foreign travelogue

Hip Hops: Moscow in 1989, with beer, zakuski, vodka and ice cream

As I have noted previously in this space, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that in 1989, I occupied a seat in the same large room (Radeberger Keller, Dresden) as Vladimir Putin. I couldn’t have known, because while Putin was a lower-echelon KGB operative, his cohort was privileged in the context of the […]

The post Hip Hops: Moscow in 1989, with beer, zakuski, vodka and ice cream appeared first on Food & Dining Magazine.

Hip Hops: Moscow in 1989, with beer, zakuski, vodka and ice cream Read More »

Hip Hops: Those first-ever draft Pilsner Urquells in Prague, 1987

Do I often write about European reveries? Yes, I do. As Archie Bunker once sang, “those were the daze.”  One afternoon in August, 1987 an archaic device affixed to the wall started ringing. I lifted the plasticized receiver from its cradle, gently brushing against the numerical rotary dial. Kindly recall that we lived in caves […]

The post Hip Hops: Those first-ever draft Pilsner Urquells in Prague, 1987 appeared first on Food & Dining Magazine.

Hip Hops: Those first-ever draft Pilsner Urquells in Prague, 1987 Read More »

Edibles & Potables: The myriad joys of Vienna’s Tram “D”

During my stay in Rome in 1985, a veteran Australian wanderer taught me a “wedding crasher” trick he claimed to have learned in Greece when not otherwise preoccupied with devouring skewers of souvlaki, cradling drams of ouzo, and ineffectually pursuing love near the Aegean (or was it beer?) beaches. The Australian said that he had […]

The post Edibles & Potables: The myriad joys of Vienna’s Tram “D” appeared first on Food & Dining Magazine.

Edibles & Potables: The myriad joys of Vienna’s Tram “D” Read More »

Hip Hops: Beers by the light of day, but no longer at German rail platforms

“Day drinking” is a familiar concept. Beer tends to be my libation of choice, and the act of “drinking” is understood; after all, we’re not here to gaze lovingly at unopened containers as we contemplate the potential ramifications of Instagram trendsetting, but rather to enjoy their contents. Consequently, to me it’s all about daytime beers, […]

The post Hip Hops: Beers by the light of day, but no longer at German rail platforms appeared first on Food & Dining Magazine.

Hip Hops: Beers by the light of day, but no longer at German rail platforms Read More »

Hip Hops: My earnest pursuit of Żywiec Porter (1987 – 2002 – 2018)

The Spring 2025 issue of Food & Dining Magazine is now available in all the familiar places: Louisville area eateries and food shops, newsstands and online (or read it at issuu). — (Originally published on April 12, 2021.) In the spring of 2002, I chartered a minibus and a dozen of us took a trip through Hungary, Slovakia, […]

The post Hip Hops: My earnest pursuit of Żywiec Porter (1987 – 2002 – 2018) appeared first on Food & Dining Magazine.

Hip Hops: My earnest pursuit of Żywiec Porter (1987 – 2002 – 2018) Read More »

Edibles & Potables: Traditional Albanian fare at Tak-Fak in Tirana

You’ll have kindly noted a previous missive addressing Albanian cuisine. We returned late last week from the Balkan Mystery Tour 2025, a marvelous (if a tad chilly) sweep through North Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro. All my Europhile buttons were pushed, repeatedly, and I’ve returned to America rested and ready for…well, writing a book it seems. […]

The post Edibles & Potables: Traditional Albanian fare at Tak-Fak in Tirana appeared first on Food & Dining Magazine.

Edibles & Potables: Traditional Albanian fare at Tak-Fak in Tirana Read More »

Hip Hops: Pivo in Skopje with the greatest seismologist of them all (1987)

I’ll grant you that portions of this story do not pertain specifically to beer, although judicious quantities of Скопско пиво (Skopsko Pivo) were consumed in late May of 1987, when a bumbling 26-year-old hick from somewhere near French Lick (New Albany, Indiana to be precise) found himself afoot in Yugoslavia, a nation that ceased to […]

The post Hip Hops: Pivo in Skopje with the greatest seismologist of them all (1987) appeared first on Food & Dining Magazine.

Hip Hops: Pivo in Skopje with the greatest seismologist of them all (1987) Read More »