Pálinka is the national spirit of Hungary, and it’s a big deal here. The festival is held in the courtyard of the old Buda Castle (now the history museum/national gallery), and it was great fun.
On Castle Hill, waiting for the others to turn up.
After the Pálinka festival at Buda Castle last weekend, we took the metro to Batthyány Tér for crepes. Nagyi Palacsinta (Granny’s Pancakes) is this awesome crepe restaurant with about 15 kinds of savory pancakes and twice as many sweet ones. We ordered two apiece (I got chestnut cream and marzipan cream), but In the days afterward, I was crepe-obsessed. I couldn’t stop thinking about them. So when it was my turn to make dinner again, this is what turned up. They were absolutely delicious, and not at all hard to make, even without a blender. I present here a large recipe–it made enough dinner for three plus extra crepes for breakfast the next morning. They reheat remarkably well in a pan (best) or a microwave (ok) and since the crepes themselves are not savory, they lend themselves as well to nutella as cheese.
Last night I dreamed that I was leaving Budapest, and I woke up happy that it wasn’t true and then was sad that it will be in slightly more than a week.
I’m sure you realize that what I have presented to you here is a somewhat slicker, neater version of my real life, which has a lot more homework and angst and vacuuming (seriously, who knew you had to vacuum once a week or else have black feet constantly?) and lying-on-my-bed-reading that you might not find interesting. I don’t write about my feelings much.
Happy Birthday, Dad! I hope you had a good day. Boulder must be beautiful right now.
Thanks for bringing me to Europe. This has been the most interesting semester of my life, and I have had a fantastic time here. And thanks for teaching me to explore a city and then go climb something mountain-y when it gets too boring. Can’t wait for Wyoming this summer!
Much love, Ariana
Happy Mother’s Day! I miss you. Let’s hang out in a couple of weeks?
Love, Ariana
Oh Budapest. I will be very sad to go in two weeks. Friday afternoon I finished class at noon and took the bus downtown in search of a good guidebook for Istanbul (where I am going. In two weeks. So excited!). On my way back, I dropped by the Vásárcsarnok and picked up a giant bunch of medvehagyma. The word means bear onions*, but we call them ramsons, ramp, or broad-leaved garlic in English. If you’re ever lucky enough to find these near you, buy some. They’re garlicky and fresh and so delicious, so I thought I would share my totally improvised recipe for bear onion champ. You can replace the bear onions with any green, but it won’t be quite the same.
These were such a brilliant idea, I could not believe I hadn’t thought of them before. The idea is very basic. Take a hollowed-out stale bread roll, fill it with an egg, and bake it in the oven.
It just means ‘upper castle’, and the one in Prague is not quite so high or gothic as the one in North Hungary, but it does have some spectacular views.
I spent most of Sunday walking through the parks and gardens of Prague, inadvertently making a huge circuit of the city (over 10 k, I’m glad I brought my good shoes). It was kind of grey and gross that day so I didn’t try to photograph everything, but here’s a view from the park looking south up the Moldau:
That evening, I climbed a hill in the newer part of the city to watch the sun set.
It was beautiful.
