Pleasure Drive

Posted on April 30, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

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This week has slipped away pretty quickly, and today I’m making lists and plans for this weekend because tomorrow is May Day, Labor Day, and therefore no one works and nothing is open. Zsolt and Szilvi are having a little BBQ at their place tomorrow evening and Györgyi somehow assigned me the role of Chef de cuisine. I’m planning on making a Barefoot Contessa summer salad and American-style cheeseburgers. So if anyone is thinking of going to the Budaörs Tesco tonight, I’m giving you fair warning now to clear out of my way if you see me coming with that oversized cart.

I hate holiday shopping. Especially in countries (ahem, Hungary) where people seemingly have a complete lack of cart/aisle/next-in-line-for-the-weigh-station/ courtesy training. Györgyi is no exception to this rule. She’ll just stop pushing the cart mid-main-aisle and walk away from it. She’ll even put down her basket right in the middle of the store and go ten to fifteen aisles away, claiming that it’s the custom in Hungary and that who would want to carry the basket around since it’s so heavy and the floor is right there.

Even after almost a year, it still shocks me to see her just abandon the basket or the cart, and I’m still issuing threats. “Well IN AMERICA”, I’ll say in a really sauceboxy way, “the supermarket employees come and take your basket away from you and put the things back on the shelves. So when we’re IN AMERICA you better not do it because you. will. lose. EVERYTHING and have to start all over again.” As if in the Acme supermarket in Akron there is some kind of institutionalized cart-protective services.

In fairness, she’s not the only one. People are abandoning their carts left and right here. And if the abandoned cart is blocking something that you need–fruit or milk, for example–do NOT, under any circumstances, move someone’s cart. Because putting the cart in front of something is a kind of claim to it. Even if it’s the whole wall of milk, or whole display of vegetables. I half-moved a woman’s cart a few weeks ago, and she took two tomatoes almost right out of my hands. She said something directly to me, and though I didn’t catch all of it, I’m pretty sure it was something like: “Didn’t you see my cart here? These tomatoes are MINNNE.”

So anyway, my blood pressure is a little evevated for the Tesco shopping trip tonight, but otherwise I can’t complain about a long weekend. Plus on Saturday we’re going to Szeged, which is always a breeze for me. And since his new site is getting even more hits than this one, I’ll still be posting pictures of Barnabás throughout the weekend. Sziasztok, Internet! See you again in May!

Afterthought

Posted on April 28, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

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On Sunday we went to the castle and to Fisherman’s Bastion to take some picture of Barnabás before the tourists swarmed from their buses and we had to pay to get up to the top. There’s nothing from blocking you from getting up onto Fisherman’s Bastion during the off hours, and if you really want an amazing picture of Pest– parliament, duna, margit island, temploms, bridges, etc., I suggest going at sunset or sunrise, both times usually are times when you don’t have to actually pay to walk up to the viewing bridge.

We were there at sunrise, basically, and even though I wasn’t there to take pictures of the view, I must have accidentally pressed the trigger while we were setting B up for his shoot. It wasn’t even an afterthought, really, but an accident. Still, you can see how magnificent the view is, how illuminated and quiet the river is in the morning. I should have taken some more, but I was focused on other projects:

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New York Pizza & Salátabár

Posted on April 27, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

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When you go into a pizza joint, any pizza joint, and you see a shaker of parmasan cheese on the table, you know that the owners have at least thought about what they’re doing. This is absolutely the case of New York Pizza & Salátabár, the first authentic New York style pizzeria in Budapest.

We went on Saturday afternoon around 2:30, not knowing what to expect but for the little buzz that had passed through the ex-pat community and blogs the last few weeks. The first thing that we noticed on the wall was a newspaper clipping from the Budapest Sun, which exalted the importance of customer service. Not a bad start, especially because the concept of [good customer service = successful business] is not well practiced in the city.

The menu is actually pretty extensive and it’s clear that the owners wanted to try to duplicate a New York style pizza place. And I really, seriously appreciated it. I don’t think any other restaurant in the city is making garlic knots dusted with parmasan.

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We ordered two different pizzas, the New York Margharita (with fresh basil) and the Brooklyn (with pepperoni).

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They were both really good. It’s so hard to make claims to New York style pizza because even New Yorkers have heated debates about the best place, best crust, best sauce, etc., but from all of the pizzas I’ve tried in Budapest so far (and Budapesters lover their pizzas) this is definitely the best, and the closest to the New York style. The crust was thin but just chewy enough, and there was a good balance of sauce to mozz. The use of fresh basil instead of it’s cremated cousin really won me over.

We took home an order of Chicken Parmasan, which was also very similar to the American-style chicken parm. It came with a fresh salad (with mozzarella cheese! bonus points!) and a side order of garlic twists.

What impressed me the most was not necessarily the food. The food was great, that’s for sure. And there were countless other pasta dishes I wanted to try. But the most impressive thing to me was that it really seemed like someone cared about this place. It wasn’t just a Hungarian version of a New York pizzeria. It really tried to use imitation as flattery, and it worked.

The only criticism I had (as did the other fellas that sat down upstairs) was that there wasn’t any beer. It’s kind of a necessary element, in my opinion, but I’m not sure how easy it is to secure a liquor license here, so since I’m still rosey from the experience on Saturday, I’ll forgive them this one thing. Especially because when we asked if they would deliver to the 13th district they said that they normally didn’t, but if we wanted them to, then they would. With that give-the-customer-what-they-want-answer, I almost forgot I was in Hungary

By three p.m, when the rest of Szondi utca was completely quiet, the small little place started to fill up. There were eight Americans/Australians/Hungarians sitting in the back corner, and as we were about the finish, what seemed to be an entire Irish football team came in.

Downstairs there was a small bar where a few people were waiting for to-go orders and eating pizza by the slice.

I would really recommend going to New York Pizza & Salátabár, especially if you’re a local or recent ex-pat traumatized from high amounts of canned corn found on other city pizzas. Go for the pizzas, the American-style breakfasts (yes, there is an Ohio breakfast), the twists, the pastas. It’s cheap, easy to get to, and a much needed change in the worlds of good food with pleasant service.

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New York Pizza & Salátabár (link to menu)

1064 Bp., Szondi u 37

69-74-992

A Few Updates

Posted on April 24, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

As many of you have already noticed, I’ve added two new features to Budajest. First, you’ll see that Barnabás now has his own daily photography site. You can get there directly by clicking on his Visit Barnabas link at the top right side of this blog. In addition, you can now see our Twitter updates on the right column of this website. Okay, that’s all!

Almost every morning, Györgyi and Barnabás walk to the bakery at the end of our road for fresh kifli—these are like sliver-moon pieces of bread with a little bit of salt on top. They’re not buttery like croissants. Four kifli are 88 forints (38 cents) and one is enough for breakfast. The one I am eating right now is no longer a sliver-moon because I was too hungry to wait to take the picture. But you get the idea.

Europeans know bread. It’s a cultural right, I think, and this little bakery is no exception. There are sweet and savory breads in every shape and size. Last Saturday we tried what Györgyi promised would be “like a jelly donut, just in a loaf.”

I am now calling this the socialist jelly donut.

Despite the lack of jelly, the bread was sweet like kalacs and still a bit warm. Yum.

Probably the best part of the bakery is the woman who works there. She is head over heals in love with Barnus, and when he goes into the shop, she stops everything to give him a little kiss.

Last weekend we went there and she was on the phone and we actually heard her say, as we were walking through the door, (in Hungarian of course), “I have to go, Barnabás is here.” Even the delivery guy put down his boxes to give him a little pet.

I know that he’s being spoiled rotten, really. On Thursday night our dear friend and brilliant, Pulitzer prize winning photographer Nori was over and declared that she wouldn’t mind being a dog in our household.

So yes, we know we’re spoiling him, but he was wandering rundown villages from trash can to trash can for three years until one day he got so sick that he was taken to a hospital and surrendered—and then made his way to us. So, I kind of feel like the world owes him a little bit.

I don’t have any big plans this weekend, luckily, except for enjoying the amazing sunshine and resting up a little bit for the crazy month ahead. On Saturday the Tokaj Renaissance Association is having their annual vintage wine debut at the Gerbeaud House and I thought about going but (1). It’s 6,000 HUF ($26) and (2). the invitation suggests wearing dressy dressy dress. No thanks. Still, if you’re in town and want something nice to do, they’ll be showcasing the 16 leading Tokaj winemakers and their best wines from 2005. If you’re not the type to ever spend 50,000 HUF ($219) on a bottle of wine, then you can get in your tastes now for a relatively good tasting price. If you know nothing about the region or the Tokaj wines– just be prepared for the sweets.

We might try out a new Brooklyn-style pizzeria this weekend, maybe go to a movie, or the park for a little bit. And of course the dreaded Spring Cleaning re-organization of summer/winter clothes in drawyers and the annual re-organization of the kitchen pots, pans, my new baking stuff, and utinsels. So, until Monday, safe-travels and a lovely weekend for all of you, wherever you are in the world.

The Race

Posted on April 22, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

a portrait with friends

There is so much happening in the next few weeks I’m having a hard time even keeping my days straight. I’ve been busy with consulting work, but also with editing and sending out agent query letters. And all while the spring is charging toward summer and before I have a chance to catch my breath I’ll be back in America for a few weeks. Until then, next week is Szeged, the following is an oil conference, the following is a short vacation in Croatia, and the following is a wedding. And then it’s only about eight weeks until I’m at home, eating at Rocknes, Primos, watching the Indians, and drinking Great Lakes Dortmunder.

Sigh. Now, back to Budapest.

On Sunday I walked out to the rakpart to take a walk with Barnabás and I was really shocked by the lack of cars down by the river. We crossed the usually packed road and went by where the house/restaurant/touring boats dock during this season. I wanted to take Barnabás down the steps to the water to see what he would do, all while keeping in mind how Katherine Hepburn fell into the canal in Venice and had a permanant eye twitch, which is only to say that I didn’t want him to actually go into the Danube because it’s probably similarly dirty. Of course he tired to, getting his whole lower body (and new food cast) wet in the process.

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I had totally forgotten that it was the day of the Margit Island races. I think there was a fun run, a 5K and a 10K. I don’t think there was a 1/2 marathon, but there could have been.

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It started with just two front runners following a police car and motorcycle. And since we didn’t take our chance to cross back over the street to walk home when we had the chance (before the pack caught up), we had to wait about thirty minutes for the other 9,998 people to run by.

It was nice, actually. Perfect time of morning. I wish I would have looked into it because I was feeling really envious of not running the race, especially because with those roads close down, the view would have been incredible as you got toward Margit Bridge and then back onto the island. Oh well, there are more races this spring and summer, so once everything else settles down, I’ll make more concrete plans. Until then…back to the grind.

Cumulonimbus

Posted on April 20, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

a look from another time

This weekend was a weekend of opposites. After three solid weeks of uninterrupted sunshine, storms came racing in from the west, bringing with them patches of violent hail and rain, and even more dramatic cumulonimbus clouds that were hiding the sun in patches and casting amazing light throughout the city.

First of all: Barnabás broke his middle toe on his back right foot.

perfect time for a nap

We don’t know how it happened, except that when he’s outside he runs and plays so hard — just like a little boy — that he probably just twisted it or something somewhere and then suddenly he was limping. Anyway, he’s going to be healed in three weeks, according to the vet, and when he was being held down by a big vet tech wearing the socialist blue workers’ overalls, he actually fell asleep. He was getting a cast and he started to snore. I didn’t think it was possible for him to get any more attention than he already does, especially around town. But now, with his little red cast, old women are practically throwing strings of kolbasz at him from their apartment windows.

So, he’s fine, and it hasn’t discouraged him from taking a leave of absence from his statue/famous monument/landmarks photography opportunities:

his eyelashes are blowing in the wind

On Saturday morning, we walked through the thirteenth district, which I adore more and more the longer that I live here. The difference in architectural eras is so pronounced that it’s just such an adventure to walk up and down the streets. On the one hand, you have buildings like ours which are luxury apartment buildings, new and modern and very “western” looking. And you go one block (or simply across the street) and you can find an old building with character, a building where people may have flats that have passed hands for several generations.

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Yes, like in every district, there is the soviet-block style housing, but it’s actually few and far between, and mostly you see new construction on modern apartments mixed in with really old houses and schools (some that still have the words for the separate women’s and men’s entrances).

Saturday afternoon, while the rest of the city and all of her tourists were out enjoying the stunning break in the weather, we went into work. It’s okay though, because Györgyi’s office is arguably the best office in the whole city in terms of the view. Opening up the latched windows, you have a direct view of both the Lánchíd Bridge and Castle Hill.

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We would have left sooner, but we spent about an hour posing Barnabás in various boardroom “unfortunately, we’re going to have to make some cutbacks” shots.

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When we left, the sun was just starting to set, sending out the most amazing shadows over the city. And since we worked so hard on oil conference stuff, we finally rewarded ourselves with the first gelato of the year. In addition, Barnabás met a little white dog named “turo” (which means cottage cheese) who followed him for about five blocks.

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I really don’t know what flavors Györgyi had. I think white chocolate, tiramisu and something with walnuts, but I can’t be certain. Mine was plum and chocolate. So basically, it was a pretty average Saturday. Yes, average is really great.

Staying In

Posted on April 17, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

Detective Barnabás Poirot on the case of Mono the cat

This and last week have been sort of a blur. Post birthday-post Easter-post Prague-back to work kind of blur, I guess. We’ve been lucky here in central/eastern Europe because the weather has been insanely gorgeous for about two steady weeks. And then I checked the weather for today, eagerly anticipating the weekend, and we’re looking at two days of thunderstorms and rain. We wanted to go to the castle and walk around tomorrow, sit at a Cukrászda (ice cream, cakes, coffees kind of place), but now it looks like we may have to stay inside.

Tulip Trees

Even with the rain coming, the tulip trees have bloomed and look magnificent all over the city. These were snapped in Szeged about two weeks ago. They’ve opened now.

And even if we can’t go to the castle tomorrow, I have a lot to look forward to in upcoming weeks. The biggest, perhaps (other than going back to America at the end of July for a few weeks) is my birthday present from Györgyi:

July 3rd--County Cork, Ireland--Josh Ritter Live at the Marquee--w/ Full Orchestra!!

Yes, that did bring a little sun to my day!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend wherever you are in the world.

Very Effective at Several Public Performances

Posted on April 16, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

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Madách Imre is one of the more famous Hungarian writers, mostly for his work, The Tragedy of Man, which is a 15-scene poem/play, much in the spirit of Paradise Lost, though with a decidedly Hungarian flare for morbid depressive cautionary religious tale peppered with pro-Protestant anti-Catholicism. Lucifer is the main protagonist, though he’s more villainous than Milton’s Satan or Goethe’s Mephistopheles.

Anywayyyyyyy, even though I won’t be rushing to see it anytime soon, the play is still performed widely in Hungary. This is the synopsis from his Hungarian biography and it absolutely cracks me up. Seriously, where was this person when I was trying to write my thesis synopsis?:

In The Tragedy of Man Madách takes us from the hour when Adam and Eve were innocently walking in the Garden of Eden to the times of the Pharaohs; then to the Athens of Miltiades; to declining Rome; to the period of the crusades; into the study of the astronomer Kepler; thence into the horrors of the French Revolution; into greed-eaten and commerce-ridden modern London; nay, into the ultra-Socialist state of the future, when all the former ideals of man will by scientific formula be shown up in their hollowness; still further, the poet shows the future of ice-clad earth when man will be reduced to a degraded brute dragging on the misery of his existence in a cave. The diction of the drama is elevated and pure, and although not meant for the stage, it has proved very effective at several public performances. I bet it has!

Madách was born in Alsósztregova, now in Slovakia. His mentor was the famous Hungarian poet János Arany. Madách was part of the great revolution of 1848-49 and was imprisoned. When he got back to his estate in Nógrád, his family life was ruined and he withdrew from public life. Then he died of heart disease just as he was getting famous.

But, he was an important literary figure for Hungary and he looks really kind of fabulous in this Margit Island statue.

From the poem:

Take wing

My sentinels, begin your orbiting.

Symbols

Posted on April 15, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

photo by Nagy Atilla for index.hu

Yesterday the Hungarian Parliament passed a no-confidence motion, which essentially ousted Ferenc Gyurcsány as Prime Minister and brought in Gordon Bajnai (Europe’s second Gordon B) as the new Prime Minister. The Socialist Party is still in power—Gordo is a socialist—and the result has been many demonstrations, protests and minor riots ever since Ferenc Gyurcsány made the announcement that he was going to step down.

So yesterday the streets around Parliament were completely shut down by over 8,000 protesters who want dissolution of this government and early elections. Unfortunately, as the sun went down and a thunder storm rolled through the city, the protests turned violent. Here is an image gallery from the local web portal.

While the protesters consist of people from all different political views (except the socialists), including liberals, you can see from the pictures, most of the protesters are from the Hungarian extreme right-wingers. How can you tell? The Árpád flag.

I don’t know why but the whole thing troubles me. It’s a little scary. I asked Györgyi why they weren’t covering the protests live on the local news—as it was 5:30pm and the news was on anyway. In addition there were cops in riot gear, tear gas, and general unruliness, which is an escalation from the last few weeks of mostly uneventful protests. She said, “Covering a protest or riot in Hungary is not exactly news.” Of course she’s someone who grew up behind the iron curtain where you couldn’t even get good fruit unless it was smuggled in from the west. I guess growing up in the Midwestern suburbia and attending college in the golden farmland didn’t exactly prepare me for civil unrest.

But it’s the iconography even more than the unrest that frightens me.

The Árpád Flag, for example, was the flag of the first Hungarian Kings. Even though it’s used in state celebrations and the pattern is also in the Hungarian Coat of Arms, the flag has basically been usurped by the right-wing political party. In the 1940s the Arrow Cross Party decided to pay a little tribute to that early flat with their own take on it:

The Arrow Cross Party was a fascist organization during the 1940s, who were the governing pro-German anti-Semitic national socialist party that killed thousands of Jews and sent thousands more to concentration camps (mostly Auschwitz). It’s not the original Árpád Flag’s fault, of course, but it’s no wonder that people get a little uneasy when the Árpád Flag starts waving in the wind on the back of right-wing protesters who are calling for the downfall of the current government and burning the European Union flag.

Anyway here’s hoping there won’t be too much trouble ahead. But in Hungary, you learn to deal with what comes.

The Easter Water Hose and Our Little Punk

Posted on April 14, 2009 by Jessica Jewell

It wouldn't be a holiday without seasonal socks from my Mom!

So the Hungarian version goes something like this: When Jesus was dead (or maybe not—I watched a great Discovery Channel hour on an alternative theory this weekend, called “Did Jesus Die?”) in the crypt, all of the women went there and were pacing and crying and shivering and generally SO HYSTERICAL that the men had to throw water at them. Not like a water hose—though that is what I imagine—but rather just some sprinkles. So now, on every Easter Sunday, the tradition demands that women wait around at home and men that know them come to their doors and sprinkle water on them. Fortunately we live far enough away from male family members that we remained safe from the water throwing, though this little guy has been tracking a lot of water around (especially post-long-run-in-the-warm-weather):

It was a really lovely long Easter weekend actually. The weather was totally gorgeous and we had time to catch up on some spring organizing, fondant-covered-cupcake decorating, and a small get-together on Sunday night.

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I was recently enamored by Bakerella’s fondant cupcakes and so even though I despise baking because of having to measure things, I decided to give it a go this weekend. Even though it was a little hot to roll and form the fondant, we had a lot of fun.

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Easter dinner has always been kind of a blah dinner for me, especially because my #1 most-hated food is ham. But since Gy is Hungarian and ham is one of the basic food groups, after sour cream, szalámi, paprika and pálinka, we decided to make a small little Easter dinner. Seriously, how old school are deviled eggs (töltött tojás)?

On Sunday night we had some friends over for some drinks, wii, and dance party (once Zsolt and Szilvi arrived with the American oldies classics mix). Szent Barnabás was in attention heaven moving from one guest to the next just waiting to be stroked and fed baked brie.

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It was a wonderful time and considering that the house security guard had to ask us to be quiet only twice, I felt it was a swimming success.

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We also made a very important discovery about Barnabás: Even if you smooth his hair completely back on his head, he has a little patch by his eyes that stays standing, like a little canine mohawk. So hardcore.

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Monthly Archives: April 2009