Quick Trip to Milan

I could make a long list of things that I like more about Europe than the United United States, and towards the top of that list would be budget airlines.  One of my favorite budget airlines, Wizz Air, is based in Budapest and has excellent fares and actually quite convenient travel times.  Two weekends ago we managed to take a trip to Milan for 36 hours and the cost of two round-trip tickets was a whopping $90. It's amazing how much you can see and do when you arrive before eight in the morning and depart at ten in the evening the following day.

We were in Milan for the 'oh bej oh bej' festival, which originally was celebrated to honor the patron saint of the city, Saint Ambrogio. Today it is just a big street festival with a bunch of vendors selling overpriced food, items mostly made in China, and helium balloons.  "Oh bej oh bej" actually translates to "oh so nice, oh so nice;" so the jury is still out on whether this name is actually appropriate for the present day festival.

Here are some of the highlights of the visit:

Lake Como

It is about a 45 minute train ride from Milan to get to the town of Como which is where the lake begins. We got to enjoy the scenery of rolling hills dotted with fancy villas as we embarked on a brisk morning walk. 

Spine of the Duomo

I have been in more churches than I can count, but I have never gotten to walk the uppermost terraces where you stand amongst the towering spires that crown the church. It was incredible seeing the level of detail that was tucked away in places that would never be seen by anyone from below. 

Statue of St. Bartholomew in the Duomo

Via

The statue of the martyr St. Bartholomew is extremely powerful and quite gruesome as you see him devoid of skin and actually holding his own skin as if it were almost a cape. This was probably more of a highlight for Bill than for myself, but the real highlight for me was seeing Bill"s face when he finally saw this statue. A little over a year ago we were in the Cathedral of Seville and we spent 45 minutes searching every nook and cranny of the church because Bill was convinced this statue was there. Sure enough when we left Seville Bill looked online and realized it was in Milan, and had been looking forward to a trip to Milan ever since.

First opera of the season streamed live in the Galleria mall

When we stepped into the Galleria with its glass vaulted arcades and expensive shops, we noticed crowds of people with their eyes fixated towards a large 'jumbo-tron' which happened to be playing Verdi's Rigoletto, the opening performance of opera season. They take opera quite seriously here, and let me quickly illustrate this for you. At the end of the performance two well dressed 'opera experts' appear on the television and give a recap of the night's performance, including replays of particular scenes and interviews from exiting guests of the show. It was at this point in the evening, when I saw women in gorgeous black leather stiletto boots, tiny dogs in sweaters, and Gucci, Prada, and Verdi as the backdrop, that I knew all the stereotypes of Milan were true :)

Monumental Cemetery

Some of the best places to see beautiful art and the changing trends in art are in cemeteries.  The Monumental Cemetery in Milan was one of the most impressive cemeteries I have ever seen. The size, intricacies and unique nature of many of the tombs was incredible. The most surprising part was that none of the tombs belonged to famous Italians, which I think is a reflection of the wealth that Milan possesses. 

Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper

Via

Ever since taking intro to art history as an undergraduate, I have had a long list of paintings that I have been dying to see in person.  I am a bit of an Italian renaissance nut, and so you say da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Botticelli, or Giotto, and I say show me? I normally have a pretty good handle on where the works of art I want to see are located, but for some reason I had completely forgot that the Last Supper was in Milan. Bill reminded me of this three days before we were going to leave and suggested we get tickets ahead of time. They were all sold out, every last one of them, even tour companies that buy up the tickets and sell them in packages for 10 times the actual price. I was quite determined though, and in the 36 hours we were in Milan we went to the ticket office for the Last Supper four different times. Luckily our perseverance paid off and we got two tickets (and it did not cost us an arm an a leg). Seeing the Last Supper was spectacular.  It is hard to put into words what makes a masterpiece a masterpiece, but when you're standing in front of one, you can feel exactly why it is a masterpiece. It sucks you in and you literally don't want to take your eyes off of it. There is something special about seeing a painting that can bring you to tears, and that is something that sticks with you forever. 

Diszno Vagas (pig killing)

Don't worry, this was not the one we killed

Diszno Vagas is a popular tradition that takes place on farms in the countryside of Hungary during late fall and early winter. Family and friends get together and dedicate a weekend to the killing, butchering and preparation of a pig. The weekend is filled with lots of drinking and eating, and much of the meat that is prepared can be frozen and eaten throughout the winter months.  One of my colleague's was able to arrange for us to be present for the diszno vagas at her boyfriend's brother's farm. The farm itself was about two hours drive from Budapest and houses about 50 mangalica pigs, some chickens and ducks, a horse,10 dogs, and five cats. The morning starts with the killing of a pig. Correction, the morning starts with shots of pálinka and then the killing of a pig. They chose to kill a hefty mangalica that had an injured hoof and was already in quite a bit of pain.  Immediately after shooting the pig some blood is drained and brought to the kitchen to be cooked on the stovetop with garlic and onions.  Then the hard work begins and the pig must be cleaned and butchered.  There were so many steps involved, instead of explaining them all, I will show you the progression below.

Step 1: Pálinka

Step 2: Kill pig

Step 3: Drain blood for cooking

Step 4: Bring pig in

Step 5: Torch hair

Step 6: Begin removing hair

Step 7: Torch skin

Step 8: More pálinka

Step 9: Scrape torched skin

Step 10: Cleaning pig

Step 11: Remove head

Step 12: Remove organs

Step 13: Split spine and begin butchering

Step 14: Grind meat for sausage

Step 15: Seasoning meat for sausage

Step 16: Sausage cased and ready to cook/freeze

Step 17: Cook meat in outdoor wood-fire oven

Step 18: Jo étvagyat (enjoy your meal)

This was such an incredible weekend and I was so happy that I got to share it with my wonderful colleagues, Bill, and our friend James visiting all the way from Chicago.  Every now and then it feels good to get out of the city and just spend some time in the countryside. Oh, and the food was AMAZING.  I probably ate more pork in this one weekend than I had in the last 10 years of my life (that really is probably true).

Can I Eat That?

I was a vegetarian for about six years, but knew when I moved to Hungary I would integrate meat back into my diet. Meat is a big part of Hungarian cuisine and I did not want to offend people or miss out by not experiencing what is typically a big part of a country's culture. So after one brilliant year of eating anything and everything that was handed to me (regardless of whether I knew what was in it or not), my dreams of being an adventurous eater were crushed. This past October I was diagnosed with Celiac disease, which for those of you who are unfamiliar, is an autoimmune disease of the small intestine that reacts when gluten is consumed.  There is no cure, so the only solution is to live a completely gluten-free diet. What I thought would be the hardest part - resisting my favorite foods like bread, pasta, pastries, etc.- has actually proven to be the easiest part.  It is obvious that there are gluten in those items, so I've just gotten used to doing without, or I get creative with my cooking and find new ways to make my old favorites. What's most difficult is trying to determine what foods contain gluten and what foods do not...all while in a country where you speak little to none of the language.  Foods you would never suspect to contain gluten often will, due to additives, how they are manufactured, or how they are cooked.
Eating gluten-free in Hungary is not too challenging since I can make all of my own food at home and have learned all of the Hungarian words for ingredients that I cannot consume. I just make sure to read the packaging on anything I hope to buy.  There are also some specialty stores that carry lots of gluten-free products and flours, although the prices are quite high.  Things are drastically different when on the road traveling though. I am incredibly tempted by all of the new and tantalizing food that I know I can never eat because it either contains gluten or I have no way to know for sure that it doesn't contain gluten. I never realized how much emphasis and excitement Bill and I put on trying all the local foods when we traveled until I could no longer take part in that.  Even the simplest of things like that quick roll I used to grab in between museums as a cheap way to curb my hunger is no longer an option. I find myself being constantly hungry while traveling because of there being a lack of food that I can safely eat.  There are only so many carrots, apples, and snickers I can eat before I go a little crazy hoping to finally have a full meal that can actually fill me up.

Surprisingly this actually makes sense to me

I encourage Bill to try everything we normally would so he can at least tell me what it tastes like (and of course enjoy it himself).  There is no use for both of us to miss out.  I have gotten quite good at using my sense of smell and touch to try and imagine what something I cannot eat must taste like (and luckily Bill lets me mutilate his food in order to have this experience).  It is sad to think that I will never get to taste many of the traditional cuisines of the world, and will never again get to eat some of my favorite foods that I have eaten to date.

No more delicious street food :(

It's important for me though to focus on the fact that I am trading in all of these gluten-filled foods in exchange for a healthier existence, including a near extinction of my almost daily headaches.  The support I have gotten from friends and loved ones has helped me a lot.  Bill has embraced my quest to find the perfect gluten-free pizza dough (we're at four recipes and counting); my colleagues are always quick to 'protect' me when 'unknown' foods come my way; and friends visiting from the U.S. are kind enough to throw a couple of suspicious looking bags of gluten-free all-purpose flour in their suitcase for me (and we all know how quickly those free 50 pounds can fill up).  This new lifestyle has definitely added a challenge to traveling and living abroad, but not an insurmountable challenge.  I unfortunately have become the dietary pain in the ass that I so diligently tried to avoid being when I brought meat back into my diet.  For those of you out there who have no dietary restrictions, the next time you are traveling and contemplating whether or not you should try that food being sold on the street corner or choosing that mysterious menu item that makes no sense because you don't speak the language, just do it, because there are those of us who have no choice, so please eat and be adventurous for me.

Home-made gluten free pizza

Autumn in Central Europe

There is something about the crunch of leaves beneath my feet and the distant smell of chimney smoke at dusk that capture my heart every autumn.  The past couple of weeks the leaves have begun to change colors and the sun is slowly making itself scarce earlier and earlier.  Autumn is one of those seasons you can easily miss if you don't look up and notice what is around you.  Sure you will feel the weather getting cooler, and you can notice the days getting shorter, but it is the radiant colors of fall that can come and go so quickly. We didn't want fall to pass us by without really embracing it, so this past weekend we spent a day at the imperial gardens in Vienna: Schonbrunn and Belvedere, and then an afternoon exploring the many colors of Gellert Hill in Budapest.

Schonbrunn Palace Gardens

Catching leaves at Schonbrunn

Prancing in the leaves

Stadt Park with Strauss in the background

Belvedere Palace

Gellert Hill

Gellert Hill

Sarajevo

We took a nine hour bus ride from Belgrade to Sarajevo. I was planning on sleeping for a lot of the ride, but the scenery along the way was absolutely stunning that I just couldn't shut my eyes.  We were weaving between jagged cliffs and driving along water nearly the color of emeralds.  We spent four days in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, but I felt like I could have stayed forever.

View of Sarajevo

Sarajevo might be one of my favorite cities in the entire world.  It has a depth of beauty that is greater than most cities.  On the surface you see a city sprawling within a basin of beautiful green hills, cobbled streets with old ottoman architecture, minarets in every direction, and an overall calm and stillness when you take it all in from a higher vantage point.  As you scan more closely and deeply you notice countless cemeteries, streets that wear scars in the form of bullet holes and mortar impressions, and a city full of people who saw more death and destruction than anyone should have to see.  Sarajevo was under siege for nearly four years during the 1990's, making it the longest siege of a capital city in modern warfare. Despite all of the scars the city might wear, the people have such a beautiful attitude and outlook on life.  They look forward, to what is good and in front of them, when it would be so easy to just look back and stay consumed in the pain and fear they had to endure. There was a true sense of positive energy in Sarajevo, unlike any other place I have ever been.  It might seem strange to describe a place that visibly emanates pain and destruction to have positive energy, but it was there, and it was radiating from the people.  There was this strange mix between positive energy from the people and feelings of heavy emotions that were impossible to shake when seeing  and hearing about what the people of this city had to go through. I really cannot fully describe it; it was just something that could so clearly be felt.

Men watching a chess game in a park

Bascarsija Square

Islamic Cemetery

Sarajevo Rose (mortar explosion)

Food Glorious Food

The Balkans is one of THE BEST places to eat.  And that is coming from someone who normally doesn't really like meat, but let me tell you, the meat here is different, and it is amazing.  Normally when Bill and I go on a trip we search high and low down big streets and alleys to find local places to eat.  I wouldn't exactly call them restaurants, because many times it is just a stand on the street, or if the 'food establishment' is within four walls, not a whole lot resembles a restaurant except the fact that there are chairs and tables (which don't usually match), and a kitchen (that is usually completely visible).  Finding these places in the Balkans was a cinch.  There were no long marathon-like quests in attempt to satiate our hunger on this trip; our problem was trying to not eat so much that we get sick.  The food was all so fresh, delicious, and insanely cheap!

Bosnian Sausage (I forgot the proper name) - Mostar, Bosnia

Bosnian Burek (filled with meat) - Sarajevo, Bosnia

Bosnian Coffee - essentially Turkish coffee, but your drinking it in Bosnia) - Sarajevo, Bosnia

River Fish with spinach and potatoes - Mostar, Bosnia

Squid Tint Risotto - Dubrovnik, Croatia

Breakfast of sardines, dough fritters, jam, cheese and homemade mountain tea - Scepan Polje, Montenegro
Made fresh by our wonderful 'house mom'

Bill enjoying Pljeskvica - Kotor, Montenegro

Homemade Goat Cheese - Kotor, Montenegro
The best thing about this cheese was how we found it. We were hiking the old city walls of Kotor and saw a deviation in the path that took us behind the trail. After walking about 150m we saw a sign that read "goat cheese 50m" so naturally we continued walking and came across a house perched on the hill, with goats surrounding it. We were invited in by the most lovely family, and there were no complaints about the view or cheese.

Qofte - Pristina, Kosovo

Sarma (grape leaves stuffed with rice and minced meat) - Sarajevo, Bosnia

Mish (thinly grilled beef) - Prizren, Kosovo

Cevapi - Pristina, Kosovo

Macchiato, the life blood of Kosovars - Pristina, Kosovo

Goat Cheese Market - Peja, Kosovo

Beef Kebab - Pristina, Kosovo

Mish Pule - Pristina, Kosovo

Dorado - Durres, Albania

Rotisserie Chicken - Tirana, Albania

Fish that Bill caught in Lake Ohrid - Ohrid, Macedonia

Drob Sarma (rice w/ liver), Chushki Burek (cheese stuffed peppers) Kavarma (pork ,egg and veg) - Sofia, Bulgaria

Souvlakis (grilled pork) and Kebab (grilled minced lamb) - Thessaloniki, Greece

Octopus - Pella, Greece