My airline tickets are now booked for a 2 week trip to parts of northern Europe, which will help balance the fact that 90 percent of the traveling I've done in Europe thus far in my life has been in the southern part, mainly Spain and Italy. The itinerary includes a flight into Prague, a flight out of Copenhagen, and likely stops in Berlin, Hamburg and maybe one other place in between. I'd like to maybe make a quick swing into Poland, to 1) see the country and 2) check another country off the list, but that will be dependent on the schedule and how much time we have. I've learned the hard way what happens when you plan too aggressive of an itinerary and find yourself spending 50% of the time on buses and trains.
Because we (myself and traveling companion Mike) will be going during the peak tourist season, airfare was less than ideal, so this route came about almost as a matter of finding cheap flights and working a trip out from there. After spending a couple weeks just typing in European cities with major airports this turned out to be the best, most affordable route available. This is hardly an attempt to justify it though; rather, I think we have a great itinerary regardless of the fact that it happened almost by nothing more than chance. Cuisine-wise it might not be quite as good as a trip through Paris and Belgium that had been originally proposed, but will still hopefully offer up some great meals. On the other hand, it should offer up some great beers to be sampled, so everything seems to have balanced well in the end.
In perhaps an early attempt to research for the trip, I had a chance to check out my first Polish establishment in Milwaukee this weekend. For the uninitiated, Milwaukee has a size-able Polish and Eastern European population (or the descendants thereof), though small in total numbers compared to Chicago. My Dad happened to be visiting, and in an attempt to offer him something different that isn't normally available in our hometown of Des Moines I suggested we try a Polish place. This led us to Polonez, in St Francis just south of Milwaukee, which was one of the few places open on a Sunday, though for a brunch buffet only (also at the time I was unaware that Zimmern had been there).
I have to preface this with the fact that buffets, especially brunch buffets for those who have read Kitchen Confidential, are a terrible way to spend your dining dollars (sorry to offend all the trendy ladies who love Sunday brunch). The brunch was what it was though, and I accepted it for its shortcomings and decided to revel in the cultural aspect instead.
I don't know much about Polish cuisine really, but there were pierogis and paczkis, the two names I did recognize, along with what seemed like a more Americanized selection of sausage (polish of course), bacon, eggs, and potato pancakes. Some smoke salmon added a pleasant surprise though that helped remind me that we weren't at a continental breakfast of the neighborhood Holiday Inn. That, and the guy playing polkas on an Accordion in the dining hall. Now, I don't claim to be an expert on Polish culture, and I'm sure there's connection between Poland and Germany that stretches much beyond a history of forced invasions, but by my count our Accordion Polka player sang only in English and German. I had a hard time seeing how this was a entertaining and pleasing show for the Poles in attendance.
It was kitschy and nostalgic for sure, so the "cultural traveler" in me appreciated this, even though my faux culinary prowess could tell we were not dining on the best Polish food in the world. My attempt to ask our waiter (who was probably 18 years old) for a Polish beer recommendation resulted in me drinking a malt liquor for brunch (I was under the impression that the "malt" style meant a maltier and sweeter beer) so if nothing else, a good buzz helped compliment the whole experience.
Since this is more or less an amalgam of a travel and food post, a section on Bourdain's latest offerings is in order.
I caught his episode on Haiti which debuted a few weeks ago, and I must say I highly recommend checking it out if you haven't already. Its interesting to watch him try to envelope parts of a travel show into the production while being situated in a part of the world that has become so completely disparage by poverty, corruption, and now disaster. I thought he did a great job at balancing his attempts to visit and understand the country while at the same time witnessing the devastation and need for rebuilding that has occurred there. On top of that, the cinematography, especially in HD, was fantastic. Powerful and compelling, the visual images perhaps told more of the story than Bourdain could have ever hoped to himself.
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