Budapest!

Welcome to Budapest! It was an early morning...

Looking back at all of our pictures from Budapest I realized that I'm going to need a few blog posts to show you all the pictures! Josh and I went to Budapest, Hungary two weekends ago with our friends Marina and Andrea. This was our first time there, but it was their second time. I found Budapest to have a similar look and feel to Prague, but with a few differences. Both cities have amazing history, architecture, and plenty of things to keep you busy between the old towns and the newer parts of the cities. The energy of the two cities are very different though- Prague has a fast paced, busy feel to the city (which I like). Budapest has more of a relaxed and chilled energy, similar to Amsterdam (I like this too). This could possibly be from the fact that Budapest is famous for its spas and it's amazing coffee shops (and yes... they are real coffee shops, not like the ones in Amsterdam). The coffee culture in Budapest is one that I can definitely embrace! You go to these amazingly beautiful coffee shops in old buildings that look like palaces, eat AMAZING sweets/deserts, and drink excellent coffee. The shops are a place where you can relax and spend the afternoon contemplating life. This is the complete opposite of Milan where you spend literally 2 minutes in a coffee shop standing at the bar. You shoot your coffee, pay your 80 cents, and go on with your busy day.

The market had lots of sausage (apparently Hungary is famous
for it's sausage and this stuff is the "original")

Inside the market- it was awesome! I wish we had something
like this in Milan

Outside of the Cave Church

I have a weird obsession with mocking statues... don't ask

Coffee break at the famous Gerbaud Coffee House

It was super windy and cold that first day and I didn't have a hat...
The old lady had to come out- I was freezing!

On our first day we saw many things!! We walked around town and saw the market in an old train station (or what seemed like an old train station), the Cave Chapel, the Gellert hotel (which we visited the next day), and then we kept walking towards the parliament building, up the opposite site of the river to the Buda Castle which is now a museum but previously was the Hapsburg royal palace, the Fisherman's Bastion, and the old town of Buda. By the end of the day I was absolutely exhausted and we had to take a cab back to the hotel because my feet couldn't handle anymore! But it was a great first day.

The Parliament Building

Looking at Pest from Buda Castle

A really cool fountain outside of Buda
Castle- it was a scene of a hunt

the main entrance to Buda Castle

Andrea found a new car when we were there ;)

The Fisherman's Bastion

Old Town, Buda

A few things about Budapest:
-It is the capital of Hungary
-Budapest was under the Ottoman rule for nearly 150 years before it became...
-The second capital of the Austria-Hungary Empire
-There are technically two parts to the city- Buda on the west side of the Danube, and Pest on the east side of the Danube
-The spas have a Turkish bath influence due to the cities history with the Turks
-The city is impeccably clean!

Chicken Enchiladas- Italian Style

So, a while back I promised the enchilada recipe from our Mexican food night with our Italian friends (AKA: Guitar Hero party!). They are pretty easy to make, but can be a little sloppy during the assembly stage. Be sure to have a towel nearby! But the end result is delicious. Ok, here it is!

Chicken Enchiladas I
From: Allrecipes.com

Prep Time: 30 minutes, Cook Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 8

Ingredients:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 onion, chopped
1/2 pint sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar (I used asiago)
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/3 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
8 (10 inch) flour tortillas
1 (12 oz) jar taco sauce
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (again, I used asiago)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a medium, non-stick skillet over medium heat, cook chicken until no longer pink and juices run clear. Drain the excess fat. Cube the chicken and return it to the skillet. Add the onion, sour cream, cheddar cheese, parsley, oregano and ground black pepper. Heat until cheese melts. Stir in salt, tomato sauce, water, chili powder, green pepper and garlic. (Note: I simmered the mixture on the heat until the liquids thickened, maybe 10 minutes)

3. Roll even amounts of the mixture in the tortillas. Arrange in a 9x13 inch baking dish (NOTE: I also used the liquid from the chicken mixture to line the bottom of the pan to keep the tortillas from sticking. If you like crispy tortillas, I would not recommend lining the pan with sauce, but maybe use a non-stick spray). Cover the enchiladas with taco sauce and 3/4 cup cheese (I also used more of the chicken mixture's sauce on top off the enchiladas in addition to the taco sauce). Bake uncovered in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!


PS. This can be made a few hours in advance then refrigerated until you are ready to bake- which is perfect for entertaining!

Quick update- Residency

Guess what?? After how many months (and over a year)... I finally received my letter of residency in Milan!! I can now officially get a "carta di identita" if I want to :) Not sure I will though because I use my MN Drivers License or my passport for ID. It would be kind of fun to have an Italian ID though... The jury is still out. Unfortunately, Josh is still waiting for his letter because he applied in January (I applied back in November). The nice part about residency is that of course we get health care, but we can also park in resident parking spots which opens up a lot of possibilities!! Usually we get stuck parking on the tram tracks because there is no parking near our house. This turned into a bad situation last week... Josh had a hard time jumping the actual track with our rental car and we lost a hub cap... then the next day Josh went out to the car after work to find a flat tire. With the new resident parking options, hopefully we won't have to resort to the tracks anymore!!

Ok that's all for now. Ciao from Milano!

Road trip! Pirates in Parma?

The Ducale Palace in Modena- now used as a
military school

Modena, a small city that Josh was dying to get to a couple weeks ago, turned out to be a complete bust. It was an industrial city that had a decent city center, but the main attraction (the Duomo in the city center) is under indefinite construction and is completely surrounded by scaffolding and barriers. You can't even see it. In addition to this, all of the shops were closed on a Saturday afternoon, and there weren't many people out and about. We were wondering if we missed something. Well, it was the weekend of Carnival so maybe everyone was sleeping off the night before? After walking around for a bit we decided to head to Parma, but not before purchasing what we went to Modena for! We wanted to pick up some good Balsamic Vinegar which Modena is famous for. We stopped by this little shop and the gentleman that helped us was very nice. He allowed us to taste it and see the different options available. It was fun because it was good practice with our Italian :) After getting the good stuff, we made our way to Parma.

A strange statue to the left of the entrance to the palace,
it seemed like a gladiator on steriods

The clock tower overlooking
 the cafe in the main square

We arrived in Parma around 5PM and the sun was starting to go behind the buildings. It was a completely different city full of life! There were many people out walking around and enjoying the nice spring weather and it seemed like the entire city was on the streets of the city center. Maybe that's where all of the people from Modena were too? The people watching was fun and we even had time to look into their main church which had amazing paintings all over! We decided to stop for some refreshments at a cafe overlooking the main square and people watch. As we were sitting there we noticed a bus on the street with the number 666. It had been sitting there for about 20 minutes. I thought it was maybe broken down, Josh just thought it was strange and wanted to know what it was for. A few minutes later, a big group of drunken people came running towards the bus and hopped on. Many of them had long hair (not sure if it was natural or wigs) and pirate hats. Some of them were even wearing eye patches. They were pretty funny! It seemed like a rock band ordered a city bus for a pub crawl. As the bus pulled out for their next destination, the group was hanging out the windows and screaming funny things at the people on the street. I guess that's what a party bus is like here in Italy!

The Pirate Bus- the number was 666...

Before dinner we walked around a bit and saw an older woman walking three Shih tzus that had their "bangs" in pony tails. It was funny because she had one leash for each of them and was holding them all in her right hand. Looking at the leashes, they were all entwined and wrapped around each other. The dogs didn't have much of a leash to work with! The funny thing is that we saw her on Via Montenapoleone in Milan the next day- walking the same dogs! We also bought some of the famous Parmigiano Reggiano, what Parma is famous for. The city is also known for it's Parma ham- wow! That was some of the best ham I've ever had!! We bought some cheese since it was cheaper in Parma than in Milan, then we had dinner and drove home to Milan.



everyone was out that night, even the dogs!

time for a break!



outside the main church- those statues are lions, they were so
old that the details of their faces were worn off

That's about it for Parma and Modena. These cities are in the gastronomical heart of Italy and the food is absolutely amazing!! This is where most Italian chefs come to study, so the region is well known for its unbelievably good food. And it didn't disappoint! Lunch in Modena was outstanding, and dinner in Parma was just as good! If you ever make it to Italy stop by these two cities just to taste the amazing food!! And also to buy some balsamic vinegar and good cheese. You may even see a Pirate :)

Guitar Hero- Italian Style!

On Saturday night we invited over our Italian friends over for dinner and some games. I've missed Mexican food like you can't believe, so I made enchiladas and homemade salsa, and Josh made his famous guac. It was all amazing and they all approved!! I would highly recommend this particular recipe for the enchiladas- I'll post that later.

Getting together for dinner with Italians is not a one course deal like it is back home. We may have some cheese and crackers out before dinner in MN, but that's about it. In Italy, you need to have antipasti (appetizers- the salsa and guac) typically served with champagne when they arrive, then the main course served with wine (we had corona for the enchiladas and amarone), then you have something sweet with coffee (we had some German Chocolate cake for Josh's birthday- which is today), and then also after dinner drinks such as limoncello, monte negro, grappa, etc. Planning for these meals can take time and the cooking/cleaning can definitely stress me out, but it is so worth it!

Italians really enjoy having a meal with friends. There is always great conversation and lots of laughter and jokes. It's a great time to relax and enjoy each other’s company. Josh and I have really embraced this part of the Italian culture. In some ways, I wonder if we are part Italian because we did this in MN too... After dinner we introduced them to Guitar Hero and it was so much fun! Everyone here WANTS to be the singer (it was the opposite with our friends back home). It was so great to hear them singing American songs with their Italian accents. It was so cute! And it was also fun to see Francesco getting crazy while playing the guitar and acting like he was a part of the Red Hot Chili Peppers or something. And of course, Animal came out! It was a great time and I wish I would have taken pictures! It was the first time in Italy that we felt like it was a night with our friends back in MN. Hopefully we can have these kinds of get-togethers more often!

Animal in 2009 (AKA: Josh), Photo by Greg Benz

Dreaming of comfort food... and warmer weather!

The past few weeks in Europe have been extremely cold! Over 300 people have died as a result of the freezing temperatures, and it even snowed in Rome and parts of northern Africa! These below freezing temps are very unusual for Milan at this time of year. The average temp in mid-February is in the mid-40's F. Even before the cold snap hit, it was in the mid 50's here. As you can imagine, the cold feels even worse since we were used to the warmth before it hit. Now I know what a lot of you must be thinking... "You're from Minnesota, and you can't handle below freezing temperatures?" Well, I have admittedly gotten soft.

Since the cold hit I've been craving some serious winter comfort foods and wish I could find the right ingredients here in Milan to make something good. Many of those recipes call for cream of mushroom soup, or something similar. They don't have those soups here... So, I have to find other ways to make those yummy comfort foods but it’s just not the same. Can anyone in Minneapolis just send me a pot of chili from Allie's Deli? If so, I would greatly appreciate it!! Hot peppers are hard to find here too, and the peppers you do find taste more sweet than hot. And they don't sell cheddar cheese here which is sooo disappointing- how am I supposed to make a good mac and cheese?? Ok, that's all for now. I'm just sitting in Milan, dreaming of my mom's comfort foods back home... not to mention warmer weather! Maybe my mom will be nice enough to cook me something in April when we go home??

It's so strange to see snow at the colosseum!
Photo courtesy: http://anamericaninrome.com/wp/2012/02/does-it-snow-in-rome/

Andiamo a San Siro a vedere l'Inter!

IE: Let's go to San Siro to see Inter!

About a week and a half ago Josh, Andrea, Marina and I went to the Inter Milano soccer game at the world famous San Siro Stadium. Josh and I were so excited to finally see what a soccer game is like in Europe. We are huge sports fans and really enjoy seeing professional sporting events. Before moving here to Italy, we had season tickets to see the MN Vikings and I miss going to the games every Sunday! It seems like something is missing without that! Well, this was our chance to get a piece of the sporting action here in Italy.

Our view of the field

San Siro is HUGE!! It holds about 80,000 people (a lot more than the 65,000 of the Metrodome), and it looks like a huge parking ramp when you walk up to it. On the outside there are these tall ramps (like the exit out of a parking ramp) that just wind their way up the corners of the stadium. They look like a big corkscrew. The interesting part was that we could only go in one entrance for our section; we had to walk up about 4 flights of stairs, then give them our ticket to get to our seats. We had to use the restroom right away... and that was an experience!! It was probably the WORST bathroom I have seen yet in Italy (and I've seen some doosies). The smell was awful, and it was a hole in the ground with no toilet paper and no soap to wash your hands. Talk about wanting hand sanitizer!! Mental note: next time at San Siro, hold it!

The seats

We entered the stadium and noticed our seats were really dirty. They were muddy, and it looked like pigeons were living right above them. This was surprising to me, but I guess I'm spoiled by the indoor seating at the Dome. Everyone was sitting on newspaper, so we followed suit. The game was great and Inter won 2-1 vs. Lazio (a team from Rome). It was fun to see the crowd go crazy every time they scored, then sing the team chant. All in all, it was a great experience! We got to see a European soccer match (crossing that off the bucket list!) and Inter won! Andrea was super excited about that. The only downfall was that the fans were really calm. I thought that they would be all rowdy and going crazy, but I guess to see that we have to go to the Inter vs. AC Milano game. Maybe next year.

Goal for Inter! This guy looks like he's going to jump onto the field!