World Flavor

When does food always taste best? When you taste… hungry! During out week in Budapest (pronounced with an -esht) Taste Hungary offered us a discounted (19,000 FT → 5,000 FT/ person) food tour of the city. And if they like truly not very good jokes, they can totally use that one I started with. Seeing as a food tour is just about the number one thing I could possibly want to do at any given moment, we accepted.

We arrive at the Central Market Hall just a few minutes before 10:00 AM. It looks like it could have once been a train station and sure enough, that’s entirely wrong. Instead it has retained its original commercial purpose since it was designed by Samu Pecz in the early 1890′s and it is clearly still a popular spot for locals and tourists alike. Our guide Judit appears flashing a copy of The Food and Wine Lover’s Guide to Hungary as identification. There is a maximum of six people per tour and today is a full one. The other four tourists give us something of a demographic shock. We’re expecting older, richer couples from somewhere close like the UK .What we get are Americans who are about our age. Two of them are even from Northern Virginia like me!

We start the tour on the second floor and Rachel breaks her fast on some Unicum. The other three women in the group partake as well while the other guy and I teetotal totally. This liqueur is often considered a national drink of Hungary and has a strong herb and cinnamon aroma. It is made from a secret recipe of 40 herbs which the Zwack family kept out of Soviet hands when they fled the country. During the socialist regime, a fake, communist Unicum was created. In the 1990′s, the Zwack family was able to return to Hungary and once again begin producing their original formula. This formula, in Rachel’s opinion, tastes kinda gross.

Luckily for Rachel’s alcohol tolerance, we soon move on the a lángos stall. Lángos is the ultimate food for someone who needs some alcohol soaked up. It’s a big piece of fried dough covered in toppings, most often sour cream and cheese. Judit bought two for the group. Unlike the lángos that immigrant Hungarians consume in Transylvania which has a sweet filling, in Hungary the snack is almost always savory.

Moving away from prepared foods and souvenir kitsch, we descend the escalator to the ground floor for an enlightening experience at one of the many overflowing cured meat counters.

We try the mystery sausages one by one. First is a a common Pick brand pork sausage. It’s a pretty good, though not very especially remarkable.

Next we have pork tongue. And seriously, if you like meat and have never had tongue, you’re really missing out. This one tastes much like pot roast.

Thirdly we have a pork liver pate, it reminds me of one of my favorite sandwich ingredients from when I was a kid. I’ve recently come to realize that when I ate braunschweiger in my formative years, I was eating liver (surprise! :O) .

Next comes a pork kolbas. It is intended to be like a sausage you might cure at home so the composite chunks are larger.

Then we try another kolbas. I take a bite and it is vastly superior to the previous one. It’s chewier, aged longer, and more heavily seasoned. “This one’s horse,” says Judit.

Finally, we finish our whirlwind tour of cured pig with a pork salami. Pork became a dominant meat in Hungary during the Turkish occupation. The locals realized that if they farmed a meat that the invaders (as Muslims) wouldn’t eat, it wouldn’t be in danger of being taken.

We are slowly wending our way towards the cheese counter when we come across one of the most unexpected parts of the market. Take a look, before you scroll past the picture, see if you can guess what it is.

If you guessed wild mushroom shop, you’re totally wrong! This little number is a free service provided by the government. People bring in whatever mushrooms they find in the wilderness, and a mycologist tells them whether they’re edible. Apparently these exist in food markets all over Hungary.

Our cheese tasting arrives. First is a fresh springy goat cheese. Next, a smoked, dry, moderately sour cow cheese. And third, a salty, grainy sheep túró. Túró, called quark in English, is ubiquitous in Hungarian cooking. To finish everything off is a much beloved Hungarian sweet, túró rudi which consists of the aforementioned cheese covered in chocolate.

For our last stop in the market, Judit takes us to the basement to view fish, wild game (!), and an admirable array of pickles. Most notable among these is the pickled whole baby watermelon.

And off we go to explore Budapest’s delicious underbelly. First off is a peek at the city’s growing artisan chocolate scene. We have one flavored with tarragon and one with sour cherry pálinka (a fruit brandy).

And so, after hours of eating, it’s time for lunch. This means Belvárosi Disznótoros, a butcher’s shop whose meat counter has been eclipsed by its meal offerings. Our meal consists of a veritable (brown) rainbow of meat. There is (uncured) sausage in paprika, liver, and blood varieties with mustard and horse radish. We have (succulent) duck leg with a sweet red cabbage. Also present are noodles with sour cream, (ever-present) túró, and, of course, bacon. And to round things out there’s a turkey ragu and a variety of pickles. There’s even a free sample of (American style) biscuits made with pork cracklings.

Since we’re all still starving (not true), we head to the venerable Auguszt for a plate full of cakes. As you might expect, we start with a túró cake. We soon move to a very Hungarian apricot poppy cake. The walnut cake is Rachel’s favorite while I prefer the custardy krémes cake. Not to be forgotten are the nutty Esterházy cake with it’s signature design and the Dobos cake which despite it looking like a drum and the name translating to drum, was named after its inventor, József C. Dobos.

Finally, to digest, we head over to what is by all appearances, a mad scientist’s candy store.

And it is soon time for the wine tasting, or for me, the fanciest-lemonade-of-my-life tasting.

Hey! Rachel here. Bear with me, as I am no wine expert but I am learning. Our wine tasting consisted of three different wines. The first was a Tokaji Furmint, a white wine from the Tokaj wine-producing region in northeastern Hungary.

Our final wine, shown above, was a Tokaji Cuvee, a dessert wine made from a blend of Furmint, muscat, and one other varietal that I didn’t quite catch properly. It had a strong sweet scent which reminded me of pear. The flavor, too, was very sweet, and the alcohol content was just 10.5%. I enjoyed it a lot and counted it as my favorite.

The wine tasting reminded me that I should really take a class or read a book about the art of wine appreciation because I don’t know what I’m doing. They did give us a sheet for tasting notes that asked very specific questions which I found very helpful. Now back to Jeff.

So, is it worth the money? If you like food and it can in any way be reasonably fit into your budget, do it! It was one of the Top Highlights of my Trip ®. If you are interesting in eating with Taste Hungary yourself, check out their website.

Disclaimer: As mentioned, we were offered a discount for this tour in exchange for a review. However, we really did enjoy it a whole lot and we are sure you will too! All opinions are our own.

Not many people stay in Bucharest as long as we did, and we can sort of see why. But at least our week there gave us a great idea of the best things to do! So here, for your viewing pleasure, are ten things to do in Bucharest.

1. Take a free walking tour with Guided Bucharest. During the summer they happen every day at 6 PM. It lasts a couple hours and there's a fair bit of walking so be sure to bring water and a snack. You will learn a lot!

Cabbage stuffed with mincemeat and served with polenta, ham, and sour cream at Caru' cu Bere.

2. Have a meal at Caru' cu Bere. This restaurant is famous because it was the first modern style restaurant in the city. It may be touristy but it is beautiful, delicious, and relatively affordable.

The gorgeous Atheneum.

3. Attend a symphony performance or recital at the Atheneum. The Atheneum is probably the most beloved building in the city because the money was raised by the residents themselves. Not only is the building fantastic, but seeing a performance there is a great time.

Cherry blossoms at Herastrau Park.

4. Hang out in a park. Our favorite was Herastrau Park, followed by Cişmigiu Park. You can rent bikes, grab a snack, and people watch all day.

Wooden church at the Village Museum.

5. Recreate history at the Village Museum. Built in the 1930s, this museum collects typical houses from around Romania. It is pretty neat to see, and when we were there some movie or TV show was being filmed.

6. Visit one of the other museums. Like any capital city, Bucharest is full of museums. The art museum and natural history museum are the best rated on TripAdvisor. We didn't visit any of the other museums but I would have liked to go to one of those.

The Palace of Parliament, second biggest office building in the world after the Pentagon.

7. Tour the Palace of Parliament, the world's heaviest building. Built by Ceauşescu, this monument to dictatorial madness can be toured for as little as 25 RON. We decided not to as we heard about the building on the free tour and were told the parliament tour doesn't cover much other than the statistics about the building.

You too can enjoy dessert at the Artist.

8. Have a fancy meal for relatively cheap. We of course recommend the Artist.

Trajan statue

9. Pose in front of the statue of Trajan. This weird statue was built recently to symbolize Romania and placed in front of the National History Museum. It's meant to be Trajan (who conquered Dacia for Rome) holding a she-wolf to represent Romulus and Remus, but the wolf's head is on a feathered snake body because that was a symbol of the ancient Dacians. It's now a meme to take a picture holding a dog or other animal in front of it.

Obor Market

10. Check out Obor Market, the city's biggest. While looking for information on this market, which was recommended to us by one of our guides on the free tour, we found a lot of conflicting information. Apparently, much of the original market was torn down in 2007 to make way for a modern shopping mall. But everyone complained, and so they built a new multi-million dollar market building. Today, there doesn't appear to be any modern mall in the vicinity – just the big new market hall and two older halls. Anyway, this is primarily a food market and very interesting to walk around. There are plenty of places outside in the warmer months to get mici or small sausages and beer.

What would you add to this list?

A tasty Caesar salad at Highlands Coffee in Hanoi, Vietnam.

So sometimes my monthly reading posts may look a little sparse, but usually it means I’m spending my time on something else. One recent “else” has been listening to history podcasts. While looking for some good info on the history of Turkey, I found the excellent 12 Byzantine Rulers. It kind of snowballed from there. Here’s a rundown of all the podcasts I tried out.

12 Byzantine Rulers – This podcast tells the history of the Byzantine Empire by divulging the incredible stories surrounding some of its most important figures.

Hardcore History – While the blog has some good stories, they aren’t at a high enough density in these podcasts which can last for more than 4 hours.

History According to Bob – Extremely specific details about tactics and troop placement in specific battles.

Binge Thinking – I thought it covered a variety of interesting things which I knew little about like the process of the British navy changing from wooden to metal ships. Rachel was less interested.

TudorCast - It feels like I’m listening to an alternate dimension version of NPR where all the news, reviews, and segments are about the Tudors.

CGP Grey – Well this is more a youtube channel than a podcast, but it is usually about history. Also it’s probably the best thing in this whole list! Tons of interesting and entertaining videos about topics like the ancient independent City of London inside the city that people call London.

Crash Course World History – Another youtube channel. It covers the world history topics you might learn in high school, but is extremely fast and entertaining.

Any history podcasts to recommend?

Yesterday, we arrived in Vienna. It's hard to believe our week in Budapest is over! Here's a recap of our time there.

Days in Budapest: 7.5

Days it rained: 1, and a few minutes on another day

UNESCO World Heritage sites seen: 1, parts of Budapest make up a site

Parks sat in: 2

Tours taken: 2, a free walking tour and a food walking tour

Communist statues posed with: a whole bunch, at the Memento Park

Jeff and Lenin.

Board game nights: 2

Budapest is a gorgeous and nice city. We were staying about 20 minutes by metro outside of the center but the public transportation is quite good so it wasn't a problem. We both really liked Budapest and would like to return. It goes on our list of “cities we could be an expat in.”

Some Budapest prices:

• Studio apartment in Kőbánya-Kispest, per night: US $25.85
• One week pass good for all forms of public transportation: 4950 HUF (US $21.94). If you are there a week and plan to use the metro, buses, or trams at least twice a day and occasionally more than that, the week pass is definitely worth it as a single ride is 350 HUF (US $1.55).
• Lunch for two at a kebab place: 1200 HUF (US $5.28)
• One lángos with cheese, sour cream, and garlic: 570 HUF (US $2.51)
• Dinner for two at Bors Gasztrobar, the best restaurant we found: 2440 HUF (US $10.74)
• Dinner for two at an Indian restaurant: 4820 HUF (US $21.22)
• Admission to Memento Park, per person: 1500 HUF (US $6.60)

Budapest was definitely more expensive than Romania but still not too bad, really. We didn't do a whole lot of paid activities which helped our budget. It's definitely a city you can stick to your budget in. As you can see, food prices vary widely depending on what kind of restaurant you frequent. We spent $71.85 per day, just slightly over our $70 a day budget.

Have you been to Budapest?

A small ovoo or shamanistic cairn on top of a mountain overlooking the town of Zuunmod, Mongolia. We climbed up the mountain on horseback.

Last August, we took a trip around Korea that included seeing the rest of Korea's UNESCO sites. Just outside of Andong, you can find Hahoe Folk Village.

Korea is really proud of its UNESCO sites and always makes sure to announce them in a big way.

The village dates to the Joseon Dynasty, around the 16th century, and is located in a beautiful setting.

As you wander around, you'll notice that the place is very much still lived in.

In fact for most of the buildings you can just peek in, though there are a few whose courtyards you can enter.

Also, you could always ask the owners if it's okay to look around. Provided you can communicate this; despite the tourism, most people living here speak only Korean.

A few houses have been set up to sell food and souvenirs, but it is clear that agriculture is a big part of the village economy.

Above is the little playground in the village.

There is a lovely, if small, forest of old-growth trees.

Just across the river lies Buyongdae Cliff. Surrounding it are some poet's retreats and a Buddhist school, which can be reached by ferry or car.

Hahoe Folk Village is pretty small and can be visited in just a couple of hours. It's open from 9 until 6 or 7 and admission is 2000 won. Take bus 46 from Andong Bus Terminal. It's a nice walk if the weather's nice and worth a visit if you're already in Andong.

Have you ever been to a folk village like this?

Boat noodles in Bangkok, Thailand.

Revisiting destinations is always interesting. The first time I did that was going to Costa Rica 5 years later. Given that I had been in high school during the initial trip and had graduated from college the second time around, it wasn't surprising that I felt different, and that I saw Costa Rica differently.

But I wasn't sure what it would be like to visit Kuala Lumpur after a year had gone by. It was only a year, could I really have changed that much? Could KL?

The Petronas Towers? Still around.

The answer, it turned out, was that I personally felt very different. Seeing KL again was like reuniting with a much-loved friend. KL hadn't really changed, but I, on the other hand, had.

In the last year, I've gone from being a beginner at this whole traveling thing to a much more seasoned adventurer. I've experienced wondrous places and food. I've said goodbye to friends in South Korea and moved on to a new chapter in my life. I was broken down by theft and slowly healed to become stronger.

So from the very beginning, I felt like a new person stepping through customs. The first time, I was nervous. It was a new country, and even though I'd done my research, that seemed overwhelming. But this time, I powered to the passport control with confidence. I knew Malaysia and besides, a new country was not all that big a deal anymore.

It was thoroughly refreshing to be in a city where I didn't need to look up how to get somewhere. I wasn't hesitant before getting on the public transportation. I didn't need to worry before going into a restaurant that I couldn't decipher the menu. It made me feel like a pro, like I had come so far.

Happily, my memories of Malaysia and especially of the food were accurate and there was no disappointment there. Roti canai was still freaking delicious.

Also delicious: this garlic cheese naan.

Soon I will be seeing Italy again with new eyes – 9 years later. That should be rather interesting.

For me, revisiting KL was a happy occasion that showed me all the ways I've grown in the past year. I found that I really liked my new travel confidence and I really hope I can continue to carry it forward with me in the future.

Have you ever been back to a place you visited before?

On the path between East Railay and Phra Nang beach, there's a sign pointing left saying “lagoon” and “viewpoint.” If you look left, this is what you'll see: