transient travels

travel makes you slow down

2012-05-04T14:36:57Z

My muscles are flexed 99.9 percent of the time, probably even while I sleep. I get antsy when I wait. I don’t walk up stairs, I run, for no reason. I walk as if I’m being chased, as if what I’ve got to do must be so important. It’s not. I respond without thinking sometimes and if I find that I’ve got an extra minute, an hour or more in a day by God I will find some way to fill it. My life runs on the same clock as everyone else’s, but for some reason I’m built to think I don’t ever have much time.

That’s my ordinary life.

I like to travel because it doesn’t just take me away from my surroundings, it takes me away from my habits and it forces me to adapt to a lifestyle that just isn’t a part of my DNA.

In Budapest, I got to slow down. Yes, it was because I was “on vacation” but it was also because of the place. Mike and I learned that while the city is huge and bustling, there is no need to rush. We learned that fine lesson over the course of a few restaurant visits. What we at first misconstrued as a very busy waiter at our first stop, we came to realize that in Budapest, if you want your check you have to ask for it, every time. And it wasn’t a bad thing. It was a given that we were there to get away, to step away from our routines and who is anyone to rush us through that?

After our four hour art nouveau architecture tour we settled into Hadik Kávéház, or Hadik Coffee House, which is one of the city’s legendary grand cafes. It was originally opened in 1911 and was visited by famous writers and journalists. We sat upstairs, melted into a couple of comfy chairs and relaxed for four long hours…

We enjoyed a few local beers, I enjoyed this mound of heaven – chicken, cream cheese, noodles and Tabasco sauce…

…while Mike savored a wiener schnitzel.

Thankfully, I have these photos to remind myself to slow down when I get a little crazy.

How do make yourself slow down?

traveling with an architect, in budapest

2012-04-24T11:21:21Z

When you travel with an architect you may find yourself on an occasional architecture tour, like the time Mike and I visited the Getty Center. Budapest for us was no different. Mike and I don’t often opt for guided tours as we like to take our time exploring a place on our own, but if we see an architecture tour we tend to go for it. Obviously, Mike likes them because he’s an architect, but I also like them because they help me gain a deeper appreciation for a profession to which my husband has dedicated so much of his time, passion and energy.

In Budapest our instincts were to follow the advice of the great Rick Steves. So, a few days before our trip we emailed Elemer Boreczky, a semi-retired professor that leads culture and architecture tours on the side. Before we knew it, we had four and a half hours of our Sunday booked to explore the many art nouveau buildings that cover the city.

I learned a lot on the tour. For example, “art nouveau” is French for “new art” and in German it’s known as “jugendstil.” Here’s a German take on this style….

I also learned that many Budapest architects only practiced in Hungary and their work is scattered all over the city. Emil Vidor is one of them. This is the Bedo Haz Museum, or the House of Hungarian Art Nouveau, which we went back and visited on a later day.

This is his family’s house, which he designed himself. The house was funded by his mother – and an inheritance – who wanted to show off the abilities of her son, then, a struggling young architect.

We also visited the Post Office Savings Bank, which was designed by Ödön Lechner.

It wasn’t until after the tour when I read Rick Steve’s actual recommendation – yes, I blindly took his word for it – in which he stated: “Elemer is ideal if you want a walking graduate-level seminar…”

Suffice it to say, during this very scholarly tour Mike was in his element. I was not.

But even though I struggled to comprehend, while appreciating, admiring and committing Elemer’s insightful and observant comments to memory all at the same time, I really enjoyed it and I’m glad we did it.

We had the opportunity to spend a half a day with a local that knows the city of Budapest inside and out. Elemer has an appreciation for the Budapest of his childhood, with little anecdotes that made even a quick tram ride more endearing, to the Budapest of today, whose buildings boldly look to the future while never shedding the reality of their past.

What I liked most about our walk with Elemer was that he not only shared Budapest’s distinct art and architecture, he used these structures to dot the milestones of the city’s past – some happy, most sad.

The tour provided context for me and it served as the foundation for most of our trip.

taste of the nation boston celebrates marathon monday with 26.2 percent off tickets!

2012-04-14T16:46:56Z

Yes, I’m being incredibly in-your-face promotional about next week’s Taste of the Nation Boston event, but you know that I wouldn’t flood my blog with things that I couldn’t care less about. In fact, this is something that I care a lot about.

On April 19th, Taste of the Nation Boston will raise the critical funds necessary to support Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign, which is dedicated to ending childhood hunger by making sure kids get the healthy food they need every day.

One hundred percent of ticket sales goes to this cause. Do you know of any other culinary event that does that? I don’t.

To celebrate the Boston Marathon next week – good luck to all of the runners, including Meghan of Travel, Wine, and Dine – can’t wait to hear how it goes next week! – we’re having a fun little promotion, which runs through Marathon Monday.

Get…. 26.2% off all tickets using the code: RUN2012 (case sensitive)

You can buy your tickets here.

Okay, I’m done. Have a great weekend everyone, good luck runners and I hope to see you next Thursday!

bucketing budapest

2012-04-12T13:18:26Z

When I travel I tend to organize my trips according to how I’ll blog them. I bucket the sites, attractions and restaurants into themes and I craft each post in my head as I go. Mike knows this about me and half way through our trip he asked if I had thought about how I was going to blog it.

The truth was, I had thought about it, but every time I placed a memory into a bucket it came spilling out with the tip of a new experience.

Budapest for me was hard to digest. It still is. I went with not much expectation and I came back with more than I could have imagined. Rick Steves - whom we could not have done Budapest without – says that “Budapest feels more grandiose than the capital of a relatively small country.” There’s reason for that. Some say it’s the Paris of the East, or more technically, Central Europe, and they’re not kidding either.

There’s something comfortable about Budapest, to me at least, in that it plain and simply feels like Europe. But there’s also something about Budapest that makes you feel like you’re a world away from home.

The buildings seem old, but most of them aren’t because they were bombed by the Soviets. They’re just replicas of what once was.

And then there’s the little reminders that beyond the history, the blending of cultures from East and West and the memories of war, there’s people focusing on the now and the future.

If there’s one thing Budapest did for me, it was put things into perspective. It helped open my eyes to our massive world and realize just how grand it is…

budapest bound

2012-03-29T04:26:39Z

Not that I’ve blogged in a while….

But in a week I hope to have a lot more content to work with.

Hope you’re all having lovely weeks!

if bourdain came back to boston, i’d take him to island creek oyster bar

2012-03-07T03:35:42Z

I bet you thought I wouldn’t follow through with my promise to continue my imaginary journey with the great Anthony Bourdain, should he ever decide to come back to Boston. Well, I know I took a while, but away we go.

After a jaunt to the burbs, I’d get back into the city and head on over to Island Creek Oyster Bar.

I grew a taste for oysters when my dad started going down the Cape to dig them out of the ocean with his bare hands and bring them back for us to eat – in many forms. While cooking up a batch of Oyster Rockefeller, we slurp down buckets of them raw. You might say that when it comes to oysters, I’m spoiled. I’d agree. In fact, having this luxury makes it difficult to branch out. Why try other selections when the freshest possible are as far as a mere trip your parents’ house?

But Island Creek Oyster Bar is different – and I don’t just like them because I trust that they are fresh. What I like about them are their roots. Island Creek Oysters, founded by Skip Bennett, started as an oyster farm with a mission to grow the world’s finest oysters. Evolving from these roots, the Oyster Bar is designed to celebrate oysters with an emphasis on oyster education and a commitment to sustainability. To me, this mindset not only makes them a great source for fresh oysters, it makes them a great member of the Boston community. Hence my reasoning for bringing our good friend Bourdain there.

Island Creek Oyster Bar offers oysters from across the country, but the oysters they serve are delivered by farmers they know and trust. On a recent visit, I enjoyed a few local selections.

What you’ll learn at Island Creek is just how complex oysters really are. It’s amazing how different they can taste from each other even when separated by just a few towns.

There’s also more than one way to enjoy an oyster. For those who get squeamish around raw ones, you can also try them in the form of sliders. Warning: they are incredibly addicting.

Where else would you take Bourdain if he came back to Boston or, if you’re not from around here, your own city?

if there were only a year

2012-02-28T03:29:20Z

A few weeks ago I was asked to answer a few questions about how I’d spend my time should the end of the world be just around the corner, as some falsely interpret the Mayan Calendar. No, the world won’t end this December, but I can’t deny that it’s a notion that will always make me think.

I’ve always said that I try not to create travel goals because my personality will push me to pursue those goals to a point where they become pressure, and when not achieved, disappointment. Instead of looking back on my life, wishing I went to that one last place, I want to look back and know that I made a concerted effort to see more, to learn by experiencing and by doing, to not lean on what’s easy or comfortable, and to break out of my comfort zone whenever possible.

But I wasn’t just asked where I’d go if I only had a year, I was also asked how I’d spend my time and who I’d spend it with. Without any struggle the answer was always with my family and friends – no matter where.

For fun, here’s a look at what me and other travel enthusiasts would do…

The 2012 Bucket List was created by First Choice – The Home of All Inclusiv

So, what would you do if you only had a year?

boston paintbox project

2012-02-26T17:33:30Z

There are landmarks and tours and restaurants and parks and museums that we can visit in a city to really get a sense of its culture, its history, its cuisine. But there are other things that showcase a bit of its character – that can’t always be found in a guidebook – that also make a city special.

A few years ago, the Boston Art Commission launched the Paintbox Program in an effort to highlight local artists and deter vandalism. The result is utility boxes, that once blended into the concrete sidewalks of Boston, that now jump out at you as you meander the city streets. These boxes now serve as blank canvases for our city’s own local artists.

I love stumbling across new ones, but here are some of my regulars…

Broadway Street, Boston

Corner of Washington Street and Beacon Street, Somerville

Downtown Crossing, Boston

Russell Street, Somerville

What makes your city special?

girls weekend in new york, suburb edition

2012-02-15T14:04:26Z

When we arrived at Caitlin’s new house in New York – after some brainstorming on how we’d spend our time – we eventually came to the conclusion that we would, as always, build the weekend around food.

On Friday night Caitlin fed us incredible shrimp burgers that she made using a New Orleans recipe book that we got her as a gift at her bridal shower, in memory of one of our last trips. They were so good that there’s no trace of them here. They were gone before I even thought to get my camera out.

The next morning though, I got my act together when her incredible banana fritters came out.

After we stocked up, it was time to get adventurous in our Northface jackets.

We visited a lovely little place called Cold Spring, New York. The Hudson River separates Cold Spring and Bear Mountain, which hovers over the historic village. It’s only an hour or so away from Manhattan, but it reminded me of being lost in a village way up in Northern Maine.

It’s a place that in some ways is frozen in time.

And it’s dotted with boutiques, coffee shops, cafes and antiques…

…that carried some little treasures.

After a long day of window shopping, we brought our weekend back to its roots – the food. This little number held us over before a late night dinner and a night on the town in White Plains. Yes, you read that right, we partied in White Plains. It’s a crab pretzel that was baked and layered with a healthy dose of cheese. Unreal.

We didn’t remember to take a photo until Sunday morning before we hit the road. Thanks to Caitlin’s husband, Mark, we made it happen. We don’t look tired, right?

Next time…

nearly 17 million children in America struggle with hunger, you can help

2012-02-06T18:11:35Z

I am thrilled to be part of the committee that will once again make Taste of the Nation Boston happen on April 19th. This incredible event will – as always – raise the critical funds needed to support Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign, which is dedicated to ending childhood hunger by making sure kids get the healthy food they need every day. Since 1988, Taste of the Nation has raised more than $73 million for organizations in the United States, Canada and abroad, including more than $1.4 million in Boston alone.

Right now we’re offering 20% off all tickets until February 14th with the following promotion code code: VDAY2012.

Did I mention that one hundred percent of ticket sales goes to ending childhood hunger? They do. Here’s a snapshot from last year’s event. You can buy tickets here.

This year we have another amazing lineup of some of the best chefs in the city. Our roster already includes Honorary Chef Chairs who year after year have gone above and beyond to support Share Our Strength’s mission: Gordon Hamersley of Hamersley’s Bistro, Andy Husbands of Tremont 647 and Jody Adams of Rialto and Trade; Joanne Chang of Flour Bakery and Myers + Chang.

For updates and more information, follow us on Twitter @ShareStrengthMA #TONBoston and find us on Facebook, Share Our Strength Boston.

I hope to see you there!