planBE

Hungarian food (and most central and eastern european food) is delicious, but eventually it weighs on you. Potato pancakes, cheese dumplings, sour cream in everything and some strange fascination of cottage cheese in everything sweet. All the potato and dairy is something we have learned to avoid. But when in Hungary ... This time, we were going to do things a little different. Albeit with a microscopic kitchen undertooled and with no functioning oven. We would make sure we always had fruit and veggies on hand, and we would mostly cook our own breakfasts and dinners. Clean eating and low carb meals have become our new mantra, which makes cooking surprisingly easy. Tiny kitchen with very little counterspace for food prep. But I was determined to play with local ingredients, and found a super simple and clean alternative to the paprikash (a creamy and sometimes slightly spicy stew of pork or chicken). I quickly discovered the secret ingredient : Csipos Paprika. Its almost impo...

Poland was lovely, but I am literally sick of carbs. By the third day, the heart burn was epic and fueled by the hot Polish donuts stuffed with rose jelly, pear jam, and nutella (separately, not together). They call them Paczki (pronounced paunchkies ... as in, if you eat too many you will grow a significant paunch). The wine, beer, pierogis (potato dumplings stuffed with meat, cheese, or many other options even sweet), Krakow bagels, and potato-everything did not help either. Oh, and there was the delightful Krakow-special cheesecake smothered in caramel, and their honey cake which actually wasn’t that sweet. Yummy Krakow Bagel with salmon tartare! Krakow Cheesecake smothered in caramel and Polish Honey Cake (not too sweet) The Devil, hot from the fryer, stuffed with Nutella (or pear, or rose jam, or many other options) Our last day in Krakow was raining and unpleasant. We enjoyed a relaxing day, and even got to see the new Avengers movie in an ultramodern mall and ...

We arrived in Krakow on a super short commuter flight from Budapest and spent most of the weekend wandering about the charming town, constantly watching out for rogue trams that want to run us over. Our first afternoon was a delightful stop in the large market square to sit on a terrace, drink local beer, eat a lovely plate of cured sausages and meats with a kickass fresh horseradish purée, and watch the parade go by on National Constitution Day. Somehow, we often arrive in a new city on their national holiday. Krakow town square and basilica In the town square, m any fine carriages and horses are in line, with beautiful women in black hats with white ribbons driving the carriages. Its so unusual to see only women driving so many large carriages, that I took notice. At first, I thought it was because of the parade. Later that day, I watch the carriages circulating with passengers and the pretty lady is up front doing nothing while an old peasant dressed man is driving the carri...

So its the last night at the ranch in the steppes, or grasslands, of Hungary. Its mostly quite flat in an undulating kind of way with patches of forests and marshlands. This national park is a bird sanctuary and we see the occasional deer along the way. While much of it feels familiar because of the sand and pine forests, there are a few notable differences. First, the sand roads go on for long distances which has us often cantering 3-5 km stretches. Thats 3-4 times the distance we generally do at home. Second, there are no electric high transmission power lines to mar the view. Third, the grass sections stretch out for miles in each direction with a view that is not customary. The ranch is great. We figured out a good rhythm after a few days that had us gathering in the sauna and jacuzzi in the evening because there is literally nothing else to do. The beat here is very relaxed, and we have all achieved a great zen state. We had a good reining lesson this morning when they p...

Just arrived in the Hungarian grasslands to roam on horseback for a few days respite from my city wanderings. I was greeted by a big hunk of a mare who was more spry than her size might have you imagine. Lopes to a kiss, jogs to a cluck. Sit back, relax. I’ve never been one to go on riding vacations because Im a one-horse woman (and my horse is a one-woman steed) and Ive never enjoyed riding other peoples horses. But necessity is the mother of invention.... and five weeks away from the smell of leather and horses was too big a burden to bear. So now I am in a lovely ranch in the grasslands of Hungary while my husband toils away in Budapest. The group is quite eclectic, from Sweden, UK, France, Switzerland, and riding habilities vary. Ive been allocated to the fast group. ;-) Four of us took off down the path to the trails of the national park and bird sanctuary and I must say I was surprised that our first canter started on a downhill slope. Anyways. Everything was as safe as can b...

Apparently when Emporer Maximilian II brought the cherished 200 mares and stallions over mountains from Spain to Vienna, the local Viennese thought he was a little “touched” but did not want to offend him. They spoke of his folly as being “Spanish”, much like we might say today “Its greek to me”. Hence the name of the Spanish Riding School came to be. While the influence of andalusian blood is strong, the lipizzaners have had their own studbook for over 500 years with early influences from some local carriage horses breeds. The Hofburg Palace The winter riding arena was built almost 200 years later by Emporer Charles II and his portrait displays prominently in the arena where each rider salutes at each entrance. As you can imagine I took full advantage of being in Vienna (Wien) to have a guided tour, watch the morning exercises, attend the gala performance, and have cafe and breakfast in the summer arena twice. The magnificent Spanish Riding School The SRS and the li...

We are back in Budapest, this time for an extended stay of 5 weeks. We will be taking advantage of the easy travel arrangements to visit a few cities and the countryside. The city is starting to feel familiar, with the gorgeous architecture and the grit. The weather is remarkably pleasant, with full sun and 16-20C, which makes roaming around on foot so much easier. In two days Ive clocked 12 km on foot. St Stephens Cathedral … so beautiful! Lots of public transit options, including Danube river boats On our first days, I spent quite some time going to different markets and stores to build our inventory of stuff. I am still perplexed on the shopping habits. When do I bag and tag the fruits? When can I pick my own? My favorite place … the Central Market. Yum! Since I was coming down with a cold (thanks to a long germ-infested airplane ride), my next stop was for a warm bowl of soup. This goulash at the every popular Menza just hit the spot. Here goulash is a paprika ...