MUST SEE SITES

DON'T MISS THESE SITES

Ha’Penny Bridge

Dublin’s oldest pedestrian bridge crossing the River Liffey falls in the must see category.  A symbol of the city, it was built in 1816 as the Wellington Bridge, but acquired its nickname because of the halfpenny levied on all who crossed the bridge until 1919. It is one of the earliest cast iron bridges of its kind.  A 2001 restoration returned the Victorian Bridge to its original sparkling white. Several bridges cross the river that handle vehicular traffic, but the ha’penny was the only pedestrian bridge across the Liffey until 2000 when the new Millennium Bridge opened. The historic bridge is very pretty and to me much more attractive than the modern Millennium Bridge.

Hungarian Puszta

            At the Puszta horse show outside Budapest Magyar cowboys demonstrated their equestrian skills. The entertainment started with a horse parade, followed by all sorts of exercises that were once practiced for wartime. For example, riders taught their horses to sit or lie down providing a smaller target or protection for the rider during battle. A boy on a small burro provided comical contrast to the magnificent steeds. The highlight of the show was when a cowboy completed a complicated twist to the Hungarian five-horse racing, more commonly known as the "Puszta-fiver". Standing on the rear ends of the back two horses the cowboy controlled eight horses with his reins!  It was amazing.

Munich’s Glockenspiel

We hurried to Maria Square where in the tower of the new City Hall, which looked like a big Gothic church, the glockenspiel plays at 11:00 AM and at noon. We’d missed the 11 AM showing and did not want to miss it again. We joined a large crowd gathered to watch the 10-minute performance.

The figures in the 1908 clock are about six feet tall. The bells ring first, then the figures move around in a circle. It is over when the rooster at the top crows three times. I expected the rooster to come forward when it crowed, but instead it flapped its wings. The bells needed a little tuning, but it was fun to watch anyway.

            I’ve seen and watched several of these old clocks and always admire the workmanship involved and the ‘performance’.

HUNGARIAN PAPRIKA

 PAPRIKA

One cannot visit Hungary without thinking of paprika, the red gold. Paprika is the traditional image of Hungary. There is a small Paprika Museum in historic downtown Kalocsa that is quite interesting.
A museum docent told us, “Incas and Indians (from India) were the first to use paprika. Ground paprika went from South America to Spain in the 15th century. In colonial times, the pepper was introduced to Africa, China,  Japan and Thailand. The Ottomans took it to Turkey. Pepper oil was used to treat arthritis and rheumatism. The first mention of paprika in Germany is found in 1542, where it was used as a container plant.  In 1932 a Hungarian devised a way to de-vein the peppers and extracted vitamin C. He won a Nobel Prize for this feat in 1937. Actually the vitamin C in peppers far exceeds that in citrus fruits!”

The plants grow well in the hot, dry plains of Hungary, and the cities of Szeged and Kalosca are famous for their paprika. One needs a special license to grow the paprika peppers commercially.

            Sometimes, very hot paprika is called Cayenne pepper, but Cayenne pepper is ground from a slightly different pepper plant. Paprika does not develop any flavor until heated.

Many recipes start by heating the spice in a little oil, then adding the rest of the ingredients. The bright red color adds an attractive garnish but no flavor to many dishes, such as deviled eggs. Paprika is found on all Hungarian restaurant tables beside the salt and pepper.

Paprika farming is very labor intensive. The plants need sun and water, sun and water and more sun and water. Paprika farmers grow seedlings, plant, hoe, plow, manually harvest and process the paprika pods the same way their ancestors did centuries ago, thus preserving not only the traditions of their forefathers, but also the quality of the paprika powder.

            Pepper garlands hung everywhere. Paprika mixed with butter or other spreads (maybe cream cheese would be good)  is also used as a bread spread or meat accompaniment.  

            Paprika is available for sale everywhere in all kinds of packaging, and of course a good amount of it came home with me to share with friends..