Category Archives: Video

A Week in Nessebar, Bulgaria

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Györgyi and I just got back from a week in Nessebar, which is a little beach town on the Bulgarian Black Sea. Though Old Nessebar is a World Heritage Site, New Nessebar’s “South Beach” area is relatively modern resort town. We stayed at the Mirage of Nessebar Luxury Apartment Suites, which were actually very nice apartments right on the beach, adjacent to the Mirage Hotel.

We had a relaxing week lounging at the pool, exploring the town and nearby resort areas, drinking Bulgarian wines and beers, and at least trying to prepare some local food in our kitchen (we ate some kind of lamb meatballs from the local shop that were insanely good!)

Though Bulgaria is a bit raw compared to Western or Central Europe, the staff at the Mirage was incredibly nice and accommodating. The driver who ferried us to and from the airport told us that over half of the guests are Russian, and most of the rest are Bulgarian, Norwegian and a few Brits. If you’ve never spent an afternoon at the seashore with a hundred or so Russians, well, I’ll just say it’s quite colorful for a somewhat reserved American! In the larger resort areas, like Sunny Beach, there is a perpetual Spring Break quality mixed with that somewhat icky post-Soviet free market gold rush feeling. But this can be avoided by staying at a hotel outside of Sunny Beach, such as in Nessebar, or somewhere along the northern coast.

The trip itself was quite inexpensive. The apartment was only 50 Euros a night and the local currency, lev, buys you a little more than a dollar would on a vacation to many resort towns in the US (which is great if you live in Europe and are spending Euros or Pounds). And the drinks were pretty cheap. The two beers above cost a total of 5 levs, which is about 3.50 USD for the pair. One important tip: if you do book a trip to the Bulgarian Black Sea, avoid the tourist clog by visiting in early June or early September.

Though we’re glad to be back home, we had a really unique and relaxing time in Bulgaria. The trip highlights included the great air-conditioned apartment, the Bulgarian version of crepes that were filled with Nutella, the Byzantine ruins of Old Town, an ice cold Kamenitza at the shore, and on the last night, the fat Harvest moon rising over the Black Sea.

Click below for a video collage of our escapades!

Long Weekend in Békésszentandrás

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Békésszentandrás is a village that is situated along the Hármas Körös River in central eastern Hungary. The village was inhabited about a thousand years ago by ancient Hungarians, though it was depopulated (to borrow a word from archeology) by the Mongols and then resettled a few hundred years later. Of course those settlements were only up for a few decades before being depopulated again by the Tartars. But in typical Hungarian fashion, the villagers came back and moved on with their lives, resettling again by the 18th century, after a young aristocrat bought the territory for about $150. The village has only had public utilities since the 1990s, but you wouldn’t know it from driving through the touristy city center.

Now it’s sort of a weekend vacation spot. Nowhere near as posh or expensive as the Lake Balaton region, Békésszentandrás is still a sleepy little village where weekend homes and fishing huts line the river. Gyorgyi and I, along with 8 friends (Edi, Csabi, Andi, Gabi, Erika, Dezso, Anita and Tamas) spent the end of last week and the beginning of this one at a great little house on the river. We swam, paddle-boated, cooked outside, road bikes and scooters and had a lovely, relaxing mini-vacation.

Kicsi a bors, de erős

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I’ve been playing a lot of Words With Friends ever since January. Before Viber made it possible to call and text for free on the iPhone, it’s was the best way I could text people in the states, in addition to it being pretty fun. I play mostly with my Mom and Brian, but also with Györgyi.

Györgyi has a special little Central/Eastern European competitive side. If you’re my age, think U.S Gymnastics coach Béla Károlyi-era competitive intensity. So games include a lot of taunting and Hungarian lesson philosophizing after wins and successful words, which I find utterly hilarious. I finally caught one example in audio and have to share it:

In other words: a lot of points.

Wine Festival

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It’s been over two months since the Szeged wine festival, but since I recently found the pictures, I thought I should put them up. Unlike the larger Budapest International Wine Festival, which lasts for five days in September, the Szeged fest takes place in May and sprawls gloriously over two full weeks. The focus is on Hungarian and regional wines, and the scene that you see from above, the mass of crowds pitted to picnic tables and benches, well this is pretty typical of the crowd throughout the festival, rain or shine.

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Györgyike, Andi and I walked to the festival and met up with Gabi, Kriszti and a few other friends. Györgyi and I were focused a little bit more on business, meet & greeting potential clients. But we were able to enjoy many of the wonderful wines, several of which we hadn’t had before. I’m looking forward to the Budapest event again this September, but it’s hard to beat the cheerful atmosphere and unfussy Szeged wine lovers.

One of the great things about this part of the world is the spontaneous festival dancing. Young people and older folks all seem to know how to move with the crowd. This would never happen in America, which of course is a shame because it’s a lot of fun:

 

Storm

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I grew up in Ohio so I am well-schooled in rain and storms. But since I spend most of my year now in Hungary, in a city that is known for its unending, paprika-nourishing sunshine, I find myself missing the rain. It was sunny for about eight straight weeks until last week. That’s when the air pressure changed.  The wind slashed its way through the curtains and suddenly the smell of heavy-clouds and soil filled the whole flat.

The few moments before the rain is the most exhilarating, especially in the deepest part of an early spring evening.

The contrast of colors against the clouds and darkening sky.

Colors that seem somehow almost deeper pre-storm than in the sun.

The wind is my absolute favorite. Completely chilled. The preface to a string of lightning and thunder.

I love how the basil shiver.

I made my way in inside before the rain, but noticed other people an animals watching the storm from windows and perches.

Brave cats.

And scaredy cats.

Dózsa

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Last Saturday night we went to see a dance at Szeged’s open air theater. The production was called Dózsa and it was a folk-dance production about the life of Hungarian hero György Dózsa. For those unfamiliar with Hungarian history, just imagine they made a folk-dance production about William Wallace.

György Dózsa was a 16th-century professional soldier of fortune and (probably) nobleman who became famous first for bravely defending the Kingdom of Hungary against the invading Ottomans. Leo X’s papel edic gave legitimacy to this Crusade and Dózsa was appointed the leader of the movement, recruiting students and peasants to fight.

Not surprisingly, the peasants and other lower classes weren’t paid well (or at all), fed or clothed, and they revolted. When the landowners and nobility demanded the peasants come home to work the fields, they banned together and started brutally killing the landlords, burning homes and castles to the ground. In fact, they nearly destroyed Buda.  Dózsa actually wasn’t all that thrilled with this turn of events, but he wasn’t able to control the peasants either.

Ultimately he was captured, along with some followers. He was brutally (with a capital B) tortured (forced to sit on a heated iron throne and a heated iron crown was put on his head, mocking his ambitions to be a leader or king). His followers fared even worse—some flesh pulling, mutilation, forced cannibalism.  Pretty horrifying medieval torture stuff.

It’s a little unclear why he was turned into a Christian martyr figure, though that was emphasized in the 19th century, after some record (and I use that term very loosely) of monks who claimed to see the Virgin Mary in his ear when he was dying.

Anyway, as usual, it all worked out for the Ottomans. Because after over 70,000 peasants were tortured, killed or suppressed, they didn’t really feel motivated to fight for the kingdom anymore, and the Ottoman Empire easily swept into Hungary (in some cases, even seeming like saviors).

The dance was spectacular, actually. There were amazing folk dances and even guest dancers from Turkey and Romania. Very high energy.  Amazing set design. During the death-scene Dózsa climbed into this HUGE iron helmet, which was set on fire. Plus being outside at the theater is incredible. The night air and cool breeze shooing away the heat of the day.

During the play they really emphasized the Christian martyr connection, with a brief part of the play dedicated to how Dozsa would fight for Capital Him, God, instead of the landowners and nobility. I found it to be bizarre, since it really changed the historical importance and legend of the man who, despite being a nobleman and with absolutely everything to lose, wanted to help the little guy.  If anything, his story shows how the papacy corrupted wholly and in cooperation with the wealthiest of the kingdom, something that wouldn’t change in Hungary, at least, until the 19th century. The resulting laws of the Hungarian Diet increased the status of the nobility and even further decreased the rights of the peasants.

While there were countless Christian warriors at that time fighting in crusades, and perhaps Dózsa and his men fought the Ottomans under that guise, when the peasant revolt began, it no longer had to do with fighting for some greater power, but rather fighting for the people.

Despite the glitches in historical accuracy, the dancing was really great, and isn’t that the important thing? I’m really glad that we got a chance to see it, and I hope that we’ll see another show this summer (hopefully an opera!).

Elisabeth in Szeged

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Friday night Györgyi and I went to Szeged to the open-air theater to see the musical, Elisabeth.  It’s originally an Austrian musical portraying the life and death of Elisabeth (Sisi) and the people in her life, but it’s become an incredibly popular musical in Hungary, being that Elisabeth is Hungary’s favorite Queen.  (Incidentally, it is the most successful German-language musical ever).

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I have always adored musicals and this one was very lovely, though a little harder for me to grasp while reading the truly awful subtitles (which I eventually stopped doing and just enjoyed the music and voices).  The show is narrated by Luigi Lucheni, the man who assassinated Elisabeth.  I think the real star of the show is Death, whom Lucheni claims has been Elisabeth’s lover her whole life.

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I told Györgyi that I was a little bit surprised by the show because I think I was expecting Elisabeth to be the star.  But really, the stars were the men in her life.  Her assassin, Death, her husband and her son (and of course the Austrian and Hungarian men who were at the center of the political storm surrounding her and Franz Joseph’s reign).  Now that I think of it, it didn’t really pay her tribute or reverence, and I say that only observationally.  It really was a very “masculine” musical, if there is such a thing!

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But the show was still a marvelous experience, and I hope I can go again next summer.  Just being outside in that historical square under the shadow of the Dom.  It was amazing.  After intermission there is a scene where there are fireworks (just in case you forget that you’re at an open-air theater.)

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We had a great seats right in the center and relatively close to the orchestra.  The whole run has been sold out for months, so it was great to have such a good location.  Hungarians entirely adore the arts and culture and it was evident by the crowd.

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And I don’t know if it was an Austrian-imported tradition, but the pretzels that I see at all fairs were even more present at the theater.  At intermission, almost everyone I saw returned with one of these GIANT PRETZELS.  They sort of tasted like what Americans think of as Easter bread.  Not like the heavy super pretzels at baseball games, but rather sweet and light with a touch of salt glaze.

Through the church giggles with Györgyi while reading the bad translation (God knows why they thought trying to rhyme it in English was a good idea) and the stage lights sweeping the near midnight cobble stone and bricked square, it was an absolutely wonderful way to return to Hungary and to Szeged, my favorite home away from home.

And for a little taste of the show, here is what I thought was the best part, the duet between Death and Elisabeth’s son, Rudolf:

relics, music, fire, friends

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Last night we celebrated St. Stephen’s day, which commemorates the transfer of St. Stephen’s old bones relics to Buda.  There is a list of Christian events planned throughout the city, including a holy parade and traditional mass at the basilica, but for the average Janos, the real show is the spectacular fireworks, accompanying music and celebrations.

The whole event was stunning and we were so fortunate to be able to watch the show from the offices of where Györgyi works in the chain bridge palace. Fireworks explode from everywhere (the three central bridges, the National Gallery, Gellért Hill, and even in a specially built pontoon station in the Danube, which had never been used before on a river).  Accompanying the fireworks show was music by the composer Imre Czomba, which featured songs by soprano Erika Miklosa and tenor Attila Fekete.

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I took less pictures this year because it’s just impossible to capture how amazing it is without ruining the experience of watching it, something I learned from last year.  I took a short video, but it was at the very beginning so you’ll hear a lot of Hungarian oos and aahs, and then also during a more somber moment in the show, which was beautiful, but not quite as explosive as the other times.  If you’re interested, a video is at the bottom along with a little more info about the holiday.

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The night was made better because we were able to share it with the gang.  Andi, Anita, Edi and her fiancé Csaba were able to come, as were Györgyi’s brother Peter and his girlfriend Melinda, who were in from London.

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So despite the lack of sleep and the jetlag glaze that overtook me yesterday, it was the perfect welcome home to Hungary.  And with that, here is a short slideshow of the night:

More about St. Stephen’s day:  The patron saint of Hungary is Stephen (István).  The tidy story is that he was born Vajk to the pagan chief Géza, was baptized as a Christian at ten, and after a long and successful battle with his eeeeevil pagan uncle, Koppány, ultimately brought unity to the Magyar tribes and Christianity to Hungary.  Pope Sylvester II gave him a crown and in 1083, Pope Gregory VII canonized him.  The day is a public holiday in Hungary and it commemorates when St. Stephen’s relics were transferred to Buda.   During communism, they tried to de-emphasize the saint-y-ness of the holiday and call it a celebration of new bread or celebration for the end of the harvest, but since then, the saint-y-ness has been back, baby!

Csirke Paprikás

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Chicken Paprikas is for many people a meal of childhood (regardless of the country you were raised in).  It certainly is true for my childhood.  Despite my father’s general dislike for sour cream, a clear indication he has NO Eastern European genes, my mother and grandmother made chicken paprikas frequently for our family.

If you didn’t know already, paprikas is the Hungarian word for pepper.  Hungarian paprika is probably the best in the world, and the paprika from the Hungarian Great Plain is of the highest quality.  It ranges from sweet and mild to extremely hot.  Though it is one of the foremost symbols of Hungarian cuisine (you can see strings of drying paprika on almost every street corner and market), it was actually brought to Hungary by the Turks.  Regardless, it is central to Hungarian cooking.  It was paprika, after all, which led the Hungarian scientist Albert Szent-Györgyi to discover and extract vitamin C, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize.  And this is all to say that when you make Chicken Paprikas, use Hungarian paprika.

Click here to download and print recipe

Now, let’s get started.

Györgyi, please introduce the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

IGNORE POTATOES. They felt left out so I let them be in the picture, but they are NOT part of the recipe

IGNORE POTATOES. They felt left out so I let them be in the picture, but they are NOT part of the chicken paprikas recipe

10 Chicken Thighs
2 small onions
2 tomatoes
2 sweet peppers
1 hot pepper (optional)
8 oz sour cream
2 Tbs flour
2 Tbs Hungarian paprika
½ Tbs cumin
Salt & pepper (to taste)

METHOD:

1.  Clean chicken by trimming some fat but leaving the skin.  If you want to make a healthier version of the recipe, you can use boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but the seven founding Magyar kings will be rolling over in their graves.  They may haunt you, actually.  Just make it with dark meat and bones and skin.  You can work out extra tomorrow morning

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2.  Chop onions, tomatoes, and peppers

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3.  Add a tablespoon of vegetable to a large pot and heat on medium-high.  Add the chopped vegetables to the pot and sauté until translucent (3-5 minutes)

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4.  REMOVE POT FROM HEAT (paprika burns.  The taste of burned paprika is not a pleasant one.)

5.  Add 2 Tbs of Hungarian paprika, ½ Tbs cumin, salt and pepper to the pot and stir until all of the vegetables are coated

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6.  While the pot is still removed from the heat, add the chicken to the pot and stir until the chicken is coated with the vegetables and paprika

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7.  Add enough water just to cover chicken

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8.  RETURN POT TO HEAT and cover with lid

9.  Cook for 1 hour on medium to medium-low heat

10.  In a separate container, mix together 8oz of sour cream and two tablespoons of flour.

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11.  REMOVE POT FROM HEAT

12.  Add the sour cream/flour mixture to the pot and stir.

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13.  Cook for an additional 5 minutes.

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14.  Serve with dumplings, noodles, potatoes, bread or nothing at all.  ENJOY!

Note:  As you can see from my plate, that Györgyi took the chicken off the bone for me and made mine kind of saucy, but only because I like it that way and that’s how I ate it as a kid.  She would eat it with the chicken on the bone, very little sauce, and served with a side of dumplings.  It’s your preference, people!  That’s the beauty here!