Page 80 - Microsoft Word - miniz-digest-123-125.docx

Hungary – Goulash, bottles and some more Goulash

Hungary was anything you’d expect from a classic former-Communist Eastern European
country: Alcohol in every street corner, burger\doner joints that are opened until 3 in the
morning and serving drunk people,
holocaust memorials right next to
Techno clubs, you know, the whole
shebang. Budapest was our first, last
and only station in these crazy 3
weeks. The city on the Danube
River is the ultimate pit stop for
every collector (Or a single guy):
It’s cheap, pretty, has loads of
bottles and holds tons and tons of
history in it. The catch: If you’re not
into Palinka, Unicum or Tokaji,
Hungary’s national spirits, you’re
going to have to do lots of
Palinka, Palinka and some Jack to wash it down…
digging until you find the right
bottle. I got lucky again and
stroke a Europe-only bourbon,
several Jack Daniel’s with
Hungarian back label and few
other nice pieces. In our very
last night we were getting into
a grocery store and in between
the fruits, vegetables and milk,
someone decided to hide a
700ml Jack Daniel’s Master
Distiller Edition 3 with a box.
That’s pretty much the same as
shopping for tampons in Wal-
Mart and finding a Louis13
Only in Europe: A Menorah and a Swastika on the same table. Esceri Market
on the same shelf. On
Saturday we went to Ecseri
Flea Market, one of Europe’s largest flea
markets. Like good fisherman, we were
already on the Bolt (That’s their version to
Uber) in 6:30 in the morning, hoping to
find some hidden gems. Unfortunately, all
the bottles were gone, but we did find some
cool authentic posters from the 1940s that
call you to recruit to the SS forces, as well
as some pictures of Lenin and Stalin. As
supportive as my wife can be, we ended up
A Zwack Collectors heaven…

- 13 -