Budapest

A Love Letter to Eastern Europe

Dear Eastern Europe, *

Hello, old friend. I know It’s been a while, but you’ve been on my mind quite a bit lately.

It started when I began thinking ahead to my summer vacation, and made the decision that this was the year I was finally going to fulfill my long-held dream of visiting Slovenia. I spent hours researching and was amazed at just how much there is to do in that tiny country alone. But why am I so surprised? You never fail to amaze, and you are full of so many wonderful secret destinations that I could spend a lifetime exploring you and never run out of things to see and experience.

You know you’ll always hold a special place in my heart for one particular reason: you were the first place I ever lived abroad. My year in Praha taught me so much; not just about the city but about how to survive, and perhaps even thrive, in a totally foreign environment so different from the one I was used to. It was immersion and sometimes a bit of a trial by fire, but we made it through together.

And every now and then, I realize how much I miss you.

I miss your beautiful cobbled streets and old towns that give a glimpse into what life was like centuries ago. I miss your pastel houses glowing in the spring sunlight. I miss the stunning architecture of Old Town Square in Praha and Rynek Glowny in Krakow. I miss the imposing red-domed Parliament building that dominates the Budapest skyline.

I miss your cafes. I miss being able to walk into Kavarna Slavia and use my handful of Czech words to order a horka cokolada, then spend the afternoon sipping it while reading my book and gazing at the Vltava River just outside the window. I miss going to Café Louvre with my students and whiling away hours talking about life, and travel, and anything that struck our fancy (all in the name of English language practice, of course).

I miss weekend road trips to Budapest, seeing the city in fall, winter, and finally spring. I miss Café Gerbaud and its gorgeous fin-de-siecle interior, and sitting inside our outside on the patio with my friends devouring chocolate cake and marveling at how lucky we were to be in this beautiful place together.

I miss living in a place so full of history, both good and bad. I miss walking across Wenceslas Square in the course of my daily commute and contemplating all the earth-shaking events of the twentieth century that had transpired over the cobblestones beneath my feet: the Nazi invasion during World War Two; the arrival of Soviet and Warsaw Pact tanks crushing the Prague Spring rebellion in 1968; and of course, the peaceful transformation of the Velvet Revolution in 1989, when your citizens finally rose up and seized a brighter future for themselves, showing the rest of the world that it can indeed be done.

I miss all these things; everything that makes up your unique essence. There is nowhere else in the world like you.

But never fear, Eastern Europe; we aren’t done yet. Our journey will continue. As I flip through my new guidebook I feel almost overwhelmed by how much of you I have yet to experience and all the places I still want to see. This summer it will be Slovenia and Croatia: Ljubljana, Lake Bled, Zagreb, the Plitvice waterfalls, and whatever else I can fit in. And I will return to see even more in future visits: Tallin’s Old Town, Riga’s art nouveau architecture, the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro, Lake Ohrid in Macedonia. And of course, I will finally make it to Russia (though that’s a subject for a different letter altogether).

I know I’ve been off exploring other corners of the planet lately—South Africa, Thailand, Argentina, Israel—and you may have felt a bit neglected by me in recent years. But rest assured, I have not forgotten you. You are under my skin, part of my spirit, and I have no doubt you will be a lifelong obsession for me.

Until we meet again—thank you.

XOXO,

Melissa

*I know that the Czech Republic/Hungary/Poland etc are more properly classified as Central Europe, but I’m using the generic “Eastern” title for this post to encompass the whole region.

Have you been to Eastern Europe? What are your favorite places there? Is there any region of the world that keeps calling you back?

Budapest, Croatia, Eastern/Central Europe, Praha, Slovenia, Travel Musings

Jan

2016

The Land (or Continent) of Chocolate

Melissa Kaplan0

In one of my favorite Simpsons episodes, Homer’s nuclear power plant is bought by a group of German investors. When Homer expresses his concerns regarding candy, they assure him they’re all on the same page because “after all, we come from the land of chocolate!” (Homer then proceeds to have a pretty astounding and delicious fantasy about what such a place might be like. Suffice it to say, it rains chocolate).

While Germany might certainly have a claim, I’ll venture to say that it’s fair to consider all of Europe “The Land of Chocolate.” They get chocolate there. They do it right. They give this amazing food group the respect it deserves.

If there is one aspect of travel I’m pretty close to expert in, it’s seeking out chocolate in foreign lands. So just for fun, here’s list of my best chocolate experiences in Europe:

Prague: Chocolate (especially my beloved hot chocolate, or horka cocolada) is everywhere in Prague. It’s been a few years since I’ve been, but I still highly recommend a few places: Kavarna Slavia (which has an incredible view of the Vltava River, as well as delicious hot chocolate—you can probably skip the food though). Get a window table; you won’t regret it. And Café Louvre serves liquid chocolate in a cup. There’s no one alive who won’t like that, unless they are certifiably insane.

Barcelona: Oh, how I wish I remember the name, but there was a chocolate/cookie shop I explored with unfathomable delight during both of my trips to Barcelona. Honestly, that’s one of the reasons it’s among my favorite cities. (I’m sort of embarrassed to admit that, but not really). And while the Museum of Chocolate didn’t wow me all that much as an educational institution, go there to have one of the greatest cups of hot chocolate of your life in the café. Oh, and did I mention there’s a gift shop? Because there is.

London: When you’re in London, check out Café Nero and sample their Hot Chocolate Milano. It’s about the best “European” hot chocolate you can find in London, since England, as so many will remind me, is not really Europe. Anyway, this drink is divine, and has the distinction of being the one redeeming feature of my seven-hour layover in Dubai airport a while back (they do have Café Nero in other countries, as you can see, but I associate it with London). And England also boasts something that U.S. Starbucks stores should be ashamed of themselves for not carrying: Chocolate. Chip. Shortbread. It’s even better than it sounds, which is basically impossible, so try it. Even if you’re just on a layover in Heathrow, make it happen.

Budapest: My favorite café in Budapest is Café Gerbaud, which has amazing hot chocolate (I’m sure you can sense a theme to this piece), but also delicious and decadent chocolate cake. Splurge on a few euros’ worth of luxury and sit inside this beautiful fin-de-siecle building or outside on the terrace and watch the world go by. (And yes, I feel a bit silly for having just typed fin-de-siecle, but nonetheless).

Paris: I’ve saved the best for last. While there’s undoubtedly amazing chocolate to be found all over the city pretty much anywhere you look (I did not have a pain au chocolat during any of my trips here that was not worth falling on a sword for), the best place of all to experience Parisian chocolate magic is at the legendary Café Angelina. Wait in line (it’s worth it), gaze around at the beautiful building where Audrey Hepburn and Coco Chanel used to frequent, and once you sit down, immediately order the famous Chocolate L’Africain. I don’t really have words to explain how good this chocolate concoction with a side order of homemade whipped cream is—although, and I am not making this up, I once based an entire chapter of a short story around it—but drink it and you will understand, and words will be both inadequate and unnecessary. Ah, hello, so this is what heaven tastes like. I’m in.

Disclaimer: now that I’ve written an article on the best chocolate in Europe, I have to confess: I have never been to Belgium or Switzerland, and I’ve only spent one day in Germany. Eek! How could my chocolate-obsessed self have let this happen? I promise I’ll rectify it one day, and in the meantime, please feel free to share your best chocolate experiences in these countries, or any others!

Budapest, Eastern/Central Europe, France, London, Praha, Travel Musings

Aug

2015

The Indulgences of Budapest

Melissa Kaplan0

One of the downsides of living overseas (yes, there are downsides) is that after a while, any place you live for long enough stops being purely magical and delightful and becomes Where You Live. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; living in another country allows you to dig deeper and get to know a city much more intimately than you could in a brief week-long visit. However, we all know there’s a difference between real life and vacation—many differences, in fact. As much as I enjoyed my time living in Prague, after a while it started to feel a bit routine. Oh, that beautiful castle tourists from around the world throng here to see? That’s just something I walk by on my way to run afternoon errands.
When Prague became my temporary home, it also lost the wondrous sense of the new and unfamiliar. It became the place I lived, worked, bought my groceries. As one might expect, while I had a great time there, it certainly didn’t feel like every day was a vacation.
But that’s okay: I had Budapest for that!
Budapest was a city I had been dying to see before moving to Europe. It was at the tip-top of my lengthy travel list; only a seven-hour train ride from Prague would sweep me into an entirely new country and culture. And Budapest did not disappoint in the least. It quickly became, and remains, one of my favorite cities in the world.
Budapest boasts many attractions: it has the usual range of big ticket sights, architectural gems, museums, and so on. Yet, while I did the usual city walkaround and spent time at landmark tourist spots like Castle Hill and the Chain Bridge, that’s not what I remember most vividly years later. What Budapest brings to mind most is the overwhelming sense of delight and even luxury I found in even its smallest experiences. Budapest is a beautiful city, and just walking around and taking it in visually is a treat; but that’s far from the only treat this magical destination has in store. Whether it’s food, café culture, or soaking in majestic and incredibly relaxing baths, Budapest has you covered. For some affordable relaxation and luxury, you’d be hard pressed to do better.
A few of my favorite indulgent experiences in Budapest:
• The Szechenyi Baths: This is my one must-do recommendation for every traveler to Budapest. The Hungarian tradition of communal outdoor bathing may seem a bit odd at first to people from other countries where it’s not so common, but it’s really a complete delight. After dropping off our clothes and valuables in a locker (still in our bathing suits, don’t worry), my friend and I walked outside and left the chilly October air behind as we stepped into warm, enveloping water that relaxed us completely. We stayed for hours, leaning against the side of the enormous bath, letting our limbs just float as all the stress and tension of travel and daily life was slowly washed away. We talked, we watched the people around us—a varied crowd, including young boys, hefty grandmas, and old chess-playing men (just like in the guidebook photos!)—and took the time to rest and rejuvenate ourselves in this beautiful community setting. And oh yes, on our second visit, we discovered the bath also had a section featuring whirlpools. Hell yes!

• Café Culture: I’m one of those people who plans city visits around trips to specific cafes. In Budapest, it was Café Gerbaud, home of delicious, rich hot chocolate and every kind of indulgent pastry you can imagine. And it’s also in a beautiful, elegant building, bringing to mind the imperial café culture of the Habsburg Empire and making me feel I’d stepped back in time a bit whenever I walked inside. I visited Budapest three times and made it to Café Gerbaud each trip without fail; it was always a highlight of my time there, and a nice familiar place to come back to and re-experience with new friends every visit.

• Food, Glorious Food (and Wine): Czech food—at least when I lived there—was not a highlight of my time in the city. Hungarian food, however, was a different story. The first time I visited Budapest, my friend and I checked into a hostel with a rather sketchy character who tried to simultaneously impress us with his knowledge of the city and ask my friend out. But he did give us one piece of excellent advice: he recommended the Soul Café, down the street from our hostel. The second we walked inside, sat down and looked at our menus, we were transported. Gulyash, Riesling, exquisite desserts—it was all so delicious! We were in dire need of a break from the rather bland Czech cuisine and the stuff we were cooking in our flats from Tesco, and Budapest provided the culinary kick in the pants we needed. Paprika, you were never such a welcome addition.

Have you been to Budapest? What did you like most about it—any of the things on this list? Do you enjoy partaking in small indulgences while you travel?

Budapest, Eastern/Central Europe

Aug

2015