Hungary

Szia and welcome to Hungary!

(Szia is Hungarian for hello and goodbye and is conveniently pronounced as “see ya”).

I immediately fell in love with Budapest. I think it is impossible to dislike this country boasting soothing thermal spas, delicious goulash, and an intriguing paprika obsession. Take for example Lángos, a Hungarian specialty consisting of Hungarian fried dough, sour cream, and cheese. Three delicious ingredients that when combined make for the best street food.

Their metro stations are quite adorable.

Hungary is also home to many innovators who produced inventions such as the Rubik’s cube, the holography, the ball point pen, etc. Hungarians also claim one of the most difficult languages in the world, an Uralic language in the same language family as Finnish and Estonian. However, for me, the most fascinating piece of Hungarian, more specifically Budapest, history can be told through its surviving Jewish sites.

The Great Synagogue or Dohany Street Synagogue was built by the Neolog Hungarian Jewish community in 1854 and is the still the largest synagogue in Europe. The Neologs, a reform movement within Hungarian Judaism, were more willing to assimilate into Hungarian society and, therefore, Ludwig Förster, a Viennese architect, built it in a Moorish style, quite unlike traditional synagogues. It is also said to have been somewhat based on biblical descriptions of the Temple of Solomon. The most unique synagogue I have seen: stained glass windows, long rows of pews and kneelers, chandeliers, etc. Fun fact: Franz Liszt was the first to play the organ at the synagogue’s inauguration. The Dohany Street Synagogue stands on the border of the former Jewish ghetto and was used as a Nazi radio tower and Adolf Eichman’s headquarters in Budapest during the war thus sparing it from being completely destroyed.

Next to the synagogue is a cemetery of mass graves of more than 2,000 Jews buried after the Soviet liberation of the city. 

This beautiful memorial, the “Tree of Life”, was built as an upside down menorah. Each of the 4,000 leaves has a Holocaust victim’s name on it, and additional leaves are added frequently.

Deeper into the Jewish quarter is the Orthodox synagogue, a Talmud school, a multitude of kosher shops and butchers, and the only remaining mikvah in the city. According to my tour guide, the mikvah was incredibly expensive as they cleaned the pipes out with kosher wine and hired an American supervisor for the project who demanded on being flown home every Thursday to be with his family on Shabbat. On my morning walk to take more pictures I spotted an early morning matzo delivery.

Of course, the Jewish quarter is now home to the famous Budapest Ruin Pubs that are scattered throughout the district. Every pub was transformed from a previously abandoned building, and each has its own quirky decorations incorporating a hodgepodge of items-anything from cars to computer monitors to bathtubs to...well anything you can think of.

Budapest is divided into Buda and Pest by the Danube River which runs from Germany through Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade all the way to the Black Sea. On the banks of the river, I found the most touching memorial I have encountered on my trip. It was built specifically to remember those Jews who were ordered to take off their shoes before being shot and thrown into the Danube by the Arrow Cross fascists in 1944-5. 

Further down the Danube near the Parliament building is a controversial memorial to the Holocaust erected by the Hungarian government last year. The monument depicts a German eagle attacking the Archangel Gabriel (Hungary). 

Many groups have criticized the monument, arguing that it downplays the large role Hungary played in the Holocaust. As I walked by, I noticed an ongoing protest with memorial stones, photos, and other personal effects meant to urge the Hungarian government to remove the monument.

It is not often that I am given any insight into the political topics that the society of the country I am visiting is grappling with. Stumbling upon these sites gave me a lot to ponder on my bus ride to Vienna: my next stop.

Romania

Close your eyes and imagine Romania. Does the image that comes to mind explode with incredible bookstores? Well, it should! Get vampires out of your head! Romania for me was the land of amazing bookstores, both well-known chains as well as independent ones. Every Romanian city and town I went to surprised me with its multitude of bookstores, each with its own creative look or theme which made it distinctive and stand out from its competitors. Take for example this new bookstore in Bucharest called “Carturesti Carusel” or “Carusel of Lights”, aptly named considering the incredibly airy feeling of the refurbished 19^th century building with its six floors stocked full of books, albums, Romanian products, an art gallery, café, designated reading floor, etc. Basically Romanian bookstore heaven.

Another interesting site in Romania’s capital is its Palace of Parliament-still a controversial building. Construction began on the building in 1983, designed and overseen by Ceaușescu, who wanted to place every Romanian political institution in the building. As the building was only completed in 1997, years after the fall of communism and the execution of Ceaușescu, it was never used for its original purpose.

 A few numbers attached to this building:

- It is the largest building in Europe and second largest in the world (the Pentagon is first).

- Inside one can find 220,000 square meters of carpet and 3,500 tons of crystal

-30,000 people were displaced for the construction of the building

-19 Orthodox churches, 3 Protestant churches, and 6 Jewish Synagogues were demolished for its construction

-200 architects and roughly 20,000 workers on site worked around the clock for the project

-the carpet in the ballroom weights over 1.5 tons

-the stairs were redone twice since Ceaușescu, a man of short stature, wanted to be able to walk down them to greet guests without having to glance down.

one of the many huge rooms

There is a rumor that Donald Trump wanted to purchase the building and turn it into the world’s largest casino. The tour guide would neither confirm nor deny this…

Leaving Bucharest, I hopped on a train to Brasov, a city in Transylvania surrounded by the Carpathian mountains. I sat across from a Romanian teenager who heard me fumble my way through my awful Romanian with the conductor, and I saw his eyes widen as he realized I was American. Twenty minutes later as I sat reading my book, he passed me his phone which said “hello, my name is Alexander. I am too embarrassed by my English to speak. But could we write messages?”. Alexander and I spent the next three hours writing back and forth, and I learned a lot about his life in Romania, his joys, his struggles, his favorite Romanian foods. Every message was perfectly punctuated and spelled. I’m not quite convinced his English was that poor.

I snapped a quick picture of Alex typing out a message on the way.

In Brasov I was met on the platform by three lovely Romanian ladies who dedicated the following few days to showing me around the city. They showered me with incredible hospitality as they introduced me to Romanian food, the best views of the city, and even more cool bookstores.

They made sure to send me off to Sinaia with Romanian tea and gifts and promises of meeting again soon.

Upon arrival in Sinaia I made my way through town, past the peaceful Sinaia monastery, up a path through the woods to Peles Castle, one of the most interesting places I have ever been. 

Construction begun in 1874 by order of King Carol I of Romania. Each of the 160 rooms of the palace is inspired by a different theme-Florentine, Moorish, Turkish, Venetian, Chinese, Indian, French- the list goes on and on. Each room had specialty items and décor from these exotic places- Turkish izmir rugs from Anatolia for the “Turkish saloon”, paintings signed by various artists, bronze doors in the Florentine room from Rome, Murano crystal chandeliers, Cordoba leather, etc. On our tour we went through two armory rooms that hold a total of 4,000 pieces of weaponry. The palace has had central heating and electricity since 1883. A feat indeed! Our guide pointed out secret passageways, including a secret door in the library (which was stocked full of beautiful books in multiple languages) so that the king could disappear at any moment. I normally opt out of paying for a ticket to take photographs and take mental pictures if need be, but here I went back and spent my dinner money on taking pictures of this spectacular unusual building.

My last destination in Romania was Sibiu, a quaint Transylvanian city where the sun finally decided to come out of hiding for me.

Here is a view of Sibiu from one of the main churches in the city.

I spent my last day in Romania exploring the underground bookstore scene, sampling delicious Romanian street food, and learning about Romanian artists in the Brunkenthal National Museum.

The only downside to this otherwise charming country is that Romania still permits smoking in public places and restaurants. It was nearly impossible to find a café that did not suffocate you with smoke upon entering. Thankfully, most of the aforementioned bookstores had lovely smoke-free cafes. So my advice if you venture to Romania (which you definitely should)- find the bookstores. And the castles.

How Zach & Meri ate their way through Istanbul

Istanbul was a magical city with some of the most incredible food I have ever eaten. I normally do not obsess over taking photos of my food to share what I ate for breakfast with the world unless it is a particularly tasty bagel & lox, but be warned I am compelled to break that rule for this post. Normally, I only allow myself to eat one nice traditional meal in each country in order to adhere to my strict budget, but Turkey was so cheap that I was able to do all this eating and still stay under budget.

Zach, my wonderful friend whom I hadn’t seen since graduation (minus random 30 min meet-ups in NYC in transit to Russia) met me at the airport, where we basically tackled each other with bear hugs outside of passport control. Our first day we got lost wandering through Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar sampling baklava and Turkish delight and gazing mesmerized at all the bright colors of the lamps and spices.

Our first night, we treated ourselves to delicious apple tea and baklava to celebrate our first full day together in two years. The next day we tried the sesame pretzels called Simit. Zach got the regular and of course I had to go for the nutella. Note: this was on our way to breakfast. I’m not kidding when I say all we did was eat!

 Turkish breakfast is incredible. I want to recreate this at some point. Normally paired with Turkish tea, the breakfast includes white cheese, old cheese (kaşar peyniri), olives, honey, jam, eggs, cucumbers, tomatoes, and the most scrumptious warm bread. Yum!

 Ok, let’s take a break from our food tour and explore this building!

 The Hagia Sophia needs no introduction, so here are some photos instead.

Ok, now back to food.

After adventuring in the European side, Zach and I took a ferry to the Asian side of Istanbul. It was a little chilly on the ferry, so we ordered this delicious warm tea called Salep that tasted like rice pudding.

We wandered through a fish market, trying not to get lost again amidst the occasional moped driving through with no warning, the distinct smell of fresh fish, and the cries of the Turkish fishermen and merchants advertising their goods – fish, grape leaves, mussels stuffed with rice, olives, etc.

As an appetizer at lunch time, Zach and I ordered Pide, which was basically cheese and bread (our two favorites!) before ordering a kebab and crème brule type desert which in total for both of us cost less than one order of sirniki in Moscow.

Another commercial break for some cat photos! There were cats everywhere in Istanbul. I mean everywhere. Most of them were actually quite large since people leave food for them quite frequently. Whenever we would eat outside to enjoy the sunshine or to listen to call to prayer, which was beautiful, we would be surrounded by kitties, kitties, and more kitties.

For breakfast the next day we got Kumpir, a stuffed baked potato. The man we ordered them from cut a baked potato open, added some butter, poured a massive amount of salt (seriously- imagine a lot of salt, now triple that quantity), and added whatever toppings we wanted- olives, beets, cheese, pickled veggies, sausages, a few unidentifiable Turkish salads, etc. So simple! Maybe when the day comes that I finally learn how to cook, I will attempt this feat. With less salt, of course.

We took a break from indulging in the Turkish cuisine to explore the Blue Mosque which was fantastic and so beautiful. Here is a view of the ceiling.

Next, we met Ryan, an American I met in my Bulgarian hostel, who took us to get the most amazing fish sandwich I have ever eaten. We walked across a pedestrian bridge, past elderly fisherman chit chatting to a tiny grill on the edge of the bridge. I was skeptical at first, watching the street vendor apathetically pile some fish on roll for us, but I learned, once again, that looks are deceiving!

I am writing this post a few weeks after this adventure, and I have to say that every person to whom I have mentioned I have visited Turkey has immediately exclaimed “Did you try the fish sandwich? On the bridge? From the grumpy man?”. This Turkish grumpy man is apparently now an international legend. And rightly so.

On the street, we got Turkish ice cream from a street vendor. Turkish ice cream, or Dundurma, is thick and sticky that often Turks will eat it with a knife and fork! The man scooped it with a long stick and poked us in the noses with it for a few minutes before putting it in ice cream cones. It was quite a show.

For dinner we got Borek, another cheese pastry type dish and for dessert I ordered a waffle. The man asked, “Would you like everything?” I nodded assertively, but I was not prepared for the number of toppings that finally appeared on my waffle. They mean business when it comes to waffle toppings!

What a delicious way to end our quick adventure. Thank you for participating in this tour of Turkish cuisine! A search for Dracula is up next…

Bulgaria

I had intended to leave the cold behind in Russia (and therefore ditched my boots and coat there in hopeful anticipation that the Balkan peninsula would be warmer), but alas I was greeted in Bulgaria with snow and slush. My first stop in Bulgaria was the capital city of Sofia. Sofia, formerly the ancient city of Serdika, was first inhabited by Thracians and was conquered by the Romans in 29 B.C. Remnants of Serdika can be found all around the city as parts of the old city walls and theater remain, although more excavation work needs to be done in the next few years. Here is the oldest building in Serdika still standing, the church of St. George built during Constantine’s reign.

Fun fact: Constantine is credited with saying “Serdika-this is my Rome!”

It was almost impossible to find because it is surrounded on all four sides by Soviet government block buildings built to hide the church from public view without destroying it.

Sofia used to have many public baths due to the mineral hot springs. They are all closed now, but small fountains can be found around the city, and we walked by many filling up large jugs of water.

The next day I rode out to Rila to visit the St. John of Rila Monastery, one of Bulgaria’s UNESCO sites. Although the monastery is buzzing with tourists all summer, this March day was quiet and serene, and the monastery buildings and surrounding mountains were covered in a beautiful light blanket of snow.

Although it snowed my entire visit, Bulgaria was preparing for and anticipating spring. In March the Martenitsa tradition begins. Starting March 1 on “Baba Marta Day” (or Grandma March), people wear red and white bracelets, scarves, pins (men, too!) as a sign of health and happiness. They are to be warn every day of March until the first sign of spring arrives (which my guide told me is the first fruit tree blooming, a swallow, or a stork). Then the red and white ornaments are pinned onto the tree. Here are a few Martenitsa bracelets being sold in a shop window.

As I ventured to Plovdiv with two girls from my hostel, I sat next to an elderly woman who spoke no words to me but halfway through our bus ride she took out an extra m-bracelet with a mini red egg on it and slid it on my wrist with a smile and a wish for good health. And immediately went back to staring out the window with a tiny but discernible smile on her face.

Although I knew no Bulgarian, I was able to ask for directions in Russian every time we got lost in Plovdiv (which happened an embarrassing amount of times). I would always receive an answer in Bulgarian that was close enough for me to distinguish which direction to head in next as we “danced” through the snowy streets to avoid the slush. Of course, my favorite part of Plovdiv was the ancient theater of Philippopolis. 

A much warmer destination coming soon!