Savoring the spice, nightlife and vegetarian food in Budapest

Don’t let it’s location in the heart of bread and meat country fool you— Hungary may be the land of goulash, but at its heart, goulash is a mixture— and so is the food in Budapest. With a handful of great vegan (and one gluten-free) restaurants, not to mention plenty of takeout Thai, Vietnamese and...

Enjoying the vegan buffet in Prague

I think the all-vegan Loving Hut in Prague slowly became one of my favorite restaurants— and a great reason to hop a train to the city. Between the selection of gluten-free and raw cakes, to their simple and tasty veggie and tofu combinations, there hasn’t been a trip to Prague where I haven’t eaten at...

Relaxing in Dresden, with vegan Vietnamese soup

My latest method of dealing with stress: swim a lot and go to a country that speaks German, so I can order food and talk to taxi drivers without any hand gestures or writing things down. And Dresden fit this criteria perfectly, and also gave me time to reflect on both European history and my...

Bratislava, Slovakia: unexpectedly lovely

Bratislava was unexpectedly beautiful— for a capitol city I had not heard of before, I was charmed. Perhaps because it’s in the shadow of the more well known Prague and Budapest, finding Bratislava seemed like finding something unexpected and hidden. My first night there, I wandered into Old Town, and found a stage set up...

Let’s do lunch: Hradec Králové

From the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "The History of every major Galactic Civilization tends to pass through three distinct and recognizable phases, those of Survival, Inquiry and Sophistication, otherwise known as the How, Why and Where phases."For instance, the first phase is characterized by the question “How can we eat?” the second by the...

Return to Wrocław

Sometimes, a holiday needs to be just that— a holiday— and so I spent my five days off around Easter back in Poland, re-visiting my favorite vegetarian restaurants, photographing the city’s dwarfs, and getting some writing and reflection done in coffee shops. Ok, I’ll admit: sometimes I feel like exploring a whole new city. Others,...

Enjoying the springtime in Wrocław

I had no concrete plan in going to Wrocław, other than I wanted to go to Poland because I’m part Polish. And I lucked out— a lovely spring weekend, flowers blooming, and timing that always worked. The forests on rolling hills I saw on the train ride reminded my of the places where fairy tales...

Getting lost in Prague

So I spent all this time on the train, studying a guidebook and making of list of historical things and museums to see in Prague. I’d even made a list of gluten-free friendly and vegetarian restaurants to try. Once there, I got on the tram, and two stops later, saw a sign for a vegan...