A tree burns in Budapest

Dateline Budapest...Thursday, June 23

Fire on Vasar Utca near Rakoczi ter.

Neighbors in the area near the new Metro 4 station phoned the fire squad at 7:35 this evening when they noticed a large sycamore tree was smoking. The fire squad arrived quickly, donned helmets and boots and engaged all fire fighting gear at their disposal. Using axes and a 2” hose from the Mercedes Benz pumper truck, the fire, or in this case, the smoke, was soon thwarted. A large crowd gathered to watch the big event. They enjoyed ice cream and cheered on the brave hose men. Although there are no official comments it appears to be a case of smoking in a bed as it was speculated that someone had thrown a cigarette in the mulch around the tree. See photos.

In other news…the magnesfestekes seems to be working. After applying 4 coats of the magnetic paint to the walls at Birs Biztro I returned today and painted over the gray with the original paint. The Magna Hold is basically metal dust that you mix with paint that allows magnets to be held on a normal looking wall. Lisa’s visual essay images will have magnetic tape on the back and visitors will be able to move the pieces around on the wall. Our test this evening was a success. The reception is Tuesday evening and you are all invited. Except you, and you know who you are.

We have ordered wine and appetizers for the reception. In addition to the visual essay Lisa will have several of her bead pieces displayed in concert with Marcus Peter’s sculpture. Both really think the pieces complement each other.

Tomorrow we go to the immigration office to hopefully, in one day, although almost impossible, get our residency visas. We figured out that the Hungarian government requires you to get a resident visa if you will be in the country more than 90 day. This is because in most cases it takes at least 85 days to complete the paperwork. There was a glimmer of hope earlier this week when we realized that the first Hungarian stamp in out passports was from last Monday night when we crossed from Romania, we figured we may not need a resident permit. But we are playing it politically safe; we don’t want any international incidents. I can’t imagine them not wanting me to leave the country. Lisa is a different story.

The InSEA starts on Saturday. I am volunteering at the registration table or somewhere, I think I am in charge of registering the Nigerians. The InSEA people had an inordinately large number of Nigerians requesting letters from InSEA to secure travel documents. Most were deposed Kings or Princes and the recipients of large amounts of money and just needed a sponsor in Hungary to help them get the money out of Nigeria.

Why couldn’t I be in charge of registering the Swedes?

I’ll try and keep up with the posting over the next week; you can always go back and find your own worst of. Peace.