Summary of Hungary, in lists of three

Hi everybody,

One final post, a summary.  This has been kicking around as a draft for pretty much a year (god . . . seems like much, much longer), but the upcoming Budapest trip of a friend of a friend has convinced me to finally put this together.  Anyways, I thought about writing up a giant summary but that would have been like a 20-page essay and no one wants to read that.  However, as I learned while writing Proposals for 6 months, information is much more easy to digest in list or bullet form.  Further, as I learned from years of fairy tales and folk stories, lists are best in threes.  So, here we are, Noah's trip to Hungary, in lists of three (not necessarily in order):


Three favorite places in Budapest:

1. Sketchy Chinese Market:  You had to know that this would be on the list.  Hell, this would be one of my favorite places in the city of Seattle (behind perhaps only Martial Sports, a few bars, and my bed) . . . to find it in the middle of Budapest (after I'd been craving good Asian food for a few months) . . . absolute heaven
2. Feny utca (Moszkva ter) Market:  Not as large a the Central Market, not as busy, not as sexy, but so much more legit in my mind.  I ended up here once a week if I could, every Saturday morning in order to buy my weekend groceries.  Can you think of a better way to begin the weekend than wandering around, grabbing a bite to eat here and there, and picking up some nice produce?  Oh, and by the way, any place where you can get a few deciliters of wine for like $1.50 and sip it in the middle of a crowded market . . . well, no word for that but awesome
3. Rudas Baths:  Again, I don't think there was really any way this wouldn't show up on the list.  I was psyched for the baths before I ever got to Hungary . . . and fell in love with my first visit.  I think on one occasion I spent like 5 hours just hanging out . . . warm, warmer, hot, hotter, hottest, ice cold . . . and then repeat.  Makes you feel alive like nothing else

Three best dishes:

1. Pork trotters stuffed with sausage and wrapped with bacon at Remiz:  You guys remember my post about csulok a while ago?  Yeah, this was the dish that made me fall in love with it.  Imagine that silky smooth and gorgeously meaty texture stuffed with spicy sausage, wrapped in bacon, and then put up on the grill until it turns into a log of meaty deliciousness . . . a bit of mustard, a side salad and a glass of wine . . . can't beat that.
2. Catfish Dorozsmai at Tabani Gosser:  No pictures sadly, and really no way to describe it.  My mother, when she visited, really had a problem dealing with the dearth of fish--more specifically, of saltwater fish.  That said, done properly a nice freshwater fish like catfish can be pretty damn tasty, and at Tabani Gosser they do it damn well (Father Frank turned me on to this place and it became one of my absolute favorites).  The stew is of course spiced with paprika and thickened with sour cream, with all manner of onions and peppers and tomatoes thrown in there for good measure.  The whole dish is served on top of a bed of square noodles that are boiled and then presumably thrown in the oven for just that right combination of chewy and crunchy.  Soft, smooth, rich in flavor and with just a hint of spice . . . I went back for this dish three times
3. Langos at Szentendre:  How did I not write up a post about Szentendre?  Weird.  Anyways, Szentendre is a small community about 45min North of the city by train.  It was founded as an artist's colony, but let's be honest by now it's mostly just a tourist trap.  But that's ok--no matter how many tourists, there's still something awesome about wandering around cobblestone streets or along the banks of the Danube, visiting everything from old churches to the marzipan museum.  Oh, and down a very tiny (literally about two shoulder-widths) alley there is a tiny stand that has the reputation of serving the best langos in Hungary.  How good is it, you ask?  Well let me put it this way . . . it was so good, Alessandro almost ordered a second one.  And yes, I rode all the way up to Szentendre, a 45min trip, essentially solely to go back a second time
4. *Honorable mention:  I never thought this would make it on the list, not being too much of a sweets person (more on that later), but I can't stop thinking about getting myself a makos-meggyes retes (poppyseed and cherry strudel) and an espresso at Retesvar in the Castle District . . . took a few side trips up over the top of the hill for that . . . and all for $2.50?  Just can't get that out of my head.  Fantastic

Three food items that Hungary taught me to like:

1. Peppers: Never really liked peppers, gonna be honest.  I can tolerate 'em, they rank above a number of other things, but still . . . can't explain why, but it's just that taste, that flavor that lets you know it's a pepper--be it red, yellow, jalapeno whatever--that's the flavor I don't like.  And yet, in Hungary they manged to do them right.  Part of it, of course, is the fact that Hungarian peppers have a nice kick of spicy with actually very little of that "pepper" flavor, and part is just that they're damn good at cooking them:  Stuffed with pork, stewed with onions and paprika and meat, or even sliced for garnish.  Not gonna be going for the green peppers at the salad bar any time soon, but I've definitely learned to appreciate the buggers
2. Espresso:  Yup, that's right, I'm a convert.  Still don't particularly like coffee, and I certainly don't need the caffeine to get me going in the morning, but in the right mood (or with the right accompaniment) it can be pretty tasty.  Maybe it's the aesthetic, maybe it's the slight bit of masochism, but something about a small cup of something very bitter and very, very hot . . . ooh, that just hits the spot
3. Sweets:  Like I said up there, I've never been much of a sweets person.  And yet, I found that the bakers and cooks in Hungary won me over.  The ubiquitous meggy (sour cherry) that shows up in everything from brandy to cold fruit soup; the quickly acquired taste of turo (similar to a cottage cheese)--I had a sweet turos retes (strudel) for breakfast in Moszkva ter station for breakfast at least one morning out of three.  And even since coming back, I find myself craving sweets more than I ever did before going.  Don't worry, waistline's still looking pretty good for it ;)

Three favorite stories from Hungary:

1. Szechenyi Bridge:  Also known as the Chain Bridge, the first (and still most absolutely beautiful) bridge over the river Danube--the architect that designed it has only one other surviving bridge in the world, the other being the Marlow Bridge spanning the Thames.  But the financing came from Count Szechenyi, the richest and most affluent citizen of Hungary.  See, back then, the only way to cross from Buda on the West side to Pest on the East side was by ferry.  One day, Count Szechenyi was in Pest when he received word that his father, in Buda, was on his deathbed.  Just as he went to cross, a terrible storm came up and delayed his passage for an entire week.  By the time he made it across, his father had passed.  So, vowing that nothing like that would ever happen again, he spent his own personal fortune to build this first bridge.  Cool, huh?
2. Pork, Delicious Pork:  You know me, I like food, and I also like history.  Two great tastes, that taste great together!  So, a fun question:  Why is the most common meat in Hungary pork?  See, Hungary (and the entire region) was of course ruled by the Ottoman Empire at its height.  As the Empire declined, the Turks retreated across the land on their way back to modern-day Turkey.  Got it yet?  Well, see, as they left, they took everything of value with them--including the livestock.  And the Turks were, of course, Muslim.  Meaning the common people of Hungary had all of the cows, sheep, chicken, etc. taken . . . but the pigs were left behind.  To paraphrase . . . the different between a story and history is that stories end, but history keeps affecting the world all the way to present day :D
3. The Execution of Lajos Batthyány:  Already discussed earlier, but the death of the first Prime Minister of Hungary, is still pretty awesome.  He was the first Prime Minister, before Hungary was actually a nation--just a province in revolt from the Austrian Empire.  He was arrested and sentenced to death for treason.  Unable to be hanged because he had attempted to commit suicide in prison by slashing his jugular, he had to be executed by the firing squad.  He dropped to his knees and his final words were "Rejoice my homeland, come on you huntsmen!"

Three asofterworld comics to sum up my time in Hungary ;)


Three albums inextricably linked to Hungarian memories:

1. Weezer, Pinkerton:  I will always remember listening to this album sitting in Blaha Luljza ter waiting for my friends to meet me to take them to Sketchy Chinese Market.  See, I generally shoot for being 10-15 minutes early when I'm going to meet a friend somewhere . . . Europeans, on the other hand, especially Italians such as Alessandro (and Italians-by-adoption such as Bek) seem to think "10am" means more like "10:30am at the earliest" . . . but I'm ok with that.  Really, not complaining.  Sitting there on a sunny Sunday morning (on a few Sunday mornings, actually) listening to Pinkerton . . . not a bad way to start a day off
2. Bloc Party, Weekend in the City: I hadn't given much thought to Bloc Party in a long while, or even listened to the entirety of Weekend in the City (I know Silent Alarm was critically lauded and all that, but what they called "innovative" or whatever sounded like pretty generic indie to me . . . I have the same problem with Arctic Monkeys, incidentally) . . . but then a song from this album appeared in a significant dream I had on a Thursday night.  So I downloaded this onto my mp3 player at work on Friday and that night we took off for Lake Balaton.  Alessandro, Stefano, Daniel and I spent the weekend partying it up lakeside in a town built for 20-somethings, but every spare moment, from the train ride down to cooking dinner for the guys Friday and Saturday nights I had this album on
3. NIN, Pretty Hate Machine: Ahh, Trent Reznor.  What would we do without you?  I remember putting this album on during the walk home from the palinka festival.  See, I was placed in a position where I was forced to decided between another round of palinka (I'd prepaid, ya'see) or leaving early enough to catch the last bus home.  So yeah . . . I ended up walking home.  But hey, totally worth it.  Put on my headphones, popped in Pretty Hate Machine (can you believe that album is over 20 years old??) and strolled through a clear May night.  Not bad, not bad

And there we have it, presumably my final post on this blog.  Thanks to everyone who read it (and even taking the trouble to read this post a year later, hehehe).  It was . . . certainly an experience I will never forget.  Someday, I will return

Cheers,

Noah out