Hungarian currency

On Mar 19, 7:42 pm, "bb" <bbh....uk> wrote:
> We are shortly travelling to Hungary ...

Thank you so much to all who replied - I am grateful for your hints
and tips. Next time I won't be going to the post office then.
Good advice - thanks. bb

"bb" <bbhoch.uk> skrev i meddelandet
news:1174437176.680507.159530@l75g2000hse. o...
> On Mar 19, 7:42 pm, "bb" <bbh....uk> wrote:
>> We are shortly travelling to Hungary ...
>
> Thank you so much to all who replied - I am grateful for your hints
> and tips. Next time I won't be going to the post office then.
> Good advice - thanks. bb
>
Don't worry, it's always convenient to have some local currency directly on
arrival.

Deeply Filled Mortician wrote:

> Not that I would bother with this going into Hungary. I bet you could
> get away with Euros until you sorted out some Forints.

I doubt that a bus driver would accept Euros, and I'm fairly sure a subway
ticket machine won't.

.... Martin

"Deeply Filled Mortician" <deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> skrev i
meddelandet news:t22203d4qlatfer4pqetk4qkr3ke8dpqdd@...
> Make credence recognised that on Wed, 21 Mar 2007 00:42:42 GMT,
> "Lennart Petersen" <lennart.petersen@swipnet.se> has scripted:
>
>>
>>
>>"bb" <bbhoch.uk> skrev i meddelandet
>>news:1174437176.680507.159530@l75g2000hse.google gro...
>>> On Mar 19, 7:42 pm, "bb" <bbh....uk> wrote:
>>>> We are shortly travelling to Hungary ...
>>>
>>> Thank you so much to all who replied - I am grateful for your hints
>>> and tips. Next time I won't be going to the post office then.
>>> Good advice - thanks. bb
>>>
>>Don't worry, it's always convenient to have some local currency directly
>>on
>>arrival.
>
> Not that I would bother with this going into Hungary. I bet you could
> get away with Euros until you sorted out some Forints.
> --
You're likely to be cheated and paying too much with foreign currency.
I'm used to get currency from local Forex providing money at about the same
rate I've to pay with a cc.
Remember the old time when Danish in Copenhagen always accepted SEK with a
smile , the rate then was 1: 1,2 in favour of SEK so as long as you're
prepared to pay an overrate you're near always welcome with US$ or E

"Lennart Petersen" <lennart.petersen@swipnet.se> kirjoitti
viestissä:3VbMh.36800$E02.14945@newsb.telia.net...
>
>>
>> Not that I would bother with this going into Hungary. I bet you could
>> get away with Euros until you sorted out some Forints.
>> --
> You're likely to be cheated and paying too much with foreign currency.
> I'm used to get currency from local Forex providing money at about the
> same rate I've to pay with a cc.
> Remember the old time when Danish in Copenhagen always accepted SEK with a
> smile , the rate then was 1: 1,2 in favour of SEK so as long as you're
> prepared to pay an overrate you're near always welcome with US$ or E
Absolutely. In Hungary man pays with Hungarian money. This is naturally a
univeral procedure. In the good old days of Communism, banks in West Berlin
sold out East German funny money at favourable rates. For instance in summer
1989 one Bundesmark bought nine or ten Ostmarks. After such a convertion
(and currency smuggling) life was pretty cheap on the incorrupt side of the
[Iron] Curtain.

[David Horne]:

> As a note for others, the larger metro stations etc., had ticket windows
> where you could make the purchase in cash. What annoyed me was that the
> ATMs would often give high value notes which many shops balked at
> accepting, and in one case IME refused to accept. Adding an uneven
> withdrawal amount helped, but not by much. With restaurants, it wasn't a
> problem.

Exactly. When I was in Budapest two years ago, I went straight to the
ATM and took out (too much) money, then I tried to pay the bus driver
with a 10,000 Forint note which was the only denomination the machine
gave me. He was not happy...

So the next year when I travelled across Czech Republic, Slovakia,
Hungary and Poland, I got my first cash in each country by exchanging
Euros (or remainders from the previous country). That way you are
likely to get some smaller change as well.

- Bjorn Munch

"Markku Grönroos" <kurkku@hassuserveri.fi> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:K3cMh.21674$mH2.5810@reader1.news.saunalahti. fi...
>
> "Lennart Petersen" <lennart.petersen@swipnet.se> kirjoitti
> viestissä:3VbMh.36800$E02.14945@newsb.telia.net...
>>
>>>
>>> Not that I would bother with this going into Hungary. I bet you could
>>> get away with Euros until you sorted out some Forints.
>>> --
>> You're likely to be cheated and paying too much with foreign currency.
>> I'm used to get currency from local Forex providing money at about the
>> same rate I've to pay with a cc.
>> Remember the old time when Danish in Copenhagen always accepted SEK with
>> a smile , the rate then was 1: 1,2 in favour of SEK so as long as
>> you're prepared to pay an overrate you're near always welcome with US$
>> or E
> Absolutely. In Hungary man pays with Hungarian money. This is naturally a
> univeral procedure. In the good old days of Communism, banks in West
> Berlin sold out East German funny money at favourable rates. For instance
> in summer 1989 one Bundesmark bought nine or ten Ostmarks. After such a
> convertion (and currency smuggling) life was pretty cheap on the incorrupt
> side of the [Iron] Curtain.

yes. but it was very dangerous.
I crossed many times the iron curtain in transit through the old DDR

First of all. gasoline stations for foreign cars were accepting only DM.
fines would be paid only in DM everything was to be paid in DM at the rate
of change 1 to 1.
I went to the restaurant once with a few DDR marks that I had. The waiter
did not want to accept them from me.
until I was showing a bank receipt.
still the atmosphere was so dull and dungerous, that I did not dare to
exchange DM into DDR Marks. the rate of change was up to 14 to 1.
But I do not know what use to make with DDR marks.
since everything had to be paid by foreigners in DM

crossing the border was a quite a hassle.. I lost about 3 hours near
Lubeck.. had to declare my transit route and was given a certain time to
reach my final destination ( border to Czechoslovakia )

So I had to declare my border crossing and had a given time to reach it.

It was no joke. Grenzentruppen were no fun.
Reaching Czechoslovakia was like reaching Paradise from hell.

I remember the outskirts of Berlin.. full of lights West Berlin. complete
darkness East berlin.

"tile" <supertile@libero.it> kirjoitti
viestissä:IOpMh.30377$J11.650857@twister1.libero.i t...
>
>> Absolutely. In Hungary man pays with Hungarian money. This is naturally a
>> univeral procedure. In the good old days of Communism, banks in West
>> Berlin sold out East German funny money at favourable rates. For instance
>
> yes. but it was very dangerous.

I doubt that. Perhaps the punishment wasn't uniform in all cases. However, I
believe the most common procedure was that the border police just moved the
stack of East German money from traveller's wallet to their own.

> I crossed many times the iron curtain in transit through the old DDR
>
> I went to the restaurant once with a few DDR marks that I had. The waiter
> did not want to accept them from me.

This never happened to me at any East German restaurant but in some bars
attached to international hotels in which only "hard currency" bought
anything.

> But I do not know what use to make with DDR marks.
> since everything had to be paid by foreigners in DM
>
Bull. I paid about all my bills by Ostmarks. Even accommodation. It is true
that sometimes agents told me to go to the nearest police station to report
myself for accommodation. ´They always lifted this requirement when I told
them that the Finnish citizens travel visa free in GDR

tile wrote:
> "Markku Grönroos" <kurkku@hassuserveri.fi> ha scritto nel messaggio
> news:K3cMh.21674$mH2.5810@reader1.news.saunalahti. fi...
>
>>"Lennart Petersen" <lennart.petersen@swipnet.se> kirjoitti
>>viestissä:3VbMh.36800$E02.14945@newsb.telia.net. ..
>>
>>>>Not that I would bother with this going into Hungary. I bet you could
>>>>get away with Euros until you sorted out some Forints.
>>>>--
>>>
>>>You're likely to be cheated and paying too much with foreign currency.
>>>I'm used to get currency from local Forex providing money at about the
>>>same rate I've to pay with a cc.
>>>Remember the old time when Danish in Copenhagen always accepted SEK with
>>>a smile , the rate then was 1: 1,2 in favour of SEK so as long as
>>>you're prepared to pay an overrate you're near always welcome with US$
>>>or E
>>
>>Absolutely. In Hungary man pays with Hungarian money. This is naturally a
>>univeral procedure. In the good old days of Communism, banks in West
>>Berlin sold out East German funny money at favourable rates. For instance
>>in summer 1989 one Bundesmark bought nine or ten Ostmarks. After such a
>>convertion (and currency smuggling) life was pretty cheap on the incorrupt
>>side of the [Iron] Curtain.
>
>
> yes. but it was very dangerous.
> I crossed many times the iron curtain in transit through the old DDR
>
> First of all. gasoline stations for foreign cars were accepting only DM.
> fines would be paid only in DM everything was to be paid in DM at the rate
> of change 1 to 1.
> I went to the restaurant once with a few DDR marks that I had. The waiter
> did not want to accept them from me.
> until I was showing a bank receipt.
> still the atmosphere was so dull and dungerous, that I did not dare to
> exchange DM into DDR Marks. the rate of change was up to 14 to 1.
> But I do not know what use to make with DDR marks.
> since everything had to be paid by foreigners in DM
>
> crossing the border was a quite a hassle.. I lost about 3 hours near
> Lubeck.. had to declare my transit route and was given a certain time to
> reach my final destination ( border to Czechoslovakia )
>
> So I had to declare my border crossing and had a given time to reach it.
>
> It was no joke. Grenzentruppen were no fun.
> Reaching Czechoslovakia was like reaching Paradise from hell.
>
> I remember the outskirts of Berlin.. full of lights West Berlin. complete
> darkness East berlin.
>
>

While crossings into most of East Germany were indeed complicated
crossings into East Berlin were fairly straightforward. Little hassle
although you did know that you were in a police state.

"Frank F. Matthews" <frankfmatthews@houston.> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:4602cf11$0$24701$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>
>
> tile wrote:
>> "Markku Grönroos" <kurkku@hassuserveri.fi> ha scritto nel messaggio
>> news:K3cMh.21674$mH2.5810@reader1.news.saunalahti. fi...
>>
>>>"Lennart Petersen" <lennart.petersen@swipnet.se> kirjoitti
>>>viestissä:3VbMh.36800$E02.14945@newsb.telia.net ...
>>>
>>>>>Not that I would bother with this going into Hungary. I bet you could
>>>>>get away with Euros until you sorted out some Forints.
>>>>>--
>>>>
>>>>You're likely to be cheated and paying too much with foreign currency.
>>>>I'm used to get currency from local Forex providing money at about the
>>>>same rate I've to pay with a cc.
>>>>Remember the old time when Danish in Copenhagen always accepted SEK with
>>>>a smile , the rate then was 1: 1,2 in favour of SEK so as long as
>>>>you're prepared to pay an overrate you're near always welcome with US$
>>>>or E
>>>
>>>Absolutely. In Hungary man pays with Hungarian money. This is naturally a
>>>univeral procedure. In the good old days of Communism, banks in West
>>>Berlin sold out East German funny money at favourable rates. For instance
>>>in summer 1989 one Bundesmark bought nine or ten Ostmarks. After such a
>>>convertion (and currency smuggling) life was pretty cheap on the
>>>incorrupt side of the [Iron] Curtain.
>>
>>
>> yes. but it was very dangerous.
>> I crossed many times the iron curtain in transit through the old DDR
>>
>> First of all. gasoline stations for foreign cars were accepting only DM.
>> fines would be paid only in DM everything was to be paid in DM at the
>> rate of change 1 to 1.
>> I went to the restaurant once with a few DDR marks that I had. The waiter
>> did not want to accept them from me.
>> until I was showing a bank receipt.
>> still the atmosphere was so dull and dungerous, that I did not dare to
>> exchange DM into DDR Marks. the rate of change was up to 14 to 1.
>> But I do not know what use to make with DDR marks.
>> since everything had to be paid by foreigners in DM
>>
>> crossing the border was a quite a hassle.. I lost about 3 hours near
>> Lubeck.. had to declare my transit route and was given a certain time to
>> reach my final destination ( border to Czechoslovakia )
>>
>> So I had to declare my border crossing and had a given time to reach
>> it.
>>
>> It was no joke. Grenzentruppen were no fun.
>> Reaching Czechoslovakia was like reaching Paradise from hell.
>>
>> I remember the outskirts of Berlin.. full of lights West Berlin.
>> complete darkness East berlin.
>
> While crossings into most of East Germany were indeed complicated
> crossings into East Berlin were fairly straightforward. Little hassle
> although you did know that you were in a police state.
>

well. It was possible to visit East berlin from west berlin with a special
permission valid till midnight.-
It was not possible to stay in East Berlin without a valid Visa. ( allied
troops memebers had the right to move in all sectors. so even russian
soldiers had the right ot be in West berlin )

the transit roads through east germany to west berlin were 3 or 4 ( if I
well remember )
there were very low speed limits that made impossible to reach West Berlin
in less than 4 hours.
People travelling by car had to pay Strassen benuetzung..
and all but German Nationals had to pay a transit visa
( For German nationals, the German State was paying )

I would say that border checks were long.. but not very bad. Even if
sometimes I saw DDR police unassembling german cars.. and leaving the cars
unassembled..-
Fines were very high.. the minimum fine for breaking road laws was 150 DM..
and a friend of mine paid 500.00 for not declaring a portable telephone..
( those big portable telephones of those times.. mounted in the cars )

I would say the atmopshere was the one we saw in many spy films..
It was possible to see barbed wire and towers with police everywhere. I
would say the amtosphere in DDR was ... terror..

I never saw a Policeman or Grenzentruppen member smile. Even their uniform
was very similar to the old Nazi uniform.. and people were not so friendly
either.

In all.. DDR was not a place to go as a tourist.
there was a road around Berlin that was forbidden to DDR citizens.. and
foreigners could not go out of this road. A friend of mine made a mistake
and took a wrong exit. at once police stopped him and he was taken to police
offices as he had broken the law. and had to pay a fine.
He was lucky. a person I knw from Czechoslovakia was found in the forbidden
zone.. Police thought he wanted to cross the border illegally. he was
sentenced to 6 years of prison.. ( and he made all of them.. )