Favorite 5: Places I Ate in Croatia

08 Friday Feb 2013

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To start off, I have to be clear: I spent a piddly amount of time in Croatia, so this is by no means a definitive list. We were there for about 6 days, and only hung out in Zagreb and Zadar.

That being said, we literally didn’t have a bum meal, so I want to share the top five dining experiences I had in those two places, with the clear hope that I will come back and eat/sail/wander my way through the rest of this country. Here they are, in order of awesomeness from less awesome to super awesome. But all pretty awesome.

Fancy dinner out in Croatia!

Fancy dinner out in Croatia!

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3 Things I’m Glad I Acquired

07 Thursday Feb 2013

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In the process of packing...you gotta fit ALL THE THINGS!

In the process of packing…you gotta fit ALL THE THINGS!

I recently wrote an article for Trekity about how to pack for all four seasons in a carry-on. 

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is how important it is for a long-term traveler to be able to part with clothes or other items in order to keep a diverse wardrobe. That’s not a big deal for some people, but after three months of wearing the exact same clothes all the time–and starting to brace myself for winter–there were a few things I had to get rid of in order to make room for the colder seasons.

Other than the stuff I’m super happy I had with me so far, here are the top three items I’m happy to have added to my suitcase:

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Why the Arts Are Important: Thoughts from a Protest in Zagreb

05 Tuesday Feb 2013

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This morning, after our second day in a row of bućnica for breakfast at Slastičarnica Trakoščan, which you should TOTALLY eat at if you are ever in Zagreb, (Look for Hotel Dubrovnik, and it’s on the street facing that next to Profil Mozaik) we wandered to the Croatian National Theatre.

At first, it seemed like a normal day...

At first, it seemed like a normal day…

Croatian National Theatre

Front of the theatre in Zagreb, Croatia.

As we approached, we noticed a handful of reporters and some people setting up microphones and wondered what was going on. We decided to take a lap around the building, since we couldn’t go inside. By the time we got back to the front, a small crowd had amassed, with a group of people holding and waving signs.

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3 Travel Panic Moments

04 Monday Feb 2013

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I originally started this post by writing about how lucky I’ve been in my travels, about how I’ve avoided many unfortunate specific travel-related misfortunes but I am superstitious enough that I don’t want to tempt fate or the travel gods by listing them. As Michael Scott would say, “I’m not superstitious. But I’m a little stitious.”

Sometimes travel can be tricky when you're a blond like me...

Sometimes travel can be tricky when you’re a blond like me…

Suffice to say I’ve been safe and relatively timely, whether that’s due to luck or smart travel. I hope for the latter. But even for the lucky traveler, those moments of panic happen. Often, it’s because we’re not thinking clearly…

Here are three that come to mind right away…

3. Just the other night I went to check us in online for our flight to Croatia. It was 7:10 p.m. and our flight left the next evening. I clicked through the usual screens, entered my name and surname, airport of departure, the whole thing. But a red error message came up saying RESERVATION DOES NOT MATCH NAME, and even worse, the flight listed to Zagreb was for an hour from then. What the eff!?

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Photo of my day: Turkish Tripe Soup

03 Sunday Feb 2013

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Today, Boris and I had lunch with a couple of friends. They insisted we eat iskembe soup before we left Turkey.

Iskembe is a tripe soup frequently found throughout the Balkans and Turkey. Made from cow’s stomach and other cow & sheep offal, including sheep head meat, you add chili flakes, vinegar, garlic and some lemon juice.

No, I did not know exactly what I was eating but I knew it was related to kokoreç because our friend let it slip. I think I would have been able to identify the taste though, even if he hadn’t…

Istanbul 360: Photos from Galata Tower

02 Saturday Feb 2013

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Galata Tower was originally built of wood and erected as a lighthouse in the year 528 AD. About 700 years later, it was reconstructed using stack stone, and stands today as one of the architectural witnesses to Istanbul’s rich history.

Galata Tower, Istanbul

Galata Tower, Istanbul

Over the course of its life, Galata Tower has been used as an astronomical observation point, and a watch tower for the fire brigade (although apparently that didn’t prevent its destruction by fire a few times). Although it has been damaged and rebuilt a number of times, it is the oldest tower in the world still available for visitors to take the elevator to the top and admire the city.

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Bumblings 2.0

01 Friday Feb 2013

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Welcome!

Heya!

Heya!

For those of you who’ve never been here before, hey! So glad you stopped by!

For those of you who have, you’ll notice a few changes in Bumblings of Miss Button. Basically, I’ve migrated to WordPress.

Full disclosure: this was a headache, and it will definitely take a few months for me to get this site to be the way I want it, to finish re-linking old posts and reformatting photos. I’m a giant baby and miss the ease of Blogger, but it’s time to put on my big girl blogging pants and learn some new stuff.

Some of my really old posts are going to get deleted; my goal is really to improve my content here and part of that means streamlining. (If you still want access to the complete and epic, pseudo-intelligible ridiculousness of my tales from study abroad in Italy and old travels, fear not: they’ll still be available and you can contact me for the link.)

Some of my really old posts are going to get revamped, so you can hear more about why I loved Budapest, so much and more about all the ruins and tombs I’ve explored in Italy, and that one time I met the president of Austria.

So, please excuse the weird links and wonky photos for the time being. I promise I’m working on them.

And, as always, feel free to contact me by leaving a comment, finding me on Facebook, tweeting with me, circling me on Google Plus or following me on Instagram [@SaraMelanie14]. I’d love to hear from you. 🙂

Happy trails.

How to Make Sutlaç, My Adored Turkish Rice Pudding

31 Thursday Jan 2013

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I’m going to be honest with you. I thought I hated rice pudding. In fact, other than any form of chocolate pudding I was certain I hated all puddings. Spotted dick? Ha! Tapioca? Makes me want to throw up in my mouth.

And then I met sutlaç.**

It was love at first bite.

 

It was a traditional love story: girl sees dessert across a crowded restaurant. Sutlaç looks so scrumptious that day in its little square tin pan. All caution (or thought of calories or sugar intake) is thrown to the wind, and the rest, as they say, was history.

But after a certain point, I wanted to take our relationship to the next level. I wanted to bring it home. But sutlaç played hard to get: it didn’t heat at the right temperature, it stayed watery and wouldn’t set. 6 forlorn ceramic bowls sat in my fridge, practically inedible. I even had to throw some away. It felt like a betrayal.

Others had promised it would be so easy, that sutlaç only needed a few ingredients and we’d be able to make it work. Well, I’m happy to say that after a bit of counseling (online, admittedly), sutlaç and I have rekindled our romance and are happier than ever.

Here’s a simple recipe to bring sutlaç into your home, too!*

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Blue Mosque: Have I Seriously Not Posted About This Yet!?!

30 Wednesday Jan 2013

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Sultanahmet Camii

Wow. I completely forgot to write about this. My apologies…considering we were there in August and it is now January. My bad!

The Blue Mosque is one of the most famous icons of Istanbul, although many locals have told us that Süleymaniye Mosque may be a worthier trip. It is right across the way from the Hagia Sophia, which means you have a pretty darn good view when standing in between the two. Minarets, much?

Speaking of minarets (those pointy spires), the Blue Mosque has 6, whereas most have only 4. And 8 (that’s right, 8!) domes! 

In fact, 17th century architect Sedefkâr Mehmet Ağa purposefully designed the mosque so that if you look skyward as you approach from the Hippodrome, the domes seem to fall on each other, one upon the other.

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