One of the unintended effects of Communism in Europe was that it preserved traditional cooking techniques for a lot longer than in many other places in Europe. The Iron Curtain acted as a culinary time capsule: While much of the West was moving forward with the industrialization of its food production, people from Bucharest to East Berlin to St. Petersburg were still picking wild tea ... Read Full Article
Poland’s Craft Beer Scene
It is refreshing to find craft brewers emerging throughout Europe these days. While those traditional pale lagers pair naturally with a lot of Polish cuisine, sometimes a guy's just got to have an IPA with his pierogi. Fortunately, there is no need to import. Craft breweries are popping up all over the place in Poland, and at least a few of them make a good IPA, among other ... Read Full Article
The Insider’s Guide to Poznan, Poland
I arrived in Poznan, Poland, armed with a bunch of historical facts, figures and questions: how, for example, was this area the cradle of the Polish nation, how was it that the Germans fortified the city but were, nonetheless, overrun by the Red Army in 1945, and what promted the citizens to rise up in revolt in 1956. I mean, isn't the study of history just how we contextualize ... Read Full Article
The Insider’s Guide to Kaunas, Lithuania
I arrived in Kaunas, Lithuania in the middle of an unseasonably warm week. It was still the dead of winter, but the snow pack was melting, and rain was falling. This made for a great deal of splashing and awkward puddle-hopping. The Lithuanians may have tried to warn visitors about their weather when they named their country. In Lithuanian, the word for rain is "lietus," and the ... Read Full Article
The Insider’s Guide to Vilnius, Lithuania
If you visit Vilnius, Lithuania's capital city, make a point of visiting the Old Town as soon as possible upon arrival. Your principal points of entry — the train station, the bus station, the airport — offer typical post-Soviet surroundings that just don't do the city justice. But if you head a bit north of any of those places in the direction of "Senamiestis" on the map, you will pass ... Read Full Article
Rediscovering Antwerp, Belgium
The last time I left Antwerp, in 2007, we parted on bad terms. I was headed south by train from Holland and wanted to spend one night in the city I remembered fondly from my studies abroad, when a whole slew of friends and I would pack into a car and drive down on Friday nights for some of the city's famous house music and stay until well after sunrise. At around 6 p.m., I checked into the ... Read Full Article
Old-School Brewing in Brussels
There is an inherent irony today when we talk about Belgian beer. For most people, the term "Belgian beer" connotes monks brewing strong ales with difficult names and an alcohol content that can knock you off your bar stool if you are not prepared. Think of Chimay, Leffe or even Hoegaarden — the latter making up for its secularity and average strength with a name that confounds almost ... Read Full Article
Exploring the Markets in Brussels
Farmers and Antique Markets in Brussels My first experience with the markets in Brussels was on a drizzly Saturday, as many of them tend to be, at the Clemenceau market. A friend and I stepped out of the metro station and into a gauntlet of women who would flash iPhones to anyone who looked like a potential buyer. "Watch your wallet, by the way," my friend warned. Throngs of shoppers ... Read Full Article
Where to Eat and Drink in Bilbao, Spain
If Basque cuisine needs any introduction at all, then let me quote Anthony Bourdain, who has called the Basque Country "the center of Western gastronomy." With the chance to spend a week in Bilbao, the largest city in the Basque Country, how could I not put such bold claims to the test? Now, I will never claim to be an expert gourmand. However, if you give me a week and a license to eat and drink, ... Read Full Article
Jurmala: Latvia’s New Wellness Paradise
Just a half hour west of Riga is Latvia's new Wellness Paradise: Jurmala, the seaside resort town whose name translates to ... seaside. What Jurmala may lack in creativity it makes up for in it's refreshing, natural beauty. Stretching along the Baltic Sea's east coast, Jurmala features 33 kilometers of white sand and a line of forest to hedge against any development that would interrupt the ... Read Full Article