ERD50
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Don't laugh too hard - but I spent a week in Tuzla, Bosnia working with an NGO and as a courtesy trip made spent three nights in Budapest. The weather was very cold and I was quite tired and remember being propositioned by a couple of young ladies in Central Square. I fell for the bait and drinks for the three ladies ended up costing me almost two hundred dollars.
Actually, I was quite fortunate that it only cost me $200 as they were drinking pretty pricey stuff and I stopped the tab - very early in the process. So, I do not have a good memory of Budapest. ...
This reminds me of a trip I made to Budapest a few years ago with a buddy ( DW won't get on an airplane!). All the travel books and sites warned about these 'convenience girls' - not prostitutes, but they run this drink scam on you. They all said to be wary of attractive young women who lead you to a place for $$$$$ drinks, and you won't get out w/o paying!
We weren't there during the main tourist season, so figured there would be less of this, and we really didn't see it going on, so didn't think much about it.
Well, one night we are walking out of a concert hall, and two young ladies stop us and ask some question, they were from Romania, and a little conversation ensued, I like talking with people from different places, that's part of the travel experience. These girls were very plainly dressed, and just barely average in looks and this was all totally innocent. Well, as we talk about the music there, they mention they know a great club for jazz, so why not, we join them. So pretty soon we have menus in our hands for drinks, and no prices on the menu - so the red flag goes off for me, my buddy still hasn't figured it out. So I ask about the prices, and sure enough it was something outrageous (drinks were generally very cheap there). We just got up and said good night to our new 'friends', and laughed about almost getting scammed by less-than-attractive young women!
-ERD50