Veritasty: Truthfully Delicious

I never thought I would ring in the new year in Vienna, Austria.  Vienna was the last leg in our holiday before returning to New York (technically, Vienna to Prague to London to New York...it was a busy couple of days).  Similarly to Munich, I didn't expect it to be such a modern bustling city.  It was great to spend another holiday in Eastern Europe and learn about the culture surrounding it. The hotel we booked in Vienna was actually a fully furnished apartment.  It was in a ritzy neighborhood north of the center of the city, about a 30 minute walk.  The second we stepped foot over the river, I was stunned by the old-world beauty of Vienna.  Like Munich, we somehow found the street full of luxury shopping.  All the brand names shouted out at me: Louis!  Chanel!  Prada!  All above us were many long strands of fairy lights that gave the whole shopping street a beautiful starry quality.  We walked along here to the stunni...

From Prague, we caught a train to Munich, Germany.  Our primary interest in visiting Munich actually comes from a 2,000 piece puzzle that we constructed over about four years.  The end result was of Neuschwanstein Castle, nestled in the Alps between Germany and Austria.  The nearest main Germany city was Munich, so we decided to make that our base and travel to Neuschwanstein on a day trip. When we got off the train in Munich and checked into our hotel, I was uber-hangry.  We walked to a market called Victuals Market and I ordered a sausage sandwich from the first vendor I saw.  Not sure if it was the hunger talking, but it was one of the most delicious sausages I've ever tasted.  It was really juicy, super salty, and the crusty bread was perfect to sop up the sausage fat.  Still hungry, I zipped across the market to a stall where they made chopped roast pork sandwiches topped with a generous chunk of pork crackling.  Wow!  My brain was ...

Have you ever heard the old quip that beer is cheaper than water in Prague?  Well, it's true. We visited Eastern Europe last winter and I found Prague to be the most charming and lovely city of all.  Other than drinking inordinate amounts of cheap beer, I wasn't sure what to expect from Prague.  I learned so much, fell in love, and ate some incredible food along the way. Prague at Christmastime is cold.  A lot of the food and customs are designed to keep you and your belly warm and full, so after this trip I definitely gained a few inches around the waistline.  So worth it though!  I really enjoyed experiencing the holiday culture of Eastern Europe. The first morning in Prague, we came upon a Christmas market in Wenceslas Square.  Here, I laid eyes for the first time on trdelnik, a regional sweet snack.  All the surrounding countries have different recipes and appearances, but Czech trdelnik was my favorite.  A lot of...

Another year , another awesome trip to Beer, Bourbon & BBQ!  I was really excited to try all sorts of beers at this event, since during our winter vacation in Eastern Europe, we had loads of amazing beer every single day (blog post to come!) and I've finally become a beer drinker.  However, because I wanted to sample lots of beer, I kept in mind the adage "beer before liquor, never sicker"...so I abstained from the "bourbon" third of the equation. One of the most unique beers we tried early on was the Sarnac S'more Porter.  You read right, s'mores!  This beer was a little cinnamon-y, a little vanilla-y, and leaves you with a marshmallow-tasting finish.  It was so wild sipping s'mores in beer form! I tried a few different variations of familiar beer brands, including a more crisp and dry Angry Orchard cider, Smuttynose, and Wells Banana Bread.  Possibly a bad idea to have so much beer in such a short amount of time...so food break! ...