Power Conversion & Expat Resouces

I have had hell getting online in the last few days. Nadler has most graciously given me temporary access to the International Press Center, where they blessedly have wi-fi access, which feels like sucking oxygen on Mt. Everest. Unfortunatley, I was only good for it for about an hour before my laptop battery crapped out. I know I have a Euro plug adapter at home in NY somewhere, but I couldn't find it before I left. More critcally, I need a power converter for my digital camera and Palm Pilot chargers. (No photos, therefore, from Nick's get-together last night: attendees included LeBor, Duncan Shiels, Meriel Beattie and Bill Blanchard, among others). I wrongly assumed my dad would have a converter, and thus I've spent the better part of the three days running around Budapest looking for one.

Finally, I had a stroke of genius and thought to call the Hilton Hotel and ask the concierge there what he recommends to guests. He said that you could only buy one at the airport, but they have a bunch at the hotel for guests to borrow and he graciously let me borrow one with a Ft 5,000 deposit.

Thus, a word of warning to all you frequent Budapest vistors: plan ahead and buy from SkyMall or elsewhere, as converters are not so easy to come here, despite the increasingly electronic age we live in.

All of which made me thing some Expat Resources would be valuable for this blog. So, I spent the last hour or so accumulating a few, now in the right-hand margin on this page. I didn't spend much time vetting these for quality, just identifying them. Please let me know if any of these are crap or if there are other important ones I've neglected.