Why You Should Visit Eastern Europe This Summer
Plus dry Tokaj, Las Vegas highlights, James Beard nominations and more
Hello!
Writing to you from Sulaymaniyah, in Iraqi Kurdistan. I’m here covering a trial. More on that eventually. It’s a whirlwind month of travel. The Maldives (more on that soon too), Iraq, Scotland this weekend, and Chile for a few days after that. It’s been a good mix of work and fun, but I’m excited to get back and enjoy Chicago now that the weather is FINALLY (at least so I hear) nice.
Be a Better Traveler - Eastern Europe Edition
Last month, I wrote a story for the Washington Post about how winemakers around Eastern Europe are being impacted by the war in Ukraine, from bottle shortages to housing refugees to losing their biggest market. I hope you’ll read it here if you haven’t already.
One theme that came up again and again was tourism. From the article:
In pre-pandemic, prewar times, tourism helped small wineries stay afloat. At Chateau Chizay, the 2022 goal was to sell about 50 percent of wine on-site. After internal travel rebounded following the first year of the pandemic, Radom had high hopes for this year — before the invasion.
Beykush Winery, near Odessa, opened a hotel in December and was about to receive a prestigious award from a Ukrainian hotel association. Now, its general manager, Svetlana Tsybak, is focused on providing humanitarian aid.
Tourism in Ukraine is not likely to recover soon, but even neighboring countries are worried about the effect.
Machán-Csetvei said tastings from foreign visitors have completely stopped at his winery in Mor, even though the front line is about 600 miles away. Marcin Miszczak, a winemaker in Poland, said summer, when tourism typically peaks and the Krakow restaurants he sells wine to are normally full, will be the true test. “We will see if the war in Ukraine really has scared them off. For some people, it’s so close they might be afraid of coming,” he said.
Wurdeman of Pheasant’s Tears runs a tourism company called Living Roots. He said younger, adventurous tourists might still come to Georgia, but that older or more cautious tourists “will be deterred for years to come, even if war ends tomorrow.”
Most of these places were already struggling due to lack of tourism because of covid. This summer was supposed to be their recovery. Wine is a big part of tourism in Georgia, less so in Hungary and Poland. But if the wine industry is hurt by lack of tourists, so are hotels, restaurants, tour companies, and other tourist-centered businesses.
All of these places are completely safe to visit. But Frigye Machán-Csetvei who runs a winery in Hungary told me tourists are keeping their distance, especially those from Western Europe and the U.S.
“The war is not here. The front line is almost 1000 kilometers from us,” he said.
He wants tourists to come not only to help offset a 15-year high in inflation, including rising gas and transportation prices that are making his business nearly unsustainable, but also because he misses chatting with them.
“It’s always better to speak or exchange thoughts and ideas than to be mute and just thinking inside,” he said. “The theme of the war is not avoidable during wine tasting, but it is better to speak about it.”
If you want to visit somewhere this summer or fall that’s hospitable, safe, affordable, beautiful, with lots of history and great wine, consider Georgia, Hungary, Romania, or Poland. Your dollars will go far in each of these places, for yourself and those you’re interacting with.
Here are some of my Georgia tips. It’s one of the prettiest places I’ve ever been.
I also wrote this piece about supra, the Georgian art of toasting, for Fodor’s. If you like drinking, this is the place for you.
And some Hungary tips. I’ve visited Budapest a few times, but not elsewhere. I hope to change that and visit some wine regions very soon! Maybe see you there. :)
Travel for the Food
Since we’re talking Georgia and Hungary, let’s talk some of my favorite carbs: khachapuri and langos. Khachapuri comes in many varieties (Saveur did a great guide a few years ago), but is often bread and cheese, sometimes with egg, sometimes with meat.
Langos, in Hungary, is a deep-fried bread, also with cheese and/or sour cream.
Also in Hungary, don’t miss the Mangalica pork. I always try to be vegetarian, then a cured pork comes along and ruins it. Seriously the one meat I can’t give up, and this is one of my favorites.
Wine of the Week
Georgian wines! Hungarian wines!
Tojak is Hungary’s most famous wine region, mostly for very sweet, honey-like dessert wines. The main grape is Furmint. It’s sweetened by botrytis fungus, aka “noble rot.” But Furmint is also used to make dry Tokaj. Seek it out at your local wine shop! (In Chicago, come visit me at BottlesUp, where I work part-time and where owner Melissa Zeman stocks a few great Hungarian options.)
Georgia is one of the oldest wine regions in the world, and they’ve been making amber, or skin contact, wine long before “orange” wine was trendy. Like, thousands of years longer. Many wineries still use clay amphoras to age wine, rather than barrels. Seek out an orange wine or a Georgian red (usually made with Saperavi grapes). Most independent wine shops in the U.S. will stock at least one.
Weekend Reading
What I wrote this month:
Eastern European wineries in turmoil as war rages in Ukraine
Food & Wine review of the Eola Bucket Cooler Bag (truly love this and will be using it lots this summer at Lake Michigan)
Food & Wine review of the perfect picnic blanket
Scott’s Cheap Flights guide to flying Etihad Airlines
Scott’s Cheap Flights guide to Emirates Business Class
Scott’s Cheap Flights the complete guide to O’Hare
What I read:
The James Beard media award nominees were announced. Some of my favorites: The creature comfort of Aunt Jemima by Adia Victoria, The flavors of my grief by Yasmin Khan, Palestine and the West Bank agricultural struggle, A feast for lost souls by Annelise Jolley (just wow, so good), The American dream in the back of a Sunoco by Trisha Gopal, We’re reclaiming beer because it’s ours by James Bennett II, Untangling the complex history of one of America’s most popular cocktails, the mint julep, by Brian Freedman, Inside the secretive, semi-illicit, high-stakes world of WhatsApp mango importing by Ahmed Ali Akbar (I need these mangoes now), Right around the corner, by Francis Lam.
A road trip along the Algerian coast (really want to visit now)
The Tail End (this could be depressing, but I see it as a sign to take advantage of every bit of life)
Trick of the Light (A fascinating note from this article: one report by the International Labor Organization found that sex workers sent home $300 million a year to rural areas, “more than any government development project.”)
The 100 greatest snack foods of all time, ranked
Duolingo is opening a restaurant
Other Things
See: Moulin Rouge if it comes to a theater near you! I was skeptical of the musical (even though it won 10 Tonys) because it’s my favorite movie of all time, and you know whatever you see/read first is usually perceived as better. But it was incredible! Many of the songs are different, and no one can compare to Nicole Kidman, but still highly recommend.
Watch: Ukraine’s winning Eurovision performance 🇺🇦
Watch part 2: Ethan Hawke on creativity
Drink: I talked about my obsession with Lagunitas Hoppy Refresher hop water a few weeks ago, and recently tried a new hop-infused water from Athletic Brewing. Comes in a few flavors, but I really like the blackberry. Refreshing, and good when you want something with a bit more flavor.
Listen: I’ve repped this before, but the Broken Doors podcast from the Washington Post, about no knock warrants, just wrapped up and is so good! And not just because I worked on it. :)
Learn: Language you can use to talk about/refute arguments about abortion.
P.S. We took a weekend trip to Las Vegas for Nathan’s birthday and it was more fun than I expected. We spent a lot of time just wandering through the crazy/pretty hotels, waited an hour in line at The Oyster Bar in Palace Station, which was totally worth it, lounged at the Cosmopolitan pool), and won three times in a row at roulette! (before losing several more times…). Don’t miss the Barbie exhibit at the Aria.
Summer Travel
Hoping to turn this newsletter into more of a travel community, so I started this thread about summer travel. Seeking Greece recommendations. Would love if you chimed in!
If you liked the newsletter today, please pass it to someone you know who’d enjoy it, and tap the heart icon above, which helps me reach more readers.
Next time: behind the scenes––how travel writing actually works (👀). Related: the Maldives.
–Rebecca 💛
Greetings from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina! As fellow fans of traveling throughout Eastern Europe, very delighed to have found your newsletter. And, man, you are so right about Georgian cuisine! One of the highlights of our five years of nomading was the food year! Hopefully, more Americans and others will realize Eastern Europe is perfectly safe and get back out there!