I am making some cookies from this dough and bringing them home. We'll see if they taste anything like our traditional recipe.
Zimtsterne in the supermarket!!
AND pre-made Zimtstern doughMonday, December 13, 2010
The most important discovery ever
I have pictures to post from Vienna and even from as long ago as Thanksgiving, but I have made the executive decision that this post is even more important. Today I made a very important discovery. Every year we make the same Christmas cookies: fruit cookies and Zimtsterne (cinnamon stars). Both are difficult to make - the instructions of the Zimtsterne even say to mix until a 'gooey mess,' or something along those lines. I knew that they were German recipes, but I had no idea how prevalent they were! Apparently the friut cookies are a kind of Lebkuchen - German/Austrian Christmas cookies/cakes. If we made the cookies thicker they would be very similar to things I've tried here. But more interestingly, I've found a ton of Zimtsterne!! Not only that, but they sell the dough, pre-made, in the supermarket! WHAT. The dough that is a gooey mess; the dough that makes the cookies a true undertaking every Christmas season.
I am making some cookies from this dough and bringing them home. We'll see if they taste anything like our traditional recipe.
Zimtsterne in the supermarket!!
AND pre-made Zimtstern dough
I am making some cookies from this dough and bringing them home. We'll see if they taste anything like our traditional recipe.
Zimtsterne in the supermarket!!AND pre-made Zimtstern dough
Monday, November 22, 2010
Budapest
Maija and me in front of the Parliament building
On Saturday morning we got up at ungodly o'clock to catch the train from Prague to Budapest. The map of Eastern Europe/Central Europe that I had in my head put Prague and Budapest much closer together than they are in real life. The journey actually takes about 7 hours, which means that the cities are actually closer to Salzburg than they are to each other. Funny, right? I never would have guessed, mostly because Salzburg feels like the farthest place from Eastern Europe (minus the Post, which as Unc put it is equivalent to that of a third world country).
Our train journey, aside from being early, was uneventful. Slovakia is the most boring country to cross via train, in case you were wondering. There is absolutely nothing to see and it goes on forever. Kind of like crossing America from Ohio through Missouri.
We arrived in Budapest in the early afternoon and waited for Ali (aka Scottish) to join us. While we were waiting we took in our surroundings. The language is in the same family as Turkish and Finnish, interestingly enough, though that does not make it any easier to understand. It is absolutely nothing like German or English. At one point Maija tried pronouncing some of the names of food items to a waiter, and he told her to try again after she'd had a few drinks because it might sound more accurate then. The language wasn't the only difference: where the people in the Czech Republic were more fair skinned and haired, those in Budapest had much darker coloring. The city itself was what shocked me the most, though. The entire city needs a powerwash. Buildings, sidewalks, monuments - everything. I saw more dog poop on the sidewalks than anywhere else I've ever been. Buildings that were once a stony gray looked almost black, though you could tell their original color from where insulting graffiti had been scrubbed off. Dorothy, we were not in Western Europe anymore.
From the train station we caught a taxi to our hostel. Thank god we did, because otherwise we would have walked right by it. The sign was smaller than a salad plate plate, and nowhere easily readable. The bell stated that the hostel was on the top floor only; people clearly lived in the rest of the building. And the surroundings were not lovely: a KFC, a Starbucks that was not yet open, and a million strip clubs and sex shops. The outside was less than appealing, but maybe it was lovely inside...if only someone would open the door to let us in.
We rang the bell. We rang again. We phoned. We rang. We waited. Finally a group of boys who were clearly leaving the hostel held the door open for us. From the entryway we could see stairs and small laminated signs that had nothing but the word 'Unity' (the name of our hostel) and an arrow pointing up. So up we went. The elevator held 3 people maximum and seemed overall untrustworthy, so most of us took the stairs. Not like it mattered that much; we weren't getting in when we got to the top anyway. Needless to say, we were starting to wonder if the hostel actually existed, or if it was just some big Eastern European scam. But the sign on the door read 'Unity' and we could see bunk beds when we peeked in.
Finally we decided to do something - we cracked open a few beers. It was the least we could do while we were waiting. Unfortunately, Ali and Fleur had to use the restroom pretty badly. We knew that Starbucks probably had a bathroom, and wireless internet too. So the three of us went: Fleur and Ali to pee, and me to try and re-read the email that included the booking confirmation. We walked into Starbucks where, to our surprise, we found that it was not yet open. They were to open in a few days - didn't we see the sign on the door? Well, no, we did not. The sign was in Hungarian. Illegible Hungarian. The people working there were incredibly nice, though. They let us sample some of their beverages, since they were training to make drinks, and sent us over to KFC. I sipped on my chai latte while Ali and Fleur tried to use the restroom, but to no avail. Apparently you had to buy an item to use the restroom. Meanwhile, Maija, Dave and Nick had gotten into the hostel and had phoned me to tell us to come back. Which I forgot to tell Ali and Fleur (who still had to pee). We made it back to the hostel in time, though - there were no accidents, and everything was good as soon as we actually got inside.
Our train journey, aside from being early, was uneventful. Slovakia is the most boring country to cross via train, in case you were wondering. There is absolutely nothing to see and it goes on forever. Kind of like crossing America from Ohio through Missouri.
We arrived in Budapest in the early afternoon and waited for Ali (aka Scottish) to join us. While we were waiting we took in our surroundings. The language is in the same family as Turkish and Finnish, interestingly enough, though that does not make it any easier to understand. It is absolutely nothing like German or English. At one point Maija tried pronouncing some of the names of food items to a waiter, and he told her to try again after she'd had a few drinks because it might sound more accurate then. The language wasn't the only difference: where the people in the Czech Republic were more fair skinned and haired, those in Budapest had much darker coloring. The city itself was what shocked me the most, though. The entire city needs a powerwash. Buildings, sidewalks, monuments - everything. I saw more dog poop on the sidewalks than anywhere else I've ever been. Buildings that were once a stony gray looked almost black, though you could tell their original color from where insulting graffiti had been scrubbed off. Dorothy, we were not in Western Europe anymore.
From the train station we caught a taxi to our hostel. Thank god we did, because otherwise we would have walked right by it. The sign was smaller than a salad plate plate, and nowhere easily readable. The bell stated that the hostel was on the top floor only; people clearly lived in the rest of the building. And the surroundings were not lovely: a KFC, a Starbucks that was not yet open, and a million strip clubs and sex shops. The outside was less than appealing, but maybe it was lovely inside...if only someone would open the door to let us in.
We rang the bell. We rang again. We phoned. We rang. We waited. Finally a group of boys who were clearly leaving the hostel held the door open for us. From the entryway we could see stairs and small laminated signs that had nothing but the word 'Unity' (the name of our hostel) and an arrow pointing up. So up we went. The elevator held 3 people maximum and seemed overall untrustworthy, so most of us took the stairs. Not like it mattered that much; we weren't getting in when we got to the top anyway. Needless to say, we were starting to wonder if the hostel actually existed, or if it was just some big Eastern European scam. But the sign on the door read 'Unity' and we could see bunk beds when we peeked in.
Finally we decided to do something - we cracked open a few beers. It was the least we could do while we were waiting. Unfortunately, Ali and Fleur had to use the restroom pretty badly. We knew that Starbucks probably had a bathroom, and wireless internet too. So the three of us went: Fleur and Ali to pee, and me to try and re-read the email that included the booking confirmation. We walked into Starbucks where, to our surprise, we found that it was not yet open. They were to open in a few days - didn't we see the sign on the door? Well, no, we did not. The sign was in Hungarian. Illegible Hungarian. The people working there were incredibly nice, though. They let us sample some of their beverages, since they were training to make drinks, and sent us over to KFC. I sipped on my chai latte while Ali and Fleur tried to use the restroom, but to no avail. Apparently you had to buy an item to use the restroom. Meanwhile, Maija, Dave and Nick had gotten into the hostel and had phoned me to tell us to come back. Which I forgot to tell Ali and Fleur (who still had to pee). We made it back to the hostel in time, though - there were no accidents, and everything was good as soon as we actually got inside.
In desperation, Maija tries looking in all of the windows of our building. No luck.
Our first impressions of the hostel. Below us is a bar, a bunch of apartments, and quite a lot of post-communist ruin.
An accurate picture of the situation. Behind me, Fleur and Ali have to use the bathroom desperately and are sitting around deliberating about whether to go find a bathroom elsewhere or just wait; Maija is trying to call/knock/ring the doorbell repeatedly; Dave is wandering around a little confused but fairly unfazed; Nick's like "at least we have beer" and I am documenting the entire situation.
Nick's attitude prevailed, and we all cracked open our beers
Cheers!
...more first impressions of the hotel. These handprints were on the wall in the stairwell. What were they, even? Blood? Chocolate? Poop? I'll keep telling myself it's chocolate.
That night we went out for Goulash, round two, at a nearby restaurant. We felt like high-rollers with our massive Hungarian bills. After dinner we went out for drinks and ended up at a crazy bar that turned out to be a ton of fun. Unfortunately we suffered from a lack of communication, and ended up following two Australian strangers to an unknown club where the dancing was supposed to be good, but where none of us actually had any desire to go to. This was followed by some dramatic arguing, some storming off in different directions, and finally some crawling into bed exhausted.
The next day we got up in time to do a little sightseeing, though none of us actually knew what sights we wanted to see. We ended up wandering (this time following a map, thank goodness) in order to see a few things such as the Parliament buildings and the Synagogue. We ended up finding some amazing burritos - the first delicious Mexican food that any of us had had since America. Again we had delicious Hungarian food for dinner and, again, we went out for a few drinks afterward. Thank goodness our evening was not punctuated by drama this time.
The following day, Maija, Dave and Nick headed back to Salzburg on an early train. Fleur, Ali and I decided that there were a few things left that we wanted to do. Ali hopped on a double-decker bus tour, and Fleur and I made our way towards the Baths. I'm so glad we stayed, because I think I would have felt like we hadn't really seen Budapest otherwise. Although I didn't take any pictures of it (camera + water = bad idea), Fleur and I did actually get in the steaming baths. We also got in the saunas and the ice baths, and almost had a few heart attacks when we saw some of the awful speedo-clad men wandering around. All in all it was an enjoyable time - something that I highly recommend doing in Budapest. By early afternoon we'd had enough and were ready to grab some burritos for the road and catch the train. We actually almost didn't catch the train, due to the fact that it was a holiday, so the normal train offices were closed. We had to go alllllll the way around the station, grab a number, wait in line while the assistants called off every number EXCEPT ours (isn't that always how it works?) and finally have our tickets hand written before we ran to our train seconds before it pulled away from the platform.
The next day we got up in time to do a little sightseeing, though none of us actually knew what sights we wanted to see. We ended up wandering (this time following a map, thank goodness) in order to see a few things such as the Parliament buildings and the Synagogue. We ended up finding some amazing burritos - the first delicious Mexican food that any of us had had since America. Again we had delicious Hungarian food for dinner and, again, we went out for a few drinks afterward. Thank goodness our evening was not punctuated by drama this time.
The following day, Maija, Dave and Nick headed back to Salzburg on an early train. Fleur, Ali and I decided that there were a few things left that we wanted to do. Ali hopped on a double-decker bus tour, and Fleur and I made our way towards the Baths. I'm so glad we stayed, because I think I would have felt like we hadn't really seen Budapest otherwise. Although I didn't take any pictures of it (camera + water = bad idea), Fleur and I did actually get in the steaming baths. We also got in the saunas and the ice baths, and almost had a few heart attacks when we saw some of the awful speedo-clad men wandering around. All in all it was an enjoyable time - something that I highly recommend doing in Budapest. By early afternoon we'd had enough and were ready to grab some burritos for the road and catch the train. We actually almost didn't catch the train, due to the fact that it was a holiday, so the normal train offices were closed. We had to go alllllll the way around the station, grab a number, wait in line while the assistants called off every number EXCEPT ours (isn't that always how it works?) and finally have our tickets hand written before we ran to our train seconds before it pulled away from the platform.
The ladies out at dinner: Fleur, Maija, Ali (aka "Scottish") and me
We thought we were rolling in dough in Prague, and then we got to Budapest and were suddenly millionaires
Surrounding our hostel were more 'Szex' shops and strip clubs than any city needs
Maija in burrito heaven, with a taco halo and everything.
"Thank God for creating the taco!"
The group, wandering through Budapest
Denksteins all are over Europe, even in Budapest
Cathedral
Budapest is divided by the river. This photo was taken from the Pest side; on the other side is Buda.
From left: Dave, Ali, me, Fleur, Nick. Photo taken by Maija
The bridge
Fleur and Maija checking the map discreetly
The girls
Maija and the boys
Parliament building (I think)
Sunset over Budapest
Sunset over Buda
The boys, having a moment on the bridge
The largest Synagogue in Europe, and second largest in the world
Something grand...
Outside of the baths
Engrish, spotted in Budapest
The baths
Shortly before I jumped into the baths
Fleur with our sticky swirly-wirly thing. It was tasty!
Grand statues
Spotted: an Indians fan in Budapest
House of Terror
Memorials at the House of Terror
The street next to our hostel was actually quite lovely
Liszt was apparently from Budapest, and hung out with Kodaly (also from Budapest) - the guy for whom the Kodaly method was named, which sponsored all of the national choirs that I attended in middle and high school
Would you have been able to see the sign?! I didn't think so.
The door to our hostel could have been the door to anything, really.Sunday, November 21, 2010
Prague part two
Czech Funny Money is actually quite pretty
Yesterday was our little Thanksgiving celebration -Austrian-style, of course - and right now it's snowing steadily. Consequently, Prague and fall break seem like they were incredibly far away. Perhaps it's for the best, since I came away from the second half of our trip a little more frustrated than pleased.
Day two in Prague started out nicely. We got up early enough to score some continental breakfast at the hostel, which included copious amounts of cereal, bread, cold cuts, and really bad coffee. Luckily, they also had some of my favorite tea (the brand Harney & Sons), which made the breakfast worth it. Especially since I pocketed a bunch of the tea bags for myself.
We had purchased 24 hour tram cards the previous day, but hadn't used them, and had discovered just how far away the city-center was from our hostel. Thus, we made the executive decision to take the tram. Except that the tram didn't go in the direction that we thought it did. Where it did take us was to the end of the line, and we (along with a few other bewildered tourists) were expected to get out and figure out what had happened. No big deal, we had a map. Except that we began walking before consulting the map, and continued walking while trying to consult the map, and then argued over which way was actually the correct way to walk. This led to a very uncomfortable hour-long walk BACK the way we'd came, where we were all tired and hungry, and ready to bite each others' heads off at the slightest provocation. Ah, group dynamics.
After all this, we stumbled upon an upscale restaurant and collapsed into our chairs for lunch.
When we had eaten our fill, we headed off to the Charles Bridge. This is one of the iconic landmarks of Prague, and something that we had all decided that we needed to see. It also happens to be thoroughly packed with tourists at almost all times of day, but especially during lunchtime. We made it through nonetheless, and even managed to do so with all of our belongings! At the other side of the bridge, we made the official decision to split up. Each of us had things we wanted to check out, and I think we were all a little weary of each others' company. So Dave headed off to the Kafka museum, Nick and Maija wandered in the direction of the Jewish Quarter, and Fleur and I decided to explore the area around the castle.
We never actually went into the castle. The building itself is ginormous, and the tour would have taken all day. Plus, I think I've had enough of touring grand castles for a while (for a refresher, please see my entry on Versailles). Instead, we harassed the guards, enjoyed the view, and wandered slowly back to the Jewish Quarter.
Prague, at one time, had one of the largest Jewish populations in the world. It also has one of the best Jewish memorials in the world, housed in the Jewish Museum. The walls of the Museum are covered from top to bottom with the names of Czech Jews during WWII, their birth and death dates, and their fates, all in black and red writing. Madeline Albright famously found her ancestors' names on the wall. The memorial has a similar effect to the Vietnam memorial in Washington, DC: names upon names upon names. There is also a fabulous collection of artwork made by children in concentration camps. When you have finished touring the museum, it dumps you out into the Jewish cemetery. The cemetery is relatively small, but is overflowing with gravestones. They look like overcrowded, jagged teeth. The overall effect, between the museum and the cemetery, is a grim one, and did not do much to improve my grumpiness from earlier. I have to say, though, that I am glad I experienced it.
That evening we headed back to the hostel to regroup. Maija ended up passing out from sheer exhaustion, and the rest of us went out to get pizza and then passed out ourselves. After all, we had to rest up for our trip to Budapest!
Day two in Prague started out nicely. We got up early enough to score some continental breakfast at the hostel, which included copious amounts of cereal, bread, cold cuts, and really bad coffee. Luckily, they also had some of my favorite tea (the brand Harney & Sons), which made the breakfast worth it. Especially since I pocketed a bunch of the tea bags for myself.
We had purchased 24 hour tram cards the previous day, but hadn't used them, and had discovered just how far away the city-center was from our hostel. Thus, we made the executive decision to take the tram. Except that the tram didn't go in the direction that we thought it did. Where it did take us was to the end of the line, and we (along with a few other bewildered tourists) were expected to get out and figure out what had happened. No big deal, we had a map. Except that we began walking before consulting the map, and continued walking while trying to consult the map, and then argued over which way was actually the correct way to walk. This led to a very uncomfortable hour-long walk BACK the way we'd came, where we were all tired and hungry, and ready to bite each others' heads off at the slightest provocation. Ah, group dynamics.
After all this, we stumbled upon an upscale restaurant and collapsed into our chairs for lunch.
When we had eaten our fill, we headed off to the Charles Bridge. This is one of the iconic landmarks of Prague, and something that we had all decided that we needed to see. It also happens to be thoroughly packed with tourists at almost all times of day, but especially during lunchtime. We made it through nonetheless, and even managed to do so with all of our belongings! At the other side of the bridge, we made the official decision to split up. Each of us had things we wanted to check out, and I think we were all a little weary of each others' company. So Dave headed off to the Kafka museum, Nick and Maija wandered in the direction of the Jewish Quarter, and Fleur and I decided to explore the area around the castle.
We never actually went into the castle. The building itself is ginormous, and the tour would have taken all day. Plus, I think I've had enough of touring grand castles for a while (for a refresher, please see my entry on Versailles). Instead, we harassed the guards, enjoyed the view, and wandered slowly back to the Jewish Quarter.
Prague, at one time, had one of the largest Jewish populations in the world. It also has one of the best Jewish memorials in the world, housed in the Jewish Museum. The walls of the Museum are covered from top to bottom with the names of Czech Jews during WWII, their birth and death dates, and their fates, all in black and red writing. Madeline Albright famously found her ancestors' names on the wall. The memorial has a similar effect to the Vietnam memorial in Washington, DC: names upon names upon names. There is also a fabulous collection of artwork made by children in concentration camps. When you have finished touring the museum, it dumps you out into the Jewish cemetery. The cemetery is relatively small, but is overflowing with gravestones. They look like overcrowded, jagged teeth. The overall effect, between the museum and the cemetery, is a grim one, and did not do much to improve my grumpiness from earlier. I have to say, though, that I am glad I experienced it.
That evening we headed back to the hostel to regroup. Maija ended up passing out from sheer exhaustion, and the rest of us went out to get pizza and then passed out ourselves. After all, we had to rest up for our trip to Budapest!
The view of the river, post lost-wandering. Note that there are no pictures of us getting lost
Swans!
Giant Jesus sculpture, made entirely out of shoes
The Charles Bridge
Lunchtime
Walking across the Charles Bridge
On the Charles Bridge, with the Prague Castle in the background
Maija and Fleur, having a heart-to-heart on the Charles Bridge
Looking towards the Prague Castle. From this angle, the Jewish Quarter and the Astronomical Clock (both of which we had visited the day before) are at our backs.
Looking down the Charles Bridge in the other direction.
One of the many statues that line the bridge
The parts that look gold are that way from being touched so often. Apparently if you rub one of the two spots, you get luck and fertility. I could use the luck, but I passed because of the fertility bit. Maybe if I go back to Prague in a few years...
The city underneath the Castle
View from the castle. On the left is the old part of the city, the one we were trying to reach. Somewhere out in the distance to the right is where we actually ended up that morning.
See the two towers sticking up on the left? That's the Adam and Eve building. And a little closer on the right is the Astronomical Clock tower.
Prague's version of the Eiffel Tower, and some rooftops
With the Castle guard
Fleur and I stumbled upon this random art installation
The Prague Gardens, which cost way more than we were willing to part with
One of the many walls in the Jewish museum. It's covered with tiny names - the names of the Jews of the Czech Republic, along with what happened to them. The entire building's walls were like this.
Jewish cemetery. The Jews of Prague were only allowed a tiny plot of land to bury their dead, so they imported more and more dirt. In some places people are buried 14 people deep, and each has his or her own gravestone.
Maija, Dave and Fleur
The most hilarious shop ever. They sold nothing but alcohol and meat.
Someone needs to give all of Prague a lesson on parking. We saw so many people double parked, parked on the sidewalk, parked in the middle of the road.... See exhibit A above.
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