St. Ilona Syrah Rosé 2010

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The Kreinbacher Estate is tucked into the mineral rich Somló hill in western Hungary. It is a relatively young wine estate, the final plantations having been completed in 2005 next to St. Ilona Chapel, the namesake of the wine. They currently cultivate approximately 25 hectares of grapes, and their head winemaker is Zita Horváth.

I’ve enjoyed many wines from this particular region, especially Olaszrizling and Furmint. Somló has volcanic soil that covers basalt rock, which add to the rich mineral quality of the wine. The area’s microclimate of long sunny days and cool breezy nights only enhance the rare quality of these uniquely Hungarian wines, many of which you will never try outside of the region and country.

Earlier in the summer I tried a St. Ilona Olaszrizling, which I thought was fantastic. I had never tried a Syrah Rosé before. But as I was telling Gyorgyi a few weeks ago, this really was the summer of Rosés because we tasted many and were so pleased with almost every one. Kreinbacher’s was no different. St. Ilona’s 2010 was bright, alive with minerals and balanced acids. Based on the recommendation of the local wine shop I served it extra cold so that the Syrah would draw out the flavors of the terroir, that sunny, basalt quality found only in Somló.

The wine was on sale at the shop for 1300 HUF, which is about $6. An excellent deal for a really pleasant summer wine.

Kecskemét

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On Sunday we visited Kecskemét, which is a city in central Hungary, equal distance (86 km) between Budapest and Szeged. I haven’t been up for actively touring around Hungary lately, mostly because I’ve been so busy with work and making arrangements for the long trip abroad (!), but Sunday reminded me of the importance in making efforts to see as many little towns as possible, wherever they are.

Kecskemét has had continuous inhabitants for 5,000 years, though much of the post-Sarmatian (iron-age Iranians that inhabited Hungary a few millennia ago) villages were destroyed by the Mongols, just like everywhere else in this part of the world. Since then, the city has grown into a trading center and now, a little university town. Despite the soviet efforts to destroy everything productive about the city, such as its thriving wine and brandy industry, Kecskemét is slowly reestablishing those markets.

The biggest thing to happen to the city in a long time is that Daimler is about to open a 1.24 BILLION dollar Mercedes-Benz factory just outside of town, which will provide about 2,500 jobs.

But we didn’t visit for the history, or the tremendous Art Nouveau architecture. We were there to see the Hungarian Museum of Photography (Magyar Fotográfiai Múzeum). It is located in a restored 18th-century Orthodox synagogue and opened in 1991. There is a slight heaviness to this building from a historical sense. Kecskemét had a thriving Jewish community before WWII, when in May and June of 1944, almost all of the community was sent to Auschwitz.

The exhibit running right now is of famed WWII Hungarian photographer, Robert Capa. Capa was born Friedmann Endre Ernő in Budapest in 1913, covered 5 wars, and co-founded Magnum photos. The exhibition space is small and perfectly lit for viewing photographs. And these were original prints, too, including two of the eight surviving shots that Capa took when the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy (for those who know their photography history, a staff member at Life  in London set the dryer too high in the dark room, which melted the emulsion on the negatives, ruing the other 100+ pictures of that day). The following picture is one of the most Capa’s most famous.

After the museum, we walked through the town a little bit more and came across this fantastic 13th century church dedicated to Mary. It was the most charming, beautiful building in the whole town I think.

And after our stroll, we had to stop at the cukrászda (for purely research purposes, of course).  We had a little cake and rested at a marble table that was old enough to still have a candle holder in the middle of it.

If you’re on a regional tour of Hungary, especially of central and south central Hungary, I would definitely recommend visiting Kecskemét. From its charming architecture and the streets lined with flora to the cafes and restaurants in the city center, it’s definitely worth the hour drive or train ride from Budapest.

 

 

Tisza International Fish Festival

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On the Saturday before we went to Bulgaria, we road down to the Tisza river, whose banks were lined with festival goers eager to try some of the city’s famous fish soup and other aquatic creature specialties. Europe is a land of festivals. Some are larger than others and most are celebrating some quirky or folkloric local love, but when in a European city, there is almost always something to do. And the first September weekend in Szeged is the fish festival.

I make it a personal goal to try to always attend any festival with oversized cooking apparati.

Any cauldron that didn’t require scaffolding and a 20 foot spoon was sort of lame.

We had the fried plate that came with fully-teethed walleye and some frittes. And for the price of the plate we got a free glass of wine! But even more surprising–the thing that made me have to pinch myself to remember that I was still in Hungary–they gave us free and UNLIMITED KETCHUP!!!!!

And even though we eat Szeged style fish soup regularly, we shared a bowl from the super-sized cauldron. It was delicious, as always.

After we ate, we headed down to the river to cheer on the dragon boat teams and enjoy our wine under that late afternoon awning. Honestly, it’s a pretty typical Saturday afternoon in Hungary, which is why even in times when I feel the most travel-fatigued, I still smile to live in Europe. Of course that day had a cherry on top of its pretty little head because we left the festival and headed to Arpad’s house to watch Ohio State’s first game on ESPN America. Ah, the great wide global world!

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.

Szent István Day

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August 20th is St. Stephen’s Day, which is one of the major national holidays here in Hungary. There are many parades and parties, and always extensive firework shows throughout the country. The day commemorates the transfer of St. Stephen’s old bones to Buda.

Stephen was Magyarland’s first king, and for introducing Christianity to the people (and a few miracles), also her first saint. It was my fourth St. Pistike’s day, and we had a nice little family firework watching from our living room window!

Here’s what I wrote last year about St. Stephen’s Day:

…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, and 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!

Diversity Visa Lottery Scam

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A few minutes ago, Gyorgyi came running into the office to tell me that she received an email about the Diversity Visa and that she had been selected for the program (and therefore U.S. Green Card) after all! I was immediately skeptical because I had already checked her status a month ago and knew she hadn’t been selected this year, not to mention that the U.S Dept. of State does NOT email or send letters to winners anymore.

Still, I couldn’t stop my heart from beating really fast. I imagined the possibilities– that everything we had been working for and trying to do here in order to get back to the U.S. would all be finally coming true. Imagine! A Green Card!

This is what the email looks like (click to enlarge) at the beginning.  Starts out pretty convincing.

But of course as you go down a little further in the email, you start to see the clear signs of the scam:

Processing fees, via Western Union. And not only process fees for you, but an additional $879 for each family member you want to bring with you to the land of the free and home of the brave. Instructions are to send them via personal transfer to this man:

David Bartizal in the United Kingdom.

I have two reasons for writing this post. The first is because I hope that other people who are also sent this letter today or over the next few days, might find this post via Google and see that it is a scam. For those who don’t speak English well or who don’t know or understand the rules of the Diversity Lottery program, this could be a true blue trap.

The second reason that I write this post is because this is one of the instances where I can illustrate one of the hardships that good, hardworking people face who really want a better life for themselves and their families in the United States. It’s difficult enough facing the thorny hurdles of bureaucracy, not to mention that in our case the Federal Defense of Marriage Act that prevents me from marrying my foreign partner so that she can live with me in my country with a Green Card.

The truth is that there are wicked people in the world and that can’t be helped. I hope that no one will be fooled by this and send their money. I wish even more than no one else has to experience the true heartbreak that is born from the feeling of hope as it washes away.