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A Day in Zurich – Stop 6 of 8
FoodTravelVegan

A Day in Zurich – Stop 6 of 8

by ArielZachow

Zurich, Switzerland

Next up, the beautiful Zurich, Switzerland.

Christmas is my favorite holiday. I love the lights, the cozy feeling, the beautiful decorations-everything but the cold. And Zurich blew my freaking mind when it came to Christmas.

Getting off the train, the station is rather small, but even in the little available space, their Christmas market was overwhelmingly beautiful. A massive Swarovski crystal tree (how do I get one of these in my house!?) and a handful of adorable stalls. 

While planning this trip, I had heard from multiple people that this would be one of the most expensive countries I would visit, so I planned to spend just half a day and save my wallet.

That left me really just the evening to explore, but I was not let down. It was clear that such an incredible amount of thought, and time was put into decorating the city.

The city was amazingly clean and I felt perfectly safe at every turn. I didn’t have much of a plan here other than wandering over to a vegan restaurant and back to my hotel, but I really took my time and took whatever turns seemed particularly cute. 

If you love a magical Christmas wonderland at every step, or love high end shopping, you absolutely must add Zurich to your list. My interactions with locals were minimal, as I wasn’t there long, but the few that I did were quite pleasant. Everyone seemed very mellow and very calm. 

After wandering as long as my stomach would allow, I finally made my way to Beetnut, an all vegan restaurant featuring delicious, healthy options. For this salad and a small soup, I spent a whopping $50USD. Friends were not kidding when they said this place was expensive. 

 

And that was it! A quick, but amazingly beautiful stop in Zurich.

Back on the train I got, and the beauty did not stop. Moving trains are certainly not ideal for taking quality photos, but the area through Switzerland was some of the most beautiful and I enjoyed every moment. 

Before closing this post, I’d like to make a small note. Switzerland is a non-Schengen territory, which means your passport is likely to be checked more times, especially when entering and leaving to a Schengen territory. 

For my trip, it was as simple as someone checking my ticket and passport, but laws do seem to be shifting, so please check your current passport requirements to be certain you have everything you need going in. 

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A Day in Frankfurt – stop 5 of 8
FoodTravelVegan

A Day in Frankfurt – stop 5 of 8

by ArielZachow

Frankfurt, Germany

After an incredible stay in Amsterdam, I hopped back on the train and made my way to Frankfurt, Germany.

I’d like to make a note about this post. This is not meant to discourage anyone from visiting Germany. I simply want to share my personal experience and the thoughts I had going in based on what I’ve heard from friends and family that have visited. 

Christmas Market

I was lucky enough to have a family friend living in Germany at the time I visited. We had just a few hours together so we made our way over to the Christmas market. 

I’ll get more into my overall experience in Germany a bit later, but I can say confidently that the Christmas market was incredible. It was quite extensive, had endless stalls for shopping, and plenty of options for Gluhwein, a warm, spiced red wine. 

Overall I loved the Christmas market. If you’re in town at the right time, bundle up and give yourself a few hours to walk through. It is really quite nice. 

The Food

Unfortunately, I really struggled with the food here. While walking through the Christmas market and the main shopping strip, I wasn’t able to find anything vegan. 

The one saving grace was, randomly, a Chipotle in the mall. I couldn’t believe that we had found in in Frankfurt, Germany, of all places, but I could barely contain my excitement. 

On my way out of town, I was also very lucky to stumble across a stall in the train station with a few vegan offerings. While nothing was written in English, there were small symbols next to each of the foods saying if they had dairy, eggs, etc. 

Final Thoughts

At this point in my trip, I was really starting to feel burnt out on all of the travel. I had packed so many cities into just 2 weeks, that looking forward to the remaining week was incredibly overwhelming for me. 

And to be honest, I did not have high hopes going into my German stop. What I have heard from many friends and family that have visited is that generally Germans are quite cold until they really get to know you. 

Of course I’m all for making friends on your travels and some of my now best friends are from my experiences around the world, but I just don’t find it necessary to need to really know someone to be kind to them. 

I also struggled quite a bit with the language here. I have a pretty basic understanding of the German language from taking lessons years back, and when I tried to use the German to ask if foods contained ingredients I couldn’t eat, I was completely ignored. When I asked again in English, I got a very rude response. And unfortunately this really put a damper on my trip. 

Like Paris, not nearly as many people speak English as other European countries. And sadly, unlike Paris, trying to use the native language didn’t prove to be helpful at all. 

After my experience in Frankfurt, I can’t say I plan to ever go back to Germany.

That being said, it is a massive country and has a lot to offer, so please don’t put all of your weight on my experience. Take a little time to do some research beyond this post to see if it’s something for you. And truly I hope that you have a more positive time than I did. 

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2 Days in Amsterdam – Stop 4 of 8
FoodTravelVegan

2 Days in Amsterdam – Stop 4 of 8

by ArielZachow

I have really struggled to write this post. I mean, really, I’m weeks behind. I felt so much pressure to do this city justice, that I talked myself out of writing it for so long.

But how long can I possibly avoid this? Especially knowing I have so many other cities to share with you! 

So finally, the time has come for my favorite city on this whole trip. Amsterdam.

Amsterdam, the Netherlands

What can I say about this amazing city that could accurately portray what a wonderful time I had here? 

After days of struggling with food, getting used to traveling so much, exploring places I’ve never been, I was starting to feel tired and burned out. I had pretty high hopes about Amsterdam going in, but I limited them to avoid disappointment. 

But disappointed I was not! (there there were some MAJOR downsides for me here. But we’ll get to that).

With everything that Amsterdam has to offer and how incredibly vegan friendly it is, I had a pretty packed schedule. 

The Hotel

Let’s get issue #1 out of the way. The hotel. 

What a total and complete disaster. If the city itsself hadn’t been so incredible, the room alone would have caused me to pack up my things and return home the second I set foot inside. 

I have debated back and forth as to whether or not I should share the name of the hotel, but I want to prepare anyone else that may be going to Amsterdam and hope you to make a more educated decision on where you should stay. 

I booked a single room at K29 hotel, and I have to be honest and say I do not recommend this hotel. Not one bit. 

I can say that the room was clean, the location was excellent, and the staff was very kind, but the room was a nightmare. It was a cement room with no windows. None. Not a single window. 

As someone that struggles with enclosed spaces and someone that truly relies on the sun and the sky to feel good and to feel like a whole person, I truly felt like I was in hell. Like I was in an actual jail cell. 

After dropping my bag, I had to run out rather quickly to make it to my dinner reservations, and on the way out I heard another guest asking the front desk to change rooms to one with a window. They were told there weren’t any available, so I was stuck.

Please, I cannot stress this enough, if you struggle with closed in spaces or claustorphobia on any level, do not stay at K29 hotel. If you don’t care about sunshine or natural light or living in a cement box, it’s a fine place to rest your head at night. 

The Food

After the worlds saddest (but pretty) vegan dinner in Brussels and a breakfast of dried fruit and nuts, I could not wait to enjoy the vegan food that Amsterdam has to offer. 

I spent ages scouring the internet for the best places to eat, made my selections, and went with an appetite. 

First up, Mr. & Mrs. Watson.  Definitely my most expensive stop, but DAMN was it delicious. The lighting was incredibly low, so the pictures did not turn out well, but I had some incredible food here. 

I started with their seasonal cocktail. A warm, hard apple cider of sorts. With the cold winter air and being so near to Christmas, it was heaven. Strong, but still sweet, and wonderfully warm. I also enjoyed a single apple slice as an appetizer (???). To be honest, I nearly cried when that’s all the food that was put down in front of me, but the rest of the meal did not disappoint. 

Of course I didn’t pass up the opportunity to enjoy a mix of fries, which were exceptional. But the main focus was the cashew fondue. It was a generous portion size, complete in a heated bowl with it’s own mini candle to keep everything warm. 

 

While the dip was incredibly filling and delicious, I didn’t have nearly enough food to dip into it. A few small slices of bread, and a very small handful of veggies left me wanting more, but overall it was quite delicious.

 

To finish, I enjoyed a raspberry lemon mousse. This was the perfect way to end the meal. 

 

Overall the price was quite high, but for the ambiance of the restaurant and the quality of the food, I would highly recommend Mr. & Mrs. Watson. (Consider a reservation if you’re dining at peak hours.

Up next was the glorious Koffie Ende Koeck. I enjoyed every single crumb I consumed here and wish I had come back 100 times during my stay. 

I started with the Dirty Chai, then inhaled the Sourdough Sandwich Fritata and took a croissant to go. I really can’t say enough about how good the food was here. It is absolutely worth a stop (or 10). 

Later that day I made my way to Vegabond.  Unfortunately, this particular place is now closed, but check out their website for future updates. 

While at Vegabond, I enjoyed a delicious pumpkin latte and a lovely acai bowl, served adorably in a coconut shell. This location doubled as a mini vegan grocery store and I made sure to stock up on some white chocolate and stroop waffles while there. 

Last, but certainly not least, I filled myself up on TerraZen Centre. I took the food to go, and the service wasn’t the best I’ve experienced, but the food was incredible. I got myself a massive dragon roll and some fried rice and I could not have been happier. If you’re near the center of Amsterdam, this is an excellent place to stop. 

 

Things to do

Amsterdam has so much to offer in terms of things to do. I tried to pack in as many things during my stay in Amsterdam, but you can fill a whole week or more with everything it has to offer. 

Explore the Canals

I started my trip with a canal tour, which I highly recommend. I was there in early December, so things were decorated with lights, which was particularly beautiful, but it was cold, so if you’re going in the winter months, dress much warmer than you think you need to. 

Museums

I explored just 3 museums (let’s use the word “museums” lightly) but loved them both. I started with the Van Gogh Museum, which was exceptional. 

From there, of course I went to Kattenkabinet, a very small museum dedicated to cat art. If you care about cats at all, it is absolutely worth every cent to walk through. 

My last museum stop was Red Light Secrets, the museum of prostitution in Amsterdam. This was a bit more racy, of course,  but I found it to be very interesting and highly recommend it. 

Anne Frank House

The Anne Frank House is another must-see in Amsterdam. This is the secret annex where Anne, her family, and a few others took hiding during WWII.

It is quite an emotional walk through, but incredible to see.

 

**Please note** this is NOT an accessible space. There are many very steep stairs and very tight passage ways. If you are claustrophobic or have mobility limitations, I do NOT recommend this stop. 

Marijuana

Of course marijuana is legal and widely available in Amsterdam. If you’d like to partake, find a coffeeshop to stop into. Or, quite frankly, follow your nose. The odor is quite strong all throughout Amsterdam.

Personally, I found only one shop with vegan edibles if smoking isn’t your preferred way to consume. For some vegan space cakes, head to Popeye Coffeeshop. The people working there are very kind and very knowledgeable with the vegan selection. 

Zaanse Schans Windmills

This is a bit outside of Amsterdam, but if you love cute things as much as I do, this is an absolute must. The Zaanse Schan Windmills are a collection of historic Dutch windmills, and the easy walk through them is probably the coolest, cutest places I have ever been. The perfect rainbow after a small rain sure didn’t hurt. 

Tulips

Of course you can’t forget about the tulip fields. I didn’t visit these myself, as it was winter and they weren’t in bloom, but what post about Amsterdam would be complete without giving them a mention? 

Final Thoughts

Overall, Amsterdam was my favorite stop on this trip. It has so much to offer, it is very vegan friendly, full of history, very English language friendly, and overall an exceptional place to visit. I cannot recommend it enough. 

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A Day in Brussels – Stop 3 of 8
Travel

A Day in Brussels – Stop 3 of 8

by ArielZachow

Alright. Listen. I don’t want to start this blog post off by saying this is going to be a boring blog post. but. Lower them standards, okay?

The third stop on my 2 weeks trip around Europe was Brussels, Belgium. 

I don’t mean for this post be be anti-Brussels, but I went in with incredibly low standards, and honestly, that seemed to be the right thing to do. 

After the 3rd European friend of mine said, “Wait. What? You’re going to Brussels? Why?!”, I really lost hope. 

The real winner on this leg of the trip? The train! 

While staying in the Schengen zone, it’s incredibly easy to move from country to country. Show up at the station, find your platform, and go!

I opted to pay a bit extra and reserve my seats on each leg of my trip to save myself some stress. So once on the train, I grabbed my seat and enjoyed a relaxing ride with some excellent views while heading from city to city. 

When I arrived to Brussels, I took the 30 minute walk to my hotel. 

Let me tell you-when I walked in I thought I was in the wrong place. This hotel was far too nice for what I paid for….right?

After literal weeks of bad room after bad room, I actually shed a tear when I got checked in and dropped my bags. 

Truly, I cannot recommend Qbic Hotels in Brussels enough. They have multiple locations, though, so be sure to check their website before you travel anywhere. (they are not compensating me for this, by the way. This is my personal opinion based solely on experience.)

A giant room all to myself? A king sized bed? No less than 500 pillows? (okay, maybe a bit less). Free champagne in the bar? Yes please!

Truthfully, the room was so great I gave up all plans to go out to see the city (which was quite frigid in late November, by the way) and opted to stay in. 

I made my way down to the bar for my wine and asked for whatever food they could make me that was vegan. This is where the disappointment set in. I get all the jokes about vegans eating rabit food, but we are quite larger than rabits and need substantially more food. 

Unfortunately, the nearest vegan restaurant was over a 30 minute walk away and i didn’t want to bother with the cold, so I was stuck with my half a carrot and single radish slice. 

Which, of course, made for lots of fun with the wine they two lovely guys at the bar kept refilling. 

The one major highlight was that the guys tending the bar did introduce me to someone else staying in the hotel. Someone that grew up in California and currently lived in New York, just like yours truly! 

A weird coincidence, but a wonderful conversation. 

So back up to my room I went, a bit hungry, but mostly excited for the giant, cozy, king sized bed. 

For breakfast in the morning I did have a decent selection of fruit and nuts, but that was it. I asked the staff about some of the other items, mainly the bread, to see if it was vegan. None of it was, but they were very kind and helpful in getting that answer from me. 

After breakfast I took my time wandering back to the train, and that was the extent of my stay in Brussels! 

I don’t mean to say that Brussels has nothing to offer, because that is absolutely not true. But for my preferred way to travel, it is not a place I would personally go back to. 

One major plus that I’d like to add- the train station was very easy to navigate. It was very easy to find my train, platform, and exactly where on the platform I needed to stand to get on the right train car. 

The platforms are outside, though. So if you are traveling in the winter, be sure to bundle up!

Next up? My favorite stop on this trip. Amsterdam! 

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A Day in London- Stop 2 of 8
FoodTravelVegan

A Day in London- Stop 2 of 8

by ArielZachow

The London Stop

If you visited my blog last week, you likely caught part one of this eight part series talking about my two week trip traveling around Europe. The first stop was Paris, and you can find that blog HERE, if you’re so inclined.

Now jumping into my second of eight cities. London!

Having done my vegan research before I arrived, I kept hearing about how incredibly vegan-friendly London was. But I gotta say- I was a bit disappointed! There wasn’t quite as much as I was anticipating. And after the incredible amount of bread from Paris (considering a trip back just for that basket o’ bread, tbh…), I was hoping for something other than the go-to vegan burger. But I didn’t really get that. 

Getting from Paris to London

Taking the train from Paris to London was quite the experience. Because the UK is NON-schengen, you DO have to go through passport control into and out of it. This isn’t nearly as extensive as going through the airport, but I was none percent prepared. And because of how the politics are leaning currently, please do a bit of research before you go, just so you’re prepared going in, as procedures will likely change. 

My train ticket said I needed to arrive 45 minutes early, at least, and this was so I could go through the screening. Everyone in the train station was very kind, but it did move slowly and it took me a pretty substantial amount of time to find where the actual section that I needed to go to. Hint: take a breath, and look for signs for EuroStar. My go-to of just flat out panicking, turns out, isn’t super helpful. Weird. 

After a pretty quick train ride (who knew Paris and London were so freaking close?!), I had the continued joy of navigating another major transit hub. If I found Paris to be confusing, I was again fully unprepared for London. The benefit? Everything was English.

After some frantic running around (why can’t I just chill out?!), I managed to make my way to Paddington Station, then to my hotel.

There, I dropped my bag and went on the hunt for my first vegan meal. 

Personally, I found the busses to be easiest to navigate. The tube seemed to randomly terminate trains, they often became very crowded, and there were so many of them and so many lines that I found it to be totally overwhelming. But the busses were much easier to figure out, and who doesn’t want to ride in the classic, cute, red busses?? 

(Can you tell I’ve been enjoying some strong, italian espresso as I write this post?)

The Food

I made my way by ultra cute bus over to Camden to visit VBurger. It’s in a very cute outdoor market area, but of course it is London, so it absolutely started to rain on me while I was there. 

Before I even placed my order at VBurger, I did a quick wander around and was pleasantly surprised to find a few vegan food stalls. Young Vegans  was one that I saw, but wasn’t able to go to, tucked back and to the left if you’re standing on the street looking in. 

Nora and Nama was just to the left of VBurger (on the right side, if you’re facing in, away from the street). They offered all sorts of the most delicious, epic, glorious vegan pastries. 

But please! I have to warn you! You will likely be overwhelmed with how much they  have to offer, and you will want one of everything. I speak from experience. 

I picked up a few sweet treats to take back to my room along with my burger and fries from VBurger, and grabbed myself a hot chocolate to fight off the chill. Sugar rush in London? Yes, please!

From there I made a stop at Whole Foods, then back to my hotel to regroup/stuff my face. 

It should go without saying, but the food from both Nora and Nama and VBurger were insanely delicious. They fare exceeded my expectations and I would 100% recommend both.

The London Eye

From there I made my way down to the London Eye right around sunset. I was torn on doing this, as the ticket was quite expensive in my opinion, (about $30 USD, I think), and the weather was very overcast, so I wasn’t sure how good it could possibly be.

But ultimately I am glad I did it. The trip around is about 30 minutes, and you do share the pod with other people, but it was pretty cool to get a bird’s eye view of the city. To see the sky getting dark and the lights of the city switching on was quite beautiful. 

London Landmarks

From there, though it was dark, it was still quite early, I figured I’d wander around and see as many landmarks as I could. I stopped at Westminster Abbey for a quick picture, then over to Buckingham Palace. 

I am really sad to say this, but I was totally and completely underwhelmed. I think that Paris was such a shock to me with it’s incredible architecture and it set the bar so very high, that London just didn’t hold the same wow-factor. 

And this is what Big Ben (Elizabeth Tower) looked like, all dressed up for maintenance. (forgive the terrible photo quality!)

The next day, having checked so much off my to-do list already, I enjoyed quite possibly the saddest hotel breakfast of all time-a single cup of black coffee. But I never expect to be able to find vegan food at a hotel, so I was prepared with my delicious chocolate croissant from the day before. 

Sky Garden

Then it was time to venture over to Sky Garden. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect here, but the ticket was free, so I figured why not. 

Note: you DO have to reserve your ticket before, but it does not cost anything to do so.

It’s a small, indoor garden with a lovely view of the city. There are breakfast options, though none vegan. It was a cool experience to again see the city from so high up. Honestly, I would have been disappointed if I had to pay for the ticket, but, again, it was free, so it was a good way to spend an hour. 

And that was it. That was the last on my English to-do list, and it was still quite early in the day. I made my way over to by CHLOE. for a nice big lunch and from there enjoyed the Black Friday deals that were so prominent there at the end of November.

Final Thoughts

Overall, London was nice, and I did love the comfort of being in an English speaking country, but like I said, I just didn’t find it quite as spectacular as I anticipated. 

I would certainly go back to the UK, but in the future I think I would spend more time exploring areas outside of London.

See you next Monday for stop 3-Brussels, Belgium. 

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A Day in Paris – Stop 1 of 8
FoodTravelVegan

A Day in Paris – Stop 1 of 8

by ArielZachow

Paris was the first of many stops on my wild two week journey around Europe. Over the next few weeks I’ll do a post dedicated to each of the cities I visited. I’ll tell you where I stayed, how I got there, what I saw, and what I ate. I am hoping that from this, you will take a bit of inspiration for your own wild European tour.

When I made the (stupid? great?) decision that I wanted to visit 30 countries before I turned 30, I knew I had some work ahead of me. I was starting at 27, with just a total of 5 countries at that point.

Knowing I’d be in Greece for several weeks over the winter, I figured it was the perfect time to do what I’ve been calling my “train tour of Europe”. With the EU rail pass and some discounts based on my age and the time of year I’d be traveling, I worked out that I could see a total of 8 cities, and not wanting it to be too terribly expensive (or to be away from Greece for so long), I had the brilliant idea to do all of this in just 2 weeks.

Day 1

Based on where the train connected, Paris was my first stop. I flew in from Athens nice and early and navigated a pretty confusing train station my way to my hotel to drop my bag and begin to explore the city. Get your google maps handy to tell you what train you need and where to go. Be sure you get a train ticket specifically for leaving the airport if you opt to take the train rather than hire a cab. It costs about 10 Euro.

For this trip I booked all of my rooms through Hotels.com. Usually I’m all about AirBnb so that I can have access to a kitchen, but it was important to me that I didn’t have to deal with coordinating schedules with the host- I wanted the ability to go to the front desks of the hotels and check in whenever I arrived. 

The hotel I picked was Cafe Hotel De L’Avenir in Saint Ouen, which is about a 30 minute train ride from the center of Paris.

I arrived and had to check in through the restaurant/bar on the main floor-there wasn’t actually a reception desk, which was a bit odd, though everyone was very nice. When I managed to find my room, it hadn’t been cleaned and I wasn’t about to wait outside in the cold for that to happen. I asked to drop my bag in the room and come back later in the day.

From there I made my way into Hank Vegan Burger for lunch.  I went for the L’allume burger, a side of fries, and a cookie. I took my food over to Hotel de Ville to eat and admire the beautiful architecture.

I wandered my way through past the Notre-Dame, which is still closed after the fire, but you can see it from afar from across the street. From there I walked through past the Louve (though did not go inside), walked past the Arc De Triomphe du Carrousel, and through an adorable Christmas market, and finally hiked myself over to the Eiffel Tower. I was surprised to find that the tower is completely fenced off, and you aren’t able to even go up to the legs without a ticket.

The Eiffel Tower

After that, I walked over to what’s called Espl. du Trocadero, which is a small area across the street from the Eiffel Tower with an incredible view. It takes you back far enough that you get to take in the Eiffel Tower in all its glory without having to break your neck from the base of it to see.

I hung around there for about an hour to wait to see the sparkle happen, which is supposed to happen for 5 to 10 minutes on the hour, every hour, after the sun sets. After standing in the rain for a whopping 45 minutes and seeing only the basic lights on the tower turn on, I knew I didn’t want to wait a whole second our for the sparkle that didn’t happen when it was supposed to have done the first time.

So I hopped on the train from there, and made my way back to my room, which finally was cleaned. Unfortunately, what I didn’t realize when I booked the room, was that there was no toilet. The rooms opened with a simple code entered into the door handle, no keys or key cards.

About the room

Unfortunately, I really didn’t love my stay in this hotel. With the discomfort of a shared toilet, the stench of it being a smoking hotel, a lack of deadbolt and no “do not disturb” sign, I felt as though I had absolutely no privacy. And for a whopping $157 USD for two nights, I absolutely would not recommend this hotel. It was literal steps away from a train stop, which was nice, but overall I was very uncomfortable in this room.

Day 2

The next morning I was up bright and early to head back to the area near the Eiffel Tower to take some more photos before the rest of the tourists arrived. And this was when I realized I had made a huge, massive mistake. When I took the time to plan out each day of this wild trip, I didn’t take into account that all of the public transportation would be filled with regular commuters.

After I hauled my ass out of bed well before the sun even rose and made my way down into the metro station, I spent 30 minutes watching train after train arrive with barely any room to breathe. I knew I didn’t have the energy (or desire) to completely squish myself into an already very tight train car.

**Something very important to know. If you find that you struggle with claustrophobia on any level, I do NOT recommend taking the underground trains of Paris. They are quite tight and quite small. Not such a problem when it’s off peak and the trains are empty, but when the seats fill up and people are standing, it is extremely, extremely tight and can be immensely overwhelming.**

After watching what felt like the 100th packed train go by, I decided to walk. For two hours.

More Vegan Eats

There are those great Lime scooters all over town, but it was a bit wet from rain and still totally dark at this time, so walking it was. And after I snapped a few photos, I made my way over to Cloud Cakes for breakfast and I forget all the horrors of walking so freaking far across town.

Let me tell you. I fell in love in that cafe. Everything was vegan, which is a requirement for me when traveling to a country where language is a limiting factor. I opted for the Menu Cloud Breakfast. With that you get a basket of bread (because who doesn’t want that?!), a hot drink, and a cold drink. With the bread you get a little jar of chocolate sauce and 2 jams. 

If a basket full of bread all to yourself isn’t enough, hand me a vegan croissant with some vegan nutella and my whole damn life is complete. Even now, just thinking about it is making my stomach beg for more.

And, of course, I got a cupcake to go to enjoy later that night. 

After my magically carb filled breakfast, I wandered around town a bit more before slowly working my way to Maisie Cafe in the Champs Elysees Food Court of The Galleries Lafayette. I was desperate at this point for something that was primarily vegetables, so I grabbed a tofu salad, and a slice of poppyseed bread for breakfast the next morning. Be prepared to sell an organ to afford this meal, though.

A little tip- the food available to the right of Maisie Cafe in this particular location has a good selection of cold coffee and veggie juices for literally half the cost, so I stopped at both places.

At this point I was so exhausted from all of the walking, that I went back to my room and closed the Paris chapter.

Knowing what a mess the public transportation would be the next morning when I needed to head to the train to London, I got in bed early to prepare myself for the 45 minute walk to the train station before the sun would even think about making an appearance.

Final Thoughts

Personally, for me, I felt like this trip was all I needed to see of Paris. I’m not big on museums and prefer to spend my time in new cities simply walking around and seeing the sites from the outside, and the day and a half that I spent in Paris allowed me to do exactly that.

If you’re big on high end shopping and/or architecture, this would be a perfect city for you. It truly was beautiful and I am glad I went, but I do not feel the need to go back, simply based on my preferred way to see a city.

I did struggle a bit with the language. I have heard that the French are much more kind when people attempt to speak the language first, but most people do speak English as well. Try starting with a “bonjour!” and notice if the attitude changes. I did not, and found most of the people to be quite cold, but I have heard different things from different people.

Overall, I did enjoy my stay in Paris. If I were to do it again, I would stay much closer to the center of the city and plan my activities to avoid commuting time. However, I feel as though I saw everything I wanted in the city, and currently have no desire to go back to visit again.

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Berkeley, California – Vegan Eats
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Berkeley, California – Vegan Eats

by ArielZachow

If you know me at all, and if you pay even 1% of attention to the nonsense I spew on this blog, you know that I will travel for vegan food. Like, really, really far. Mostly recently I hauled my bum all the way to Greece for a Vegan Festival. 

Well, I went to Greece for more than the festival, but I did pick the dates I did specifically so I could eat my way through the Vegan Life Festival. 

I get questions all the time about how difficult it must be to be vegan. And let me tell you, it really isn’t challenging at all. All it takes is a tiny bit of research before heading out into the world, and I have yet to be disapointed. 

Enter Berkeley, California. 

During my last trip to the Bay Area, I read about The Butcher’s Son, a vegan delicatessen and bakery and knew I needed to take a trip in.  And a special thank you to my mom for taking the journey with me and dealing with my ridiculous excitement. 

The place is all vegan, with a handful of gluten free options. The food was excellent, though a bit heavy. Absolutely perfect hang over food if you find you’ve indulged a bit too much the night before. 

That restaurant aside, Berkeley has a plethora of fully vegan restaurants, and loads of restaurants with vegan options. We stuffed ourselves so fully with our first stop, I (very sadly) couldn’t hit every single restaurant, as is forever my dream. 

Simply wandering through town, I came across a ton of signs for vegan food. Veggie Grill was another we passed, just a few minutes walk from The Butcher’s Son. An option for much healthier food, if that’s what you’re after. 

Continuing on after doing some book shopping and relaxing in the sun at the Berkeley campus, I poked my head into Cream and was delighted to find 2 GF, vegan flavors. Certainly not the most amazing ice cream I’ve ever had, but a wonderful treat and worth the stop if you’d like something sweet. 

And, as you probably know, recreational use of marijuana is legal in the state of California. If this is something you’re into, continuing on from Cream, you’ll run into Hi-Fidelity, one of the many dispensaries the area has to offer. I didn’t snag any pictures on my stop, but when I asked about the vegan edible options, I was very pleasantly surprised to have a ton of choices, and the person helping me was very knowledgeable about what was safe for me to consume.

While searching for another vegan restaurant that seems to have gone out of business (boo!), I came across a few signs for vegan food at various restaurants. Overall, Berkeley is a pretty safe place to eat as a vegan. It is common enough in the area that you shouldn’t be met with blank stares when you ask for the vegan options. 

Will you be adding Berkeley to your stops for the delicious vegan foods? Have you been before? Let me know int he comments below! I’d love to hear your thoughts. 

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National Archaeological Museum – Athens Greece
GreeceTravel

National Archaeological Museum – Athens Greece

by ArielZachow

It’s no secret that Greece has some of the most incredible weather. That’s one of the main reasons I’ve decided to land there for so long this winter. Believe me, I’d stay the entire 8 months, if I could, but the visas are quite limited in terms of timing. 

But, of course, it would just be TOO good if there weren’t some less-than-ideal weather days. And today was one of those days! I didn’t want to be stuck up in my room doing noting all day while I waited for the rain, so I wandered my way over to The National Archaeological Museum.

Personally, I’m not a big museum gal. I don’t hate art, or history, or anything along those lines, but it’s certainly not my ideal way to spend a day. I’d rather be out exploring in the fresh air, seeing things right up close and on a larger scale. 

But it has been threatening to rain here for the last few days, and today really seemed like the day it would happen, so museum it was! 

In the off season, you can get entry for just 6€ (November 1 – March 31), and 12€ the rest of the year. And, of course, you can expect more exhibits to be closed in the off season. 

For someone that isn’t a huge lover of museums, I’m glad I stopped by! It was really interesting to see so many different pieces from different parts of the area and some that were so old, I can hardly wrap my head around it. 

With a handful of the areas of the museum being closed, I personally spent about 3 hours wandering around. That time may have been shortened for fear of the many, many, many, MANY school children that were running around and screaming. 

A few reviews I read even said that people have spent 2 and 3 entire days exploring the museum. That seems quite excessive to me, but if you’re a total history buff, schedule yourself a decent chunk of time here. 

Museum connoisseur or not, this is an excellent way to spend a day to see the history, and one of your best options for when, on rare occasion, the weather doesn’t allow you to be outside.  

And a final, though important thing to add- this museum is very English language friendly. The very few employees I spoke with talked to me in English, and all of the exhibits are listed in both Greek and English (and a few were even in Spanish!)

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When Self Care is Selfish
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When Self Care is Selfish

by ArielZachow

Yoga is so much more than just the physical practice (known as the asana practice). What many don’t know is that yoga is broken into 8 limbs. Each of the 8 limbs is to help the individual to become a better person and to help them work their way towards enlightenmen. 

Of course this is a very basic way to describe a very old and rather detailed history of what yoga truly is. Baby steps. 

One practice of yoga has resonated with me significantly more than the other parts, though I do my best to practice each, of course. But my favorite, and my main focus s the practice of Ahimsa. 

Ahimsa is a sanskrit word that translates roughly to “compassion and kindness towards all living creatures”. That definition will shift lightly, depending on where you translate, but this is the translation I was taught during my yoga teacher training. 

This may be a bit controversial for some, but I will say that I interpret that to mean living a vegan life. Not only in terms of the food I’m eating, but the products I buy, as well. Cruelty free cosmetics, no leather or wool- truly nothing that comes from an animal, to th absolute best of my ability. 

I think that something that can often be overlooked when it comes to the idea of ahimsa, is that the practice of compassion and kindness towards all living creatures should start at home. It should happen first with yourself. 

Self care is something that is becoming very popular in the main stream lately, but I don’t know that it’s being talked about in all the ways that it should be. Yes, taking time for a glass of wine is great, or a bubble bath is a great way to relax, but self care and ahimsa are so, so much bigger than that. 

Now, rather than going into a big spiel about the different ways you can practice self care, I want to just jump into the story of how traveling the world and leaving everything behind is an important practice of my ahimsa beliefs. 

Depending on how long you’ve been following me, and on what platforms, you may or may not know that I’m about to leave my home in New York and begin to travel the world for the next 8 months. I’ll leave behind my studio, my clients, my friends, husband, family, pets- all of it. (Don’t worry, the pets will be very well taken care of!) 

As I’ve shared this plan with friends, family, and clients, I’ve gotten some pretty wild reactions, as I’m sure you can imagine. 

  • “You’re traveling alone?! That’s not safe! Women shouldn’t travel by themselves.”
  • “What about your husband? How could you possibly leave him for so long?”
  • “How will you possibly pay for this?”
  •  “Lots of these places you’re going aren’t safe!”
  • “What’s wrong with New York? Why can’t you just suck it up?”
  •  “What if you get home sick?”
  • “What about your family? You’ll be alone on Christmas!”
  • “What if you have a bad time?”
  • “How could you leave ME?!”

Even though I get these questions on an almost constant basis as my trip draws nearer, I’m still never entirely sure how to respond. Do I tell people to F off and mind their own business? Do I simply say I wanted more excitement? Do I smile and nod? Or do I go into the difficulties I deal with in New York in the winter? 

I grew up in California. It will always be home for me. Over the past 8 years in New York, I’ve struggled with the long, cold winters. But over the past 2 or 3 years, my ability to deal with the weather has diminished significantly.  It is very difficult to put into words, but for more than half the year, every single year, I feel completely helpless. I can’t get out of bed, I barely can get myself dressed, I give up on my business, and I often find myself contemplating if it’s worth continuing to live when the days are so short, and so bitterly cold and the sun seems to have disappeared for good. 

Yes, this trip is a big deal. And quite drastic. But so is quite literally losing the will to go on another day because of the weather. 

Yes, I am absolutely terrified of the unknown this trip brings. Yes, I will miss my cats, my friends, my family and my clients more than I could put into words. Yes, it’s expensive (though, shockingly, not as much as you’d think). Yes, I’ll get home sick. Yes, there will inevitably be really difficult parts to this. But I need to do this. 

I spent an incredible amount of time considering my options, and the absolute best conclusion I have come to was to take this trip. To disappear into the world, do a bit of sun chasing, and spending some time doing some soul searching to see exactly what it is I want out of this world. 

Yes, this was an incredibly selfish decision. But you know what, I live my life for me first. How can I be a good wife, teacher, friend, daughter, coach, neighbor, etc. if I am not okay with myself first? 

Sometimes self care needs to be selfish. 

The word “selfish” has such a bad connotation, I think. It is perceived to be a bad thing. But sometimes it is absolutely necessary.  I truly think we need to trend away from shying away from making decisions that benefit ourselves first. 

There’s only so much that one person can give to those around them. There is a limit to what one person can give without refilling their tank, so to say. 

So that is exactly what I am doing. Taking time to me, to fulfill my needs so that I can come back and be able to give to those I love. It is unfortunate that people are upset and even offended that I am going, but I will not carry around guilt for taking time to heal myself. 

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Vegan Life Festival – Athens, Greece
FoodGreeceTravelVegan

Vegan Life Festival – Athens, Greece

by ArielZachow

While on my first trip to to Greece just last month, I was lucky enough to line up my stay with the Vegan Life Festival held in Athens, Greece  the first weekend in October, 2019. 

Having seen only photos on the company’s social media (and still unable to read the Greek alphabet), I knew to expect some items for purchase and some yummy food, but wasn’t sure what I’d find beyond that. 

I anxiously counted the days until it was time for the festival and was so excited I even showed up to the event a day early. Oops. 

But finally the ACTUAL day arrived, I showed up with excitement and a massive appetite. 

Over the next 2 days I indulged in some incredible food, from souvlaki to soda to coconut ice cream. 

Overall, it wasn’t quite as English language friendly as I ad hoped, but I did not have any trouble communicating or navigating. 

And, happily, I fished my Christmas shopping nice and early. 

If you’re in Greece ad happen to be there during the Vegan Life Festival, it s absolutely worth going to. Just show up hungry and ready for lots of vegan, eco-friendly goodies.

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