Traveling!

I know you haven't heard from me for a while, but I have a decent excuse. For the first two weeks of November, my parents came to visit!!! Yay!!!! I really needed a break, and it was amazing to see them for a while; it was just the taste of home that I needed. A brief travel summary: a few days exploring Copenhagen, seeing museums I hadn't been to yet, and introducing my parents to where I have been living for three months! This was followed by an insane few days of driving then entirety of Denmark, from Copenhagen to Skagen (on the very very farthest tip in the north) and back again.

Next adventure: trains! Now I have never traveled any distance on trains, but we decided that it would be a fun chance to try it. So from Copenhagen we loaded into sleeper cars to Germany, then regular seats, and finally a bus! Where did this take us? Prague! This has been on my to-see list for a long time, and it did not disappoint: Prague is a gorgeous city during the day, but is truly spectacular at night, when the bridge and all the buildings are illuminated. (Pictures are coming soon, but they require a bit more editing. Soon, I promise!) The city is very different than any European city I've been in, it just feels more old! But even in November, the tourists were everywhere. I didn't really mind though. The Old Square was beautiful, surrounded by churches, towers, and, of course, restaurants. All the restaurants, despite the cold, had outdoor seating. Luckily, they supplied huge gas heaters and blankets. Add hot mulled wine or cider and even I was nice and toasty!

So how to follow Prague? With Budapest, naturally! Also on my to-see list, also accessible by trains. I still haven't made up my mind which of the two cities I liked better. They were similar in some ways: divided by a river, giant castle, fancy bridges, etc., but Budapest was much less touristy. I think that I could see myself going back to visit Prague but actually living in Budapest.

A word on restaurants: eating in foreign countries is difficult as a vegan. It just is. There's the language barrier, the completely foreign concept of veganism, and just not knowing where to go. But thankfully, there is happycow.net. HappyCow lists tons of veggie, vegan, and veggie-friendly restaurants and stores all over the world! Although I have found the listings to be very incomplete and often outdated, it is still a terrific source if you know that you will be traveling for a few nights and need the name of at least one source of a decent meal! So in Prague I found Lehka hlava, which means Clear Head. This is an entirely veggie restaurant, with a menu in English where all dishes are marked as vegan, or if they can be made vegan. This was quite possibly the best meal ever. Everything was so fresh, delicious and creative! I had tempeh bulgar risotto. I have never had a tempeh dish that I actually liked, but I figured if anywhere would have a good version, it would be there. Such a good decision! Even my dad enjoyed his food, though he did complain that there was too much cheese in it... it kind of sounds like he could be converted... but I won't hold my breath. I almost forgot to mention- vegan carrot cake for dessert! Eating dessert out is such a treat for me!! The next night we decided to go the Maitrea, the new restaurant associated with Lehka hlava. Same deal, but with slightly less atmosphere and options. But still, an excellent meal!
Budapest I followed another HappyCow suggestion, Napfenyes Etterem, which people said served traditional Hungarian fare, but entirely vegan! The best thing, hands down, vegan pizza! Ok, now my dad really might be converted. A pizza made with vegan cheese and fake sausage and seitan? He loved it! I stuck to the veggie pizza with cheeze, which I liked even better! But again, the best part of the meal, dessert! I got somloi galuska, which is a traditional Hungarian dessert (but veganized!) of several layers of dumplings, with rum and chocolate sauce and whipped cream and vanilla custard and and and... So. Amazingly. Good. I might go back to Budapest just to eat at that restaurant again.

But now I am safe and sound back in Copenhagen for the next four weeks, and then HOME!!!!!! (can you tell I'm excited?) Well, mostly Copenhagen. I did go to Malmo yesterday in search of Astrid och Aporna, a vegan cafe. After several hours of wandering through an industrial park (I am never ever going without a map... ever!) I found it, and was not disappointed! "Chicken" curry sandwich on homemade ciabatta bread, with yummy veggie sides and the best soy chai latte ever! It was so lovely I had to take a picture on my computer:
Totally worth the walking! (Well, today my legs don't agree with that, but oh well, sometimes I just need to tell them to be quiet and get on with life)

4 more weeks: three massive papers, two Danish presentations, one Danish quiz, one Human, Health and Disease exam, one Epidemic disease quiz, one trip to London, one visit from Megan (please?), and lots of time spent listening to Coldplay and Arctic Monkeys :D