Ask CosmoLady anything, she has lived on 6 continents!

[Scarface F]

Can you tell us about your advantures and experiences in Poland, Hungary, India (you mentioned already but anyway) and Vietnam?

[Ugo]

I just want to say that the CosmoLady is one of the best on the forum.

[Zeno]

Do you know any Greeks from South Africa? I know we have a quite sizeable community down there.

Have you been in Greece for a vacation?

What do you think about the future of the Boers in South Africa, and the future of the country as a whole? If you can, analyse your perspective as thoroughly as possible, for me it's quite rare to receive a viewpoint from a South African while hearing so many things about this particular country.

[HarveySuits]

Ugo lady, thank you for your motivation. Keep in mind that you are talking to reptiles, there are few people here. The last white free prince is Putin

Yet she is affraid Russians might kill her if she does genetic testing

Or as the Albanians used to say: Eat from the turk but praise the French (West). - Ha buken e turkut, bej duane e kaurrit

[Zeno]

I've always said that's the real 'Mandela effect', where 9/10 people are unaware he was a real terrorist, not just a saintly victim of racism.

Up until 4 years ago, I didn't know that Mandela was actually a mass murderer.

And up until last year, I didn't know his closest associates also openly threatened with slaughter all white South Africans.

Well, the ANC coming into power made all his intentions a reality...

[Ugo]

Yet she is affraid Russians might kill her if she does genetic testing

Or as the Albanians used to say: Eat from the turk but pray the French (West). - Ha buken e turkut, bej duane e kaurrit

She has nothing to fear. Don't tell her nonsense. White Afrikaners are expected in Russia. There will be land here and the rights to their language will be respected

[HarveySuits]

She has nothing to fear. Don't tell her nonsense. White Afrikaners are expected in Russia. There will be land here and the rights to their language will be respected

Im not telling her anything, those are her words, not mine

Maybe cause you have a reputation of killing your businesmen , I don t know..

[CosmoLady]

Can you tell us about your advantures and experiences in Poland, Hungary, India (you mentioned already but anyway) and Vietnam?

So I stayed in Poland for 3 weeks in fall 2012 in Warsaw,
and 6 weeks in fall 2013 in Warsaw and Gdynia (on the Baltic next to Gdansk).
My stepbrother, twin sister and I were 21, and we were with a half Swedish-Polish friend who was 18.
She had recently finished high school and she wanted to visit some relatives in Warsaw,
and we were very interested in Eastern Europe, for the real estate market and low taxes, and the culture and history.

On our first trip, we rented an apartment in central Warsaw that had a very colourful and modern decor.
We were somewhat short on money at the time,
so the apartment had only 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom, though there were 4 of us.
Luckily the Swedish-Polish girl was (and still is) a tomboy and adventurer like us,
she does not wear makeup, she does not spend much time in the bathroom,
she is exactly the type you would expect to find in a hostel, backpacking across Europe.

We rented a car at the airport and drove into central Warsaw,
which was easy and pleasant, traffic was not heavy, the roads were excellent.
The weather was not ideal, cold and grey and somewhat rainy,
but the city was very beautiful because the trees were all yellow, starting to lose their leaves.

The first time, we stayed in a new building in the geographic centre of the city, which was destroyed during World War 2.
The area was full of communist-era buildings, blocks of flats, wide open spaces, new modern buildings under construction,
and even some abandoned buildings that had not been demolished yet, left over from the Warsaw Ghetto apparently.
There was a church next to where we stayed, as well as a rebuilt synagogue, apparently we were at the edge of the old Ghetto.
There was a LOT of construction taking place, there was a mix of mostly communist and some pre-war and modern buildings,
the area was in flux, trying to find its identity and remake itself.

Best of all, we had a great view of the Palace of Culture, a Stalinist wedding-cake skyscraper dominating the landscape.
We visited the Palace a few times for the Observation Deck to see the city,
but otherwise there were cinemas, theatres, concert halls, museums all inside the massive complex, which is impressive.
There were also two excellent shopping malls within short walking distance, and a large Westfield mall a short drive away;
we do enjoy shopping while on holiday, this is a form of people-watching and mixing with the locals.

In the apartment, every room was painted a different colour, the kitchen was red,
the bedroom was black and gold with padded walls and ceiling.
The apartment looked like a brothel and there was sex furniture throughout.
We noticed too late that the apartment was probably used for filming porno. We also found sex toys and unused condoms.
But there was a nice view of the Palace of Culture!
Now we understood why the rental agency was smiling and winking at us.
We were not bothered, we kept a good sense of humour, the place was clean anyway.
(We did not have a black light or ultraviolet light to check for invisible stains on the bed.)
And we noticed that there was a lot of explicit content on TV throughout the day and night,
but this is supposedly typical for Eastern Europe?

Two of us slept on sofas in the living room and two of us slept in the bed.
The bathroom had a glass wall and the entire bathroom was visible from the living room (there was a curtain though).
There was only one sink, at least there was a separate bathtub and shower.
Luckily our stepbrother is totally hairless (alopecia) and thus does not shave.

We would drive when shopping for groceries, or when visiting homes and condos for sale while researching the market.
But otherwise we would walk everywhere, we would walk several kilometers every day usually.
We especially enjoyed Lazienki Park, a large park with monuments and water features, and the other nearby parks as well.
We are intimidated by large museums, but we did visit several small palaces that had art collections inside.
We also enjoyed the local shopping, relaxing at cafes, and then having a long relaxing bath at night (we would take turns).

But when we came back to Warsaw the next year, we stayed next to the river,
and we spent much more time visiting the Old Town.
and we returned to the parks and walked several kilometers up and down the Vistula River on both sides.
We went as far north as the Citadel and the Military Museum, and as far south until the waterfront became boring.
The left side is urban and developed, the right side is totally natural.
We visited earlier in fall, and the weather was sunnier and the trees were still green.

We spent much more money the 2nd time, renting a 3-bedroom penthouse apartment with a roof terrace.
Unfortunately we discovered, after we paid a large deposit, that 2 bedrooms were unfurnished, without beds.
So the sneaky Poles totally ripped us off, we paid triple for a 1-bedroom apartment,
at least there were multiple bathrooms though.
We have never been taken for a ride like this before,
this was an expensive lesson and we learned to be much more careful.
The decor was much more conservative, but 2 of us still slept on sofas in the living room.

We had a view of the river and the modern rooftop gardens of the Library and the Science Museum,
we visited both mainly to enjoy the gardens,
and we spent a lot more time in the Old Town and the parks along the waterfront this time.
This was apparently a very nice area of Warsaw, there was a Bentley dealership,
we noticed well-dressed businessmen with much younger wives/girlfriends.

After we finished in Warsaw, we went back to Sweden for a few days, and then we returned by air to Gdansk,
where we rented a car and drove to Gdynia nearby without driving through Gdansk, which we never visited.
Again the roads and traffic conditions were excellent, we had no difficulty getting around.
Gdynia is a working port similar to Gdansk, but is very scenic with hills and expensive homes nearby.
And several kilometers south of Gydnia is Sopot, a famous resort town on the Baltic with plenty of real estate,
we visited Sopot frequently and we walked several times from Gdynia to Sopot, through the coastal forest.

In Gdynia we stayed in a famous high-rise condo next to the port, and there were many communist-era buildings nearby.
We used a different rental agency this time, but AGAIN the Poles tricked us,
we paid for a 2-bedroom apartment with only 1 bed, and a small, meagre sofa in the other room,
and there was only 1 long sofa in the living room.
All three of our rental experiences in Poland left us with a bitter taste.
We are open to visiting Poland again though, we did enjoy the attractions and scenery,
and the people were polite and otherwise decent.

The apartment was all white, with white walls, and shiny white floors, furniture, and cabinets,
the refrigerator was hidden. The kitchen was tiny, along the back wall of the living room.
There were special lights that illuminated the apartment blue or purple, like a disco.
Like both times in Warsaw, we enjoyed soaking in the bathtub, having a long bath at the end of the day.
We had no personal swimming pool, so this was our only aquatic pleasure.

In Gdynia we visited the Naval Museum (several ships docked at the port),
and otherwise hiked in the forest and hills along the beach between Gdynia and Sopot.
Sopot is quite fancy and charming, we visited the lighthouse and town centre.
Normally the beaches are crowded, but we visited after the season had passed.
There was a shopping mall under construction at the time, which was a good sign for the local economy.

We did research the market and our friend was willing to live in Poland if necessary,
but we calculated that Poland was unlikely to be profitable for us in the long term,
so we decided not to expand to Poland.
Besides our rental experiences, we did enjoy our time very much though!

Gdynia and Sopot were a mix of local working class and upper-middle class and families, very normal and family-friendly.
Warsaw was full of hipsters and interesting people, and some punks and Pussy Riot-type women, but nothing outrageous.
There were some run-down areas, and many areas under construction at the time,
but overall both places seemed very clean and safe (and with no visible minorities or migrants),
and we did not feel unsafe or disgusted,
and we did not notice any danger, unlike every city in Western Europe where we stayed.
Poland was not our first experience in an ex-communist country (we visited Russia for a shorter duration before Poland),
but Poland gave us an overall positive impression of ex-communist Europe outside of Russia.

[CosmoLady]

Can you tell us about your advantures and experiences in Poland, Hungary, India (you mentioned already but anyway) and Vietnam?

In 2019 we visited Budapest with a British girlfriend of the same age.
She has Hungarian ancestry but otherwise minimal Hungarian language skills;
she was possibly interested in moving to Budapest if we decided to expand there.
We wanted to impress her, because she is a sophisticated lady, accustomed to the good life.

So we rented an apartment in central Pest for 4 weeks while we researched the market and visited the sites!
The apartment was expensive and had 3 bedrooms (with 3 beds, fully furnished, and a sophisticated decor),
and was in a newly renovated old building in the center of Pest, near the Opera.
We rented a car and parked on the street, there were spaces, but Budapest was much more crowded than Warsaw.
There were many tourists and visitors passing through and traffic was much slower, but still very manageable.

The environment was very urban and sophisticated, and the local produce markets were excellent.
We also enjoyed the local bakeries very much, we are not crazy about eating out,
but we have a weakness for European chocolate cakes such as Dobos-torte or Sacher-torte.
We would have gained weight in Budapest if not for constant walking, especially uphill.

We rented a truck this time, which seemed out of place in central Budapest.
We would drive only when visiting real estate in Buda, on the other side of the Danube, often in hilly areas.
Otherwise we would walk everywhere.
We did cross the Danube a few times on foot, but the experience was not the most pleasant,
so we began using the subway to cross the river.

We walked around Pest a lot,
including up and down Andrassy to the plaza with the statues of the fierce Magyar warriors, and further to the large park.
We also visited the Orszaghaz (parliament), Szent Istvan cathedral, and the Terror Museum.
We did not visit the large museums, but we did go shopping/visit malls on both sides of the river.

We walked around Buda even more, because Buda was much more scenic,
we visited the citadel with the castle, labyrinth, Matyas cathedral, and the bastion with the views of the city,
as well as the other citadel on Gellert Hill,
and the other hill with the tomb of Gul Baba, and the park with the cave lake at the base of the hill.

We visited many homes and condos throughout Buda, and Pest to a lesser extent.
There was a lot of fancy real estate, and we climbed to the top of several hills,
and we also drove to the Communist Statue Park outside the city, which was awesome.

The outcome of the trip was the same as in Poland,
we calculated that it was unprofitable to invest in Hungary at the time,
but again we enjoyed our time very much and we learned a lot about Hungary,
and we left with a very positive impression of Hungary. And we had no problems renting!

The city seemed very clean and safe compared to any city in Western Europe,
so we left with a very positive impression of ex-communist Europe.
The city was cosmopolitan with many tourists and some Turks, Chinese, and Russians,
but there were no large groups of migrants or minority-majorities like in any Western Euro city.
Budapest may have been rough once, but has improved a lot while Western cities have deteriorated.
We were underground a lot though, and a few times we noticed some druggies or transients there.
But we never noticed any druggies in the city, and we noticed a heavy police presence.
We never felt unsafe in the city, and we did not notice any danger, unlike most other cities.

And the Hungarian people were very charming and polite, and we loved the sound of their language!

[CosmoLady]

Im not telling her anything, those are her words, not mine

Maybe cause you have a reputation of killing your businesmen , I don t know..

Thanks gixajo, LOL, how many accounts do you have on this website? Just kidding

Since you are stalking me you know that I am more worried about my DNA being part of a state database,
since I have defended myself violently against random people and drawn blood many times,
in WESTERN countries, which are increasingly dangerous, dysfunctional anarcho-tyrannies.
While I have always felt safe in Russia, thank you very much.

Logically,
I am far more concerned about malicious electronic and genetic surveillance and possible retaliation from Western states,
or Western para-state groups, since I spend more time and have more problems in Western countries.