Category: EasternEurope
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An introduction to Hungarian Wines
Hungary doesn’t even have a shelf in most wine stores around the world. If you search for it, you can usually find a sweet white wine from the Tokaj region or a drinkable red blended wine from the Eger region because of its catchy name “Bull’s Blood”. And that’s a shame. In Hungary, there are…
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Ruin Pubs and Romkocsma
Budapest has recently opened many a slick wine bar and has more than its fair share of smoky dive bars. What makes the Budapest night life unique though is its “ruin pubs”. The only common element to them appears to be that they are bars in buildings that probably should have been torn down. Old…
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4 cities in transit
In Budapest, we have a train to catch at 5:15am. The first trolley bus that will take us to the station arrives at 4:50am and takes about ten minutes. We weren’t really worried though because it always runs on time. These vehicles are a cross between a bus and a tram, plying the roads with…
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Night at the Baths
Thinking of the old Turkish baths installed by the Ottomans conjures up thoughts of pot-bellied men playing chess in a loin cloth. In Hungary though, it isn’t really like that anymore, at least not in some places. The baths are still sumptuous, and the water is steaming hot, but in Budapest the baths have evolved…
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Bratislava in November
At the crossroads of Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, the Ukraine, and Hungary lies the small Slovakia. Its capital, Bratislava, is a city in transition. Unlike most of its neighbors, the Euro is the official currency, and cranes dot the city scape. Travelers like us stop through for a quick day trip to taste some…
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Goose, wine, and St Marton
In Hungary, November 11th marks the first day of the year to drink 2011 wines. Also, the geese are fully fattened around this time. Since 1171, Christians have used this as a great excuse to drink lots of wine and stuff themselves on geese. Local restaurants offer goose specials throughout the month. Smoked goose…
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Prague
For some, the fanciful church spires surrounding Prague’s Old Town Square remind them on Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. For us, it’s the constant snapping of photographs, long lines, and multitude of shops. From Bohemian cut glass to Versace purses to cannabis vodka, you can find it all here – unless you’re looking for peace and…
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Studentski
Students have been wandering the streets of Krakow, Poland, since the Jagellonian University was founded in 1364. Since then, a lot has changed, but the university is still there as well as the many others that have been founded since. The most celebrated student of Krakow is Copernicus, whose instruments and findings live on in…
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Our Hungarian Kitchen
You would think from our lack of raving about Budapest that we aren’t enjoying it here, but we’re just busy. Our typical week in Budapest is working 6 hours a day Monday to Thursday as close to EST as we can manage. That leaves us until 2PM to use our “free” time, which involves a…
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Croatia in person
Our only knowledge of Croatia before this trip was watching news reel highlights of their war in the 1990s. Today, Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, is buzzing with people, trams, and cranes. In the countryside, you still see some signs of the war with the occasional bullet-ravaged exterior and shells of houses that Serbians left…