin on the transit route through the GDR.  As we passed Magdeburg, we could see a few lights but nothing much at all.   Intimidating border.  Laughable motorway services with Trabbies and Wartburgs and surprisingly Russian champagne.

Then later on, when I was on a job in Hannover, we took a trip to Magdeburg after the wall had come down just to see what was going on. It was a right dump with broken open sewer pipes, those steaming town heating pipes and crappy housing and shops with Communist fronts but way expensive Western washing machines.  The only thing that was being really fixed up was the church and the motorway exits - they had new Siemens traffic lights.  All the border stations were broken down and abandoned.

We used to operate military trains between Hanover to Berlin (route Hanover/Braunschweig/Helmstedt/Marienborn/Potsdam/Berlin); we saw some pretty weird stuff over the years.  We would bring western clothes catalogues to give to seamstresses in the East so they could copy western fashion designs for the Russian officer's wives.

Marienborn station was in an inner border zone where East German citizens weren't allowed to go; which was weird because it was the only authorised exit for them into the west (they couldn't use the transit route within 10 km of the inner German border), so it was a kind of a no-mans-land.  While the wall was up, it was kept in a pristine condition, even had a duty-free shop (only took west DM's); there was a block of flats behind the station which were used by the Russian military to house the families of their servicemen who lived and worked in the East German strip; we pretty much knew them all and we went back to try and say goodbye before they went, but it was a waste of time, the entire building was stripped of everything, which is why the train stations looked as you described them, the Russians took anything worth having with them.  Wire, windows, bricks, cement; anything that could be used to build a home in Russia because they were returning to nothing.

If you're interested, the BBC made a TV programme about the Passenger train while I was there; this link will take you to it.  I've just found another website full of stuff, didn't realise I was so famous.

Cynic wrote:

We used to operate military trains between Hanover to Berlin (route Hanover/Braunschweig/Helmstedt/Marienborn/Potsdam/Berlin); we saw some pretty weird stuff over the years.  We would bring western clothes catalogues to give to seamstresses in the East so they could copy western fashion designs for the Russian officer's wives.

Marienborn station was in an inner border zone where East German citizens weren't allowed to go; which was weird because it was the only authorised exit for them into the west (they couldn't use the transit route within 10 km of the inner German border), so it was a kind of a no-mans-land.  While the wall was up, it was kept in a pristine condition, even had a duty-free shop (only took west DM's); there was a block of flats behind the station which were used by the Russian military to house the families of their servicemen who lived and worked in the East German strip; we pretty much knew them all and we went back to try and say goodbye before they went, but it was a waste of time, the entire building was stripped of everything, which is why the train stations looked as you described them, the Russians took anything worth having with them.  Wire, windows, bricks, cement; anything that could be used to build a home in Russia because they were returning to nothing.

If you're interested, the BBC made a TV programme about the Passenger train while I was there; this link will take you to it.  I've just found another website full of stuff, didn't realise I was so famous.

Wow, great info.   

When I was in Berlin, I was taken down to the area of the wall where the train (or a train) was in a kind of fenced off area within the wall.  The gates were closed and under a couple of watchtowers, the Soviets let dogs and guards check under the train.   I was also at Checkpoint Charlie.  My own military experiences were mainly on exercises in Denmark.

The border crossing I used was I suppose Helmstedt–Marienborn.  It had this very large GDR military presence there.  As soon as you passed into the GDR by road, there was a large GDR coat of arms with these conscript types hanging about with AK47s.  To the right was a very large barracks or military installation.  There were no exits on that autobahn but there were these Skoda police cars.  They would catch people speeding so I stuck rigorously to the limits. On reaching Berlin, as we approached the border I was surprised to see these guys in some military  camouflage garb creeping around in the forest there. They looked like they were wearing some kind of NBC suits. Really odd.

I know the Soviets took everything here in Hungary as well - even the pipes, fittings out of the washrooms.  I believe multiple stolen cars were also flown out and anything not nailed down went.   There are some of those buildings near my house.  They were derelict for years but suddenly about 3 years ago, they were all renovated and improved but still empty.  I see the lights on but there's no-one in there.  The forest cycle tracks pass very close to the fence and you can see.  I have no idea why they bothered with fixing them up.  Cheaper to knock them down.

There were 3 allied military train operations (French to Strasbourg, American (had 2, one to Frankfurt and one to Bremerhaven); actually the agreement allowed the Russians to also operate one, don't think they ever needed to.  The French train ran from Tegel, the Brit from Charlottenburg and Spandau; the US trains from Lichterfelde.

The train checking by the Soviets was in Potsdam; the trains were parked in a fenced-off siding, the engine was removed and the Russians let some war dogs loose; they never found anybody in my time; there were some stories from the 1950's of some East Germans finding their way onto the train during stops in East Germany, but they were quickly escorted off again; since then, some chocks and chains were added to the train door securing system.  The famous "Checkpoints" (A @ Helsmtedt, B @ Drewitz and C @ Friedrichstrasse in Berlin) were mainly for road entry; flights went from Tegel.  I had locals working for me that would never be able to go by surface routes as they would be arrested.

I think the piece of rolling stock still in Berlin is a piece of the US military train, it's in the airlift museum in the old US sector; this link will take you to it.  I notice there's also an old RAF Hastings aircraft parked next to it.  There is only one piece of the British train remaining, a dining car currently at Fort Paull museum near Hull; unfortunately I suspect it won't be around for long as COVID has lead to the museum closing its doors and everything is for sale, so it will almost certainly be scrapped in a few weeks.  French train - I have no idea, funny lot the French (in Berlin anyhow).

There are lots of Cold War stories with a Berlin flavour; once you'd been there, you had some unique qualifications that meant if you were needed, you got the call.

Cynic wrote:

There were 3 allied military train operations (French to Strasbourg, American (had 2, one to Frankfurt and one to Bremerhaven); actually the agreement allowed the Russians to also operate one, don't think they ever needed to.  The French train ran from Tegel, the Brit from Charlottenburg and Spandau; the US trains from Lichterfelde.

The train checking by the Soviets was in Potsdam; the trains were parked in a fenced-off siding, the engine was removed and the Russians let some war dogs loose; they never found anybody in my time; there were some stories from the 1950's of some East Germans finding their way onto the train during stops in East Germany, but they were quickly escorted off again; since then, some chocks and chains were added to the train door securing system.  The famous "Checkpoints" (A @ Helsmtedt, B @ Drewitz and C @ Friedrichstrasse in Berlin) were mainly for road entry; flights went from Tegel.  I had locals working for me that would never be able to go by surface routes as they would be arrested.

I think the piece of rolling stock still in Berlin is a piece of the US military train, it's in the airlift museum in the old US sector; this link will take you to it.  I notice there's also an old RAF Hastings aircraft parked next to it.  There is only one piece of the British train remaining, a dining car currently at Fort Paull museum near Hull; unfortunately I suspect it won't be around for long as COVID has lead to the museum closing its doors and everything is for sale, so it will almost certainly be scrapped in a few weeks.  French train - I have no idea, funny lot the French (in Berlin anyhow).

There are lots of Cold War stories with a Berlin flavour; once you'd been there, you had some unique qualifications that meant if you were needed, you got the call.

Excellent anecdote.  Someone will pull us up for being off-piste for the thread.   

Interesting the Allied Museum is free of charge but Fort Paull is unsupported.  Fort Paull looks a bit tacky but some interesting items.    Surely the plane there could be saved. I hope they take it to air museum at IWM Duxford.   

If you feel you'd like the last part of the British train back, you can bid for it here: 1950's Royal Corps of Transport"The British Berliner" Military Train Dining Car. Only a £1 at the moment! 

When I crossed the GDR border I was in a different queue  to the West Germans.  There were hundreds of school kids with their ID cards trying to cross on bus trips.  Presumably education. I hope that people don't forget the infamy of that barrier.  I was telling my teenage kid about the entire Wall thing and my description was met with incredulity!  And yet we live in Hungary.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Cynic wrote:

There were 3 allied military train operations (French to Strasbourg, American (had 2, one to Frankfurt and one to Bremerhaven); actually the agreement allowed the Russians to also operate one, don't think they ever needed to.  The French train ran from Tegel, the Brit from Charlottenburg and Spandau; the US trains from Lichterfelde.

The train checking by the Soviets was in Potsdam; the trains were parked in a fenced-off siding, the engine was removed and the Russians let some war dogs loose; they never found anybody in my time; there were some stories from the 1950's of some East Germans finding their way onto the train during stops in East Germany, but they were quickly escorted off again; since then, some chocks and chains were added to the train door securing system.  The famous "Checkpoints" (A @ Helsmtedt, B @ Drewitz and C @ Friedrichstrasse in Berlin) were mainly for road entry; flights went from Tegel.  I had locals working for me that would never be able to go by surface routes as they would be arrested.

I think the piece of rolling stock still in Berlin is a piece of the US military train, it's in the airlift museum in the old US sector; this link will take you to it.  I notice there's also an old RAF Hastings aircraft parked next to it.  There is only one piece of the British train remaining, a dining car currently at Fort Paull museum near Hull; unfortunately I suspect it won't be around for long as COVID has lead to the museum closing its doors and everything is for sale, so it will almost certainly be scrapped in a few weeks.  French train - I have no idea, funny lot the French (in Berlin anyhow).

There are lots of Cold War stories with a Berlin flavour; once you'd been there, you had some unique qualifications that meant if you were needed, you got the call.

Excellent anecdote.  Someone will pull us up for being off-piste for the thread.   

Interesting the Allied Museum is free of charge but Fort Paull is unsupported.  Fort Paull looks a bit tacky but some interesting items.    Surely the plane there could be saved. I hope they take it to air museum at IWM Duxford.   

If you feel you'd like the last part of the British train back, you can bid for it here: 1950's Royal Corps of Transport"The British Berliner" Military Train Dining Car. Only a £1 at the moment! 

When I crossed the GDR border I was in a different queue  to the West Germans.  There were hundreds of school kids with their ID cards trying to cross on bus trips.  Presumably education. I hope that people don't forget the infamy of that barrier.  I was telling my teenage kid about the entire Wall thing and my description was met with incredulity!  And yet we live in Hungary.

Off-piste - yeah, in my defence I did mention Covid somewhere.

The Berlin museum is actually in the car park of the old US Forces Base Exchange area and not that far from Tempelhof which has lots of memories for the locals; Tempelhof was bizarre, all that was there in my time was a closed to the public airfield where the Americans did there thing and the British Airways European booking centre.  Fort Paull is an old sea defences site; I suspect it will be the site of new desres apartments for the rich before too long.  The Beverley there is also gaining no serious interest.  Many years ago a young Cynic was in the Air Training Corps at what was then RAF Hendon (before they built Grahame Park on top of the flying site); the last Sunday while flying was still permitted there, they flew in the last flying RAF Beverley and parked it where the planned RAF Museum was going to be built.  I guess it got missed in the plans as they allowed it to rot, to the stage where it had to be cut up before somebody got hurt; I suspect the same will happen to the one in Hull; shame.  I was going to make a bid for the Brit dining car and put it in my front garden, unfortunately, vetoed by Mrs Cynic.  Duxford has already declined any interest in the Beverley (as has Cosford, the other half of the RAF museum).  Too many people focussed on trying to save what's parked at Bruntingthorpe I guess (and that's definitely off-topic, but you'll find it in Google if you're interested).

The GDR was a bit of a weird place; it was never recognised by the British Government; they were mad keen to sell its worker paradise image to those gullible enough to not see through what was really going on (for example, loading/unloading coal trains by hand - see, back on topic again).  The West-German queue at the border was so they could pay their "contribution" aka day visa, to the East German economy (while they checked for people who they would like to have a little chat with about their wartime activity).  One of my German employees was the nephew of a minor White Russian royal (Konstantin) who had fled Russia at the time of the Revolution; they ended up in Berlin as refugees.  Harry was his name and they adopted a more Germanic surname to keep a low profile; Harry was employed by us as an interpreter (he spoke German, Russian and English flawlessly); during the war, Harry had been in the SS (strangely enough, working as an Interpreter in a Signals intercept unit on the Russian front), he never tried to hide this fact and was quite open about that part of his life; the Russians who at that time had a presence at Charlottenburg Station, knew about Harry and wanted to cart him off as a war criminal, but he would have none of it and would frequently engage the Soviets in "discussions" where he cast doubt on their parentage and lack of a legitimate father; he was still there in 1979 when I met him and still winding up the Russians even after they left Charlottenburg.

I think I'll park this for now - before somebody calls me a stupid old fool or worse. 

Cynic wrote:

.....
I think I'll park this for now - before somebody calls me a stupid old fool or worse. 

Stupid old fool?  Don't be daft, this is living history!  Maybe I'm weird but I like this kind of stuff. I am keen on Marilyn's adventures in 1960s/70s in California.   You might have enough for a book.  We're still waiting on Marilyn's.

Some beautiful planes at Bruntingthorpe.  It would be a shame for those to be broken up as a collection.  IWD should take the best of them - Cold War was a war after all.

I've asked a friend of mine who is keen on railways if he wants to bid on the dining car (now £12) and to put it in his garden.  I'll see if he bothers replying!  I would buy it if I had a garden big enough and perhaps use it as a shed or office.  Probably cost £20 to buy but £10000+ to ship back here!

fluffy2560 wrote:

Cynic wrote:

.....
I think I'll park this for now - before somebody calls me a stupid old fool or worse. 

Stupid old fool?  Don't be daft, this is living history!  Maybe I'm weird but I like this kind of stuff. I am keen on Marilyn's adventures in 1960s/70s in California.   You might have enough for a book.  We're still waiting on Marilyn's.

Some beautiful planes at Bruntingthorpe.  It would be a shame for those to be broken up as a collection.  IWD should take the best of them - Cold War was a war after all.

I've asked a friend of mine who is keen on railways if he wants to bid on the dining car (now £12) and to put it in his garden.  I'll see if he bothers replying!  I would buy it if I had a garden big enough and perhaps use it as a shed or office.  Probably cost £20 to buy but £10000+ to ship back here!

Apart from the sexy stuff, for which I think that's where they just built some storage hangars to keep the combat jets in, Bruntingthorpe has become the repository for most of what's left of the RAF VC10/Tristar fleet when they scrapped them; it's nuts that so many charities have worked together to make Bruntingthorpe what it is, for the owner to cut their legs out from underneath them all in one swipe - all that money wasted.  Rumour control is that some US company has just bought the ex-RAF tanker fleet to put them back in the air back in the US on some Government training contract; believe it when it happens; if interested, read about it here.

As for the dining car, it's just been refurbished so is in pretty good condition right now, but it will cost a load of money to move it back to the mainland on a truck; maybe an idea to get it through an annual rolling test and then ship it on the rails; it's ex DB stock.

They say every old soldier has at least one book in them - have to see.

Moved conversation to: https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 36#4938155

As Mr. Fluffy is now in quarantine, I'll share some things I've read on another ex-pat site about what some people are doing about going out for testing.
You may wish to take a blood pressure pill first however because your hair is going to get on fire. At least mine did.
A newbie to HU asked about going out for a PCR test. She was told it was Okay Dokay to just leave a note on the door , near the red quarantine sticker I'd guess, just mentioning she skipped out to get a test! I'm out to lunch sort of thing!
What on earth is wrong with people, where is the logic?
Another poster told her that's what she did because the border guard told her to leave a note.
Like some good ol' Billy Bob working out in no man's land knows what the HU health dept. wants.
Yes, when you just break quarantine to get a test, why not just run a few errands here and there at the same time?
Good grief, no wonder they come down hard on people, some people just don't use half their brains.
The purpos of quarantine is to isolate a person until they get the all clear.
When my dog was in quarantine in Hawaii for 4 months, he couldn't even get one paw out of his run or quarantine would start from day one plus you had to pay again. $850. in 1994 dollars just to be locked in a run.They would toss food 2 times a day and give them water, that's all the care they got. I usually had to wash him to remove all the ticks he picked up overnight and dry his run, they hosed it down every morning and got all his bedding soaked in water. Just disgusting.

LOL - you're not unique in that respect; there's stupidity everywhere.  It's like when people listen to the news, but only actually hear and remember the bits that they like.  Like people claiming to be "confused" by the quarantine; how on earth can you be confused, you're either in quarantine, or you're not; if there are exceptions that say except 1 trip to go for groceries and/or medicines, then it means just that.  I'd be happy to say it only happens in the UK, but because I read the Press in other countries, I learn that perhaps we should include stupidity as one of the symptoms of the pandemic.

Have a great day everyone.

It just freaks me out when people think for them, rules do not apply".
Yesterday we popped in a PennyMarket for some rolls.
Don't do my normal shopping there.
I flipped out, this bugged the living heck out of me even before C-19. People just gabbing rolls with their nasty fingers and not using the grabber thing or as I do an inverted plastic bag to cover my sticky fingers with.
I'm not a huge germaphobe but growing up in  a large family we learned to keep stuff clean or the entire family would be laid up with a flu or cold.
Before that pit stop, we went to Keliti to pay some bills. Walked through part of the station, I will only wear a mask when needed but many inside were wearing them.
Some maskless dude sneezed into the wild wind without even covering his nose. Now that's just gross virus or no virus.
I give up sometimes, people can just be dirty
I swear at least 800 hours of my cosmetology schooling was on public health standards.
Most of our written test to get our degree in cosmetology was in hygiene.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

As Mr. Fluffy is now in quarantine, I'll share some things I've read on another ex-pat site about what some people are doing about going out for testing.
You may wish to take a blood pressure pill first however because your hair is going to get on fire. At least mine did.
A newbie to HU asked about going out for a PCR test. She was told it was Okay Dokay to just leave a note on the door , near the red quarantine sticker I'd guess, just mentioning she skipped out to get a test! I'm out to lunch sort of thing!
What on earth is wrong with people, where is the logic?
Another poster told her that's what she did because the border guard told her to leave a note.
Like some good ol' Billy Bob working out in no man's land knows what the HU health dept. wants.
Yes, when you just break quarantine to get a test, why not just run a few errands here and there at the same time?
Good grief, no wonder they come down hard on people, some people just don't use half their brains.
The purpos of quarantine is to isolate a person until they get the all clear.
...

That's not correct at all.  She should have applied for permission to the regional police centre - says on the decree  and via the phone people.   That will stop the cops turning up randomly to check on you, finding you not there and fining you.  It's a waste of time getting tested unless it's needed for something very urgent.  If you are just hanging out here in HU and there's enough support to keep you going, you might as well enjoy the rest!   

It's causing some weirdness for work related matters - anyone going somewhere with quarantine has to sit in a hotel for 2 weeks.  Who is going to pay for that?!  I did notice in some Asian places, it's only 7 days quarantine.  That's easy time to do!   

I'm off the hook next Sunday and we're planning to go down to Balaton to do some tidying up at the Mrs Fluffy family holiday house.  It'll be a relief to get out of the garden!

Yes, 2 weeks goes by fairly fast.
4 months quarantine was hell.
I broke down one evening about 2 months in.Missed my dog so much and knew he was so unhappy as well.
The day he go out of his run we bought him a flower lie for his neck and let him run free in a park near Diamond Head. He was so excited to be let out to run.
The only reason dogs and cats were put in pet jail for 4 months was too stop the spread of rabies. Well they have a vax for that but the old rules were still on the books in Hawaii. We all signed a bill to stop quarantine in Hawaii. Took some years but it is now a thing of the past.
Was a good way for the state to make silly jobs plus a good source of income. $850. per pet minus a bit of low grade food. You could feed your own pet with permission but only during feeding hours which was a huge hassle to do. As it was if you wished to bathe your dog yu needed permission and then had to arrive 2 hours before they opened for visiting hours, Then you had to leave and could return later when they opened to the public .Just like this quarantine, nothing was easy about it.
I only missed 2 visiting days all that time.My poor baby was so upset when I arrived on the next visit. It was stressful. Some people lived on different Islands and never visited their pets. Felt terrible for those dogs. Couldn't play or touch them either. Just had to shout over to try to relax them a bit.
About 3,000 dogs and 2,000 cats were held at a time. What a loud madhouse that place was.
It just upsets my balance when I hear how stupid and self centered people can be.
The women who told the newbie she could just leave a note said she was experienced since she lived in Hungary for 2 years! Wow, that's just forever...
I'm losing it I think, mention using grabbers in the store for rolls, thongs. I am forgetting how to bring up words in English lately.
Old age or too long in Hungary, no clue what's the problem with words.

The lake will be fun, may go this week but then again hate to make plans too far off, even 2 days ahead is far off for us.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Yes, 2 weeks goes by fairly fast.
...
The only reason dogs and cats were put in pet jail for 4 months was too stop the spread of rabies. Well they have a vax for that but the old rules were still on the books in Hawaii. We all signed a bill to stop quarantine in Hawaii. Took some years but it is now a thing of the past.
...

It's the same in the UK except it was 6 months quarantine.  The EU introduced "Passports for Pets" which included the rabies vaccination certificate and antibody test.  So long as the animal had that, then the animal could travel.  I think what changed is the vaccination became truly feasible. 

Nearly everyone in the UK was in favour of quarantine because we've never had endemic rabies in the UK except when someone brought it in from another country.   Over here of course, it's everywhere.  We've seen foxes around here unafraid of humans.  Pretty sure that's a sign of unusual behaviour and possibly rabies.  We had to warn our kids about it and not to approach wild animals.

In the 1990s, I was bitten by a dog here and had to have the injections. I was also bitten by a dog in Asia maybe 3-4 years ago.  The hotel staff had me in the clinic in about 30 minutes. Oddly some Japanese guy was bitten by the same dog the day before yet the dog was still roaming around without a care in the world.   I'd have expect it to be shot immediately to be tested for rabies.  They'd have to take its brain out which in the case of animals but not most politicians is fatal.

Funny,
My sister was bitten 2 times by stay dogs.
Once as a girl while riding her bike and the other when she was in France hitching around.
She was pissed in France, she and my other sister were suppose to be traveling together but the older sister fell in love and wouldn't leave the UK even for a couple weeks in France.The older sister had the money to travel while my other sister was "freeloading" even her air ticket was paid for by the older sister.Don't think she ever paid for the ticket or anything on that holiday.
Sort of a sore spot for me, the older bought tickets for her and hubby no.1 but she was divorcing him by vacation time and was going to bring me with her to the UK.
I was only 15 and my mother gave the OK and was going to even pay for the ticket.
Then the other sister who was married and had a baby said she should go instead because she was older and they would have more fun together as I was too young to do much.
My one chance to see the UK free as a bird went out the window!
All good, my sister is deceased now and I am glad she at least got to see France, dog bite or not.
Yes, my eldest sister was going to bring her cat with her but the 6 months quarantine put her off.
What killed me about Hawaii was after all that hoopla with quarantine you would see so many dead dogs laying on the side of the road or running everywhere off lead.
They looked like dead fighting pit bull dogs, so sad.
Dogs were treated rather poorly there from what i noticed.
Many locals never took their pets in for a shot in their lives, many lived on chains just barking away.

Hungary: British FCDO advises against nonessential travel to Hungary

On 10 September 2020 the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) updated its travel advice to advise against all nonessential travel to Hungary due to a current assessment of coronavirus risks.

The FCDO is not advising those already traveling in Hungary to leave at this time. Individuals arriving from Hungary may be required to self-isolate upon their return to the UK.

Individuals should continue to adhere to the guidance of their respective diplomatic mission in country and consult official sources for additional information.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announces anyone arriving in England from mainland Portugal, Hungary, French Polynesia and Reunion must self-isolate for 14 days from 4am on Saturday as countries removed from the travel corridor list

SimCityAT wrote:

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announces anyone arriving in England from mainland Portugal, Hungary, French Polynesia and Reunion must self-isolate for 14 days from 4am on Saturday as countries removed from the travel corridor list

Mr Shapps can always take his own plane (yes, he has his own one):



It's a 6-seat Piper Saratoga.  Quite a nice plane to have although his one is about 40 years old.  Notice the US registration.

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimCityAT wrote:

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announces anyone arriving in England from mainland Portugal, Hungary, French Polynesia and Reunion must self-isolate for 14 days from 4am on Saturday as countries removed from the travel corridor list

Mr Shapps can always take his own plane (yes, he has his own one):

[img align=C]https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/07/25/22/16509854-7287171-image-a-73_1564089248667.jpg[/url]

It's a 6-seat Piper Saratoga.  Quite a nice plane to have although his one is about 40 years old.  Notice the US registration.

I always wanted to fly; long-story why I ended up where I did.  I did fly in the right seat of a C-130 from Florida to Washington State, not allowed to touch anything though.  Then, when I left the Service I flew a real, proper Harrier Simulator; that was amazing.

I suspect Shapps may have a US FAA licence; it's quite common for people to take advantage of the more consistent US climate to learn to fly there and so end up with an FAA licence; if he also has an FAA Instrument Rating, then there are other benefits, i.e. world-wide recognition of that FAA rating; not sure what Brexit will do to the EU and the EASA standards as far as UK pilots are concerned.

Cynic wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimCityAT wrote:

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announces anyone arriving in England from mainland Portugal, Hungary, French Polynesia and Reunion must self-isolate for 14 days from 4am on Saturday as countries removed from the travel corridor list

Mr Shapps can always take his own plane (yes, he has his own one):

[img align=C]https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/07/25/22/16509854-7287171-image-a-73_1564089248667.jpg[/url]

It's a 6-seat Piper Saratoga.  Quite a nice plane to have although his one is about 40 years old.  Notice the US registration.

I always wanted to fly; long-story why I ended up where I did.  I did fly in the right seat of a C-130 from Florida to Washington State, not allowed to touch anything though.  Then, when I left the Service I flew a real, proper Harrier Simulator; that was amazing.

I suspect Shapps may have a US FAA licence; it's quite common for people to take advantage of the more consistent US climate to learn to fly there and so end up with an FAA licence; if he also has an FAA Instrument Rating, then there are other benefits, i.e. world-wide recognition of that FAA rating; not sure what Brexit will do to the EU and the EASA standards as far as UK pilots are concerned.

Too bad they didn't let you have a go at flying.
My sister's old boyfriend of about 3 years time( nice guy) had a bi-plane in S. Ca and used to let her take  a spin  at flying once in awhile.He was from England and worked in S. Ca. as a film editor for a cartoon co.Super guy, she should of married him when he asked...
Sounded very exciting to do.
With this new round of C-19 I am personally a bit upset. Want to get a much needed eye exam but also a bit paranoid about going in and perhaps being a victim of the medical mafia.
Also wanted to see a dentist about a sensitive tooth, probably just a slight crack in a filling. Super paranoid as a person over age 65 to see anyone wearing a white uniform.
Wondering if this is the time to go in before it gets harder or  if I should just bite the bullet and get along half blind and not drinking anything too hot or too cold and staying under the medical radar?
As it is I've waited over 6 months with these few small issues.
Keep paying my Taj insurance but afraid to actually use it.

I have the hardware and software to create my own home flight simulator; even have empty rooms to set it up.  I have no excuse, think I need a bit more inspiration (or a kick up the backside).

Just thought about it, my wife has probably got more air time in the front end than I ever will.  One of the perks of being a young attractive Dutch girl in a plane full of British Squaddies flying to the States and the captain is looking for that special someone who gets to ride in the jump seat for the trip.  Never mind eh. 

Cynic wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimCityAT wrote:

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announces anyone arriving in England from mainland Portugal, Hungary, French Polynesia and Reunion must self-isolate for 14 days from 4am on Saturday as countries removed from the travel corridor list

Mr Shapps can always take his own plane (yes, he has his own one):

[img align=C]https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/07/25/22/16509854-7287171-image-a-73_1564089248667.jpg[/url]

It's a 6-seat Piper Saratoga.  Quite a nice plane to have although his one is about 40 years old.  Notice the US registration.

I always wanted to fly; long-story why I ended up where I did.  I did fly in the right seat of a C-130 from Florida to Washington State, not allowed to touch anything though.  Then, when I left the Service I flew a real, proper Harrier Simulator; that was amazing.

I suspect Shapps may have a US FAA licence; it's quite common for people to take advantage of the more consistent US climate to learn to fly there and so end up with an FAA licence; if he also has an FAA Instrument Rating, then there are other benefits, i.e. world-wide recognition of that FAA rating; not sure what Brexit will do to the EU and the EASA standards as far as UK pilots are concerned.

We fly around here sometimes and we're a bit restricted in this area but not overly so.  We have our own airfield here called Farkashegy (Wolf Hill) which I call Budakeszi International.   

He could well have a US license.  His home airfield was Panshanger (now closed) which was North London Flying Club at Welwyn Garden City.  I know he's been a pilot for 25 years so I expect he's instrument and night rated.   Might even have multi-engine.  USA is ideal for learning to fly - it's cheap, the weather's good and there's plenty of airspace so you can go up like 5-6000ft and a bit more.  US and Canada are good places to build hours with less restrictions from ATC. 

C130 would be very interesting to fly in.  Multi-engine is something else though - failure in one engine means a whole lot of extra skills.  Harrier flight simulator must be very cool.  No idea if it's like flying a helicopter.  Largest thing I've flown in here is a Cessna 172 (4 seats) from the 1950s but usually here it's the 152 (two seater).

In my immediate area while you can fly anywhere really up towards Esztergom and down towards Balaton. However,  for VFR (Visual Flight Rules), one cannot go over 3000 ft.  For stooging around hereabouts, it's fine. Anything on the other side of the river is Budapest TMA (Terminal Manoeuvring Area) and it's all restricted over there.

Cynic wrote:

I have the hardware and software to create my own home flight simulator; even have empty rooms to set it up.  I have no excuse, think I need a bit more inspiration (or a kick up the backside).

Just thought about it, my wife has probably got more air time in the front end than I ever will.  One of the perks of being a young attractive Dutch girl in a plane full of British Squaddies flying to the States and the captain is looking for that special someone who gets to ride in the jump seat for the trip.  Never mind eh. 

Me too.  I've got the yoke and pedals - MS Flight Sim and X-Plane.   I haven't had so much time for that stuff as I was always working, desktop PC broke, built/moved house but now with quarantine and coming out of lockdown, I cannot go anywhere except within Hungary and there's a lot more time available.  So there's no excuse not to do it properly despite dabbling over the years.   Now is the time to just get on with it!

BTW, one useful place to think about it is Cyprus.  Weather's good, holiday spot and plenty for other halves to do while you're flying.

fluffy2560 wrote:

We fly around here sometimes and we're a bit restricted in this area but not overly so.  We have our own airfield here called Farkashegy (Wolf Hill) which I call Budakeszi International.   

He could well have a US license.  His home airfield was Panshanger (now closed) which was North London Flying Club at Welwyn Garden City.  I know he's been a pilot for 25 years so I expect he's instrument and night rated.   Might even have multi-engine.  USA is ideal for learning to fly - it's cheap, the weather's good and there's plenty of airspace so you can go up like 5-6000ft and a bit more.  US and Canada are good places to build hours with less restrictions from ATC. 

C130 would be very interesting to fly in.  Multi-engine is something else though - failure in one engine means a whole lot of extra skills.  Harrier flight simulator must be very cool.  No idea if it's like flying a helicopter.  Largest thing I've flown in here is a Cessna 172 (4 seats) from the 1950s but usually here it's the 152 (two seater).

In my immediate area while you can fly anywhere really up towards Esztergom and down towards Balaton. However,  for VFR (Visual Flight Rules), one cannot go over 3000 ft.  For stooging around hereabouts, it's fine. Anything on the other side of the river is Budapest TMA (Terminal Manoeuvring Area) and it's all restricted over there.

C-130 was interesting to fly in, although I could never figure out why anybody would want to jump out of the back of a perfectly serviceable aircraft when it was going to land all by itself not long after they'd left.

The Harrier Sim; I got to play with it because I used to buy a lot of trucks from Volvo and one of their sales guys had something to do with RAF Wittering (I think he may have been a reservist there) and they would sell open days to Industry to raise money for the RAF Benevolent Fund; Volvo bought some of them and would bring some customers along.  Weird thing, on my first trip I bumped into a Royal Marine pilot who flew the Harrier, that I'd known while I was serving; we'd done a snow survival course together in Norway, so then I had my own contact and could tag on to any of the open days.  He used to joke that I had more simulator time than he did.  When the RAF sold all theirs to the USMC, they also got the Sim as well; gutted as I wanted to buy it - yes I know that would never have happened, but I could dream.

Cynic wrote:

....

The Harrier Sim; I got to play with it because I used to buy a lot of trucks from Volvo and one of their sales guys had something to do with RAF Wittering (I think he may have been a reservist there) and they would sell open days to Industry to raise money for the RAF Benevolent Fund; Volvo bought some of them and would bring some customers along.  Weird thing, on my first trip I bumped into a Royal Marine pilot who flew the Harrier, that I'd known while I was serving; we'd done a snow survival course together in Norway, so then I had my own contact and could tag on to any of the open days.  He used to joke that I had more simulator time than he did.  When the RAF sold all theirs to the USMC, they also got the Sim as well; gutted as I wanted to buy it - yes I know that would never have happened, but I could dream.

Ah Wittering, I remember that place.  One of my GFs Dad was based there. 

If it was a full motion simulator, you'd be into the big bucks and maintenance would be something of a problem.   But owning that, it that would be really something.