Luverly London

Our last stop on our journey was the hectic and historic London.  After spending time in the relaxing Cornwall countryside and seaside towns, it was a bit of a shock to be angling for my spot on the crowded sidewalks and to be smashed like a sardine into the muggy underground trains of London.  

Our first stop was to the theater discount ticket booth to see if we can procure a ticket to a musical that starts in a few hours.  There is one in Paddington Station.  After hearing all the choices we opted for some nicely priced orchestra seats to Kinky Boots in a theater a few steps from our hotel.  We rushed to the hotel, checked in and got  our bearings.  I chose an architectural gem built in 1865.  The Alba on the Strand presented  lofty ceilings, grand curving staircases and a fine location next to the Charing Cross underground. 

The subways or “tube” in London is the way everyone gets around here. They are quick, cheap and easy,  for even a directionally challenged traveler,  to follow.   On this trip, we have stayed in lodgings so small the bed hardly fit in the room and at the Alba, we enjoyed a more luxurious lodging with free Wifi and marble bathrooms.  

The show, Kinky Boots, was a rollicking evening of fun!! The premise of the show was that a failing shoe company decided to make sturdy kinky boots in which transvestite men could be comfy.  The songs, acting and story were first rate and I highly recommend it!

Our vegan food experience in London was wonderful!  It seemed that each establishment had a number of plant based items on the menu.  I enjoyed Farmacy the most. My favorite meal of the day is breakfast and Farmacy delivered.  My entree was an “omelette” made out of chickpea flour and filled with sweet squash and savory kale.  KO had gluten free macaroni and vegan cheese with a truffle crumble and we shared a Caesar Salad  with mushroom “anchovies” and avocado and a delicious plant based dressing.  I loved everything! 

Another breakfast we traveled to by tube was Wulf and Lamb.  The sign outside said, “Friends Who Prey Together Stay Together.”  This seemed like an odd choice for a plant based restaurant and the name, Wulf and Lamb,  seemed off too, but the food was pretty good. My porridge of quinoa and oats hit the spot.  KO really enjoyed  his “eggs” made of ackee, a fruit found in Jamaica.  It was way too spicy for me!

The last night we tried a Turkish restaurant called Tas.  It was near the British Museum and offered al fresco dining.  The Mediterranean countries often supply dishes that complement our diet and Tas had many choices for us.  Turkish menus accentuate vegetables and that was what I was craving.  KO’s dish was described as Turlo, a mixed vegetable stew of potatoes, eggplant, peppers, carrots and tomatoes, served with couscous.  My dish was Pirasali, leeks cooked with chickpeas, green lentils and pomegranate sauce, also served with couscous.  Both were tangy and delicious and nice for a change. 

Other foreign cuisines that lend themselves to veganism are Japanese (vegan sushi, tempura, ramen soups), Chinese (tofu dishes), Mexican (vegan beans, rice and veggies in a corn tortilla), Italian ( pasta with sauteed veggies and chickpeas), and Greek (hummus, tabbouli, falafel, eggplant dip).  Salads can be found at every restaurants but the dressings might not be vegan.  In the airport, we needed some food for ten hours of traveling.  I was surprised to find Leon, a healthier alternative to the usual airport fare.  For my lunch I chose Grilled Butternut Squash on a bed of kale with pinenuts and sunflower seeds. For dinner I purchased Falafel resting on a salad with brown rice.  So you can find healthy options, even in an airport these days.

With only one and one half days in London our time was spare.  Portobello Market near Notting Hill was a pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  Our favorite market is Borough Market but unfortunately it is closed on Sundays.  Portobello Market extended for many blocks with stalls of eclectic wares being sold along with international foods.   We opted to locate the actual setting for “Notting Hill”, an older movie with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts which was filmed nearby. 

Others, speaking in foreign languages, were taking photos right along with us of the famous blue door behind which Julia hid out with Hugh from her adoring public.  Then we found Hugh’s travel shop,  which is now a souvenir shop.  I must admit I was quite disillusioned to see the real thing as it looked nothing like the movie and Hugh didn’t even show up to give me a hug!  Earlier that day we stopped in to the British Museum which is free to wander.  KO spent his time searching for the oldest treasure in the place and decided it was some figurines of the oldest representatives of man, 7200 years BC, found under a house in a pit.  I rested my tootsies in the gift shop and looked at books of Japanese Erotica, read Peter Rabbit, skimmed the book of Anne Frank, and learned that the American government funded Mengele’s experiments on Eugenics and twins.  It was a very educational experience to peruse all the interesting books.

A word about air travel...

Air travel is not for the faint of heart.  If you have difficulty walking or carrying your luggage, you would probably be better off staying at home.  On our last day we had to go to Heathrow Airport. We packed light for this trip. 

Everything fit into two backpacks, mine light, KO’s large, and a medium suitcase that only weighed 35 pounds. Occasionally we had a food bag to carry with meals and snacks.  That last day, we had to take a subway train and transfer once.   Then we took the Heathrow Express, included with our Britrail Pass. When we got to Heathrow,  we had to find Terminal 2, which was nowhere near where they let us off.  We walked for several minutes, then got to the place for tickets and checked our bag, waited at the VAT office to get my refund for a ring I purchased, went through the security, where KO was frisked and had his backpack unpacked and searched and had to repack himself, went down four moving side walks, up several escalators and finally arrived at our gate where another 300 people were waiting!  It was exhausting, and we are pretty fit!!!  I didn’t see any wheelchairs or people moving vans. All I saw were people scowling that it took too long!  You must be in healthy shape to travel.  Before this trip, I had suffered for months from a case of sciatica and plantar fasciitis.  If it had not healed by the time of my trip, it would have been very difficult to accomplish the long days of walking and sightseeing that we did.  This is a good reminder to me to eat healthy food and stay fit because I’m planning on traveling for quite awhile!  

In addition, traveling requires “going with the flow.”  Once my friend and I were coming back from Vienna when they took us out to the runway, kept us there three hours and then decided the plane and crew couldn’t fly that day after all. It was a Sunday and they only had one agent for 400 people to rebook all of us, put us up overnight in a hotel and give us dinner. It was a madhouse,  but in situations like these you must keep a cool help and let go.  Things go wrong all the time.  Delays, cancellations, missed flights and other unexpected and unplanned mishaps are all part of the journey.

This trip to the UK has come to an end and its back to our day to day lives.  Next year we have found a Vegan cruise that goes to Lisbon, Portugal, Barcelona and other spots in Spain, the island of Mallorca, Marseilles in France and ends in Monte Carlo in Monaco.  This trip includes airfare, four excursions, tips and taxes, and all your food and lodging!! All this for just about $2200 for an inside cabin on the Oceania around September 29, 2018. Would love to meet some of you on this relaxing voyage. Contact me for more info or check out Vegan Cruisade on facebook.  Please follow me on Healthy Chef and Macro Travel Friends on facebook so we can “meet” and share ideas.  I loved sharing our vacation with all of you.  My viewers  are from England, US, Spain, Peru, Israel, Germany, Netherlands, Ukraine, Australia, Singapore, India, Malaysia,  Russia, France, Canada, and many other places and there were 2500 views of macro adventures these past two weeks!  It is so exciting to know that I can reach so many of you and to share my love of vegan traveling.  Would love to see some comments and to “meet” you online.

Til we meet again....

Charming Cornwall

Stress melts away as our Great Western Railway train rounds the bend and we spy clear blue waters lapping up on a sandy beach cove.  Now we know we have arrived in St. Ives, Cornwall.  Five years ago, we discovered this precious jewel situated on the southwestern tip of England.  We have returned to this little slice of heaven almost every year since then.

The train ride from Paddington Staion in London to St. Ives takes about six hours.  Cities dissolve into small towns and then beautiful lush green patchwork fields and farms as you journey toward Cornwall.  Friends recently flew into Newquay and then got a driver to St. Ives, to shorten the journey, but I think the train is an essential and enjoyable part of the journey.  Modern life, with its cars, technology and upsetting news fades away on the train ride and when we arrive we shut off our phones, avoid the tv, use our feet to get around and contemplate where we are right in this moment.  

The Little Leaf Guest House has been our home away from home every time we have visited St. Ives. Our innkeepers, Anthony and Tim, welcome us like family and make it easy for us to stay healthywith our plant based lifestyle. The breakfasts here are included in the room rate and fill us up for a day of wandering the meandering cobblestone streets and seaside paths.  Our morning meal is composed of creamy porridge made with almond milk, fresh fruit, homemade granola, crispy hash browns, vegan sausage, baked beans and a grilled portobello mushroom.  Eggs as well as french toast and waffles are also offered.  Our hosts even purchase gluten free, vegan digestives for us to go with the tea offered in every room.  Chatting with Anthony is fascinating as he has lived in Thaijland and continues to run a business there.  This personable host seems to never tire of giving us tips on where to pass our days and always makes time for us.  Tim has shared her native Thai rice with us and its a treat to talk with her too.

What I love about St. Ives is the small country town feeling I get when I walk along the ancient streets.  The shopkeepers are friendly and take the time to chat with you. This year we met a couple running a sushi stall type restaurant. She was French and he was from Tahiti.  They have moved to another place with their kids almost every year!  Now they are calling St. Ives home.  What a fascinating life they have had, so different from my own. 

The curving streets and passageways of St. Ives always lead you to an interesting shop or spectacular view or quaint tea room.  The tides here are very interesting to me.  I had never seen bobbing ships at high tide end up sitting right on the dry sea bottom at low tide only to be lifted up once again by the next high tide. 

Plants and flowers grow bountifully here due to the temperate climate and plentiful rainfall. I am envious at the kitchen gardens and baskets brimming with gerbera daisies, purple and yellow pansies, and a wide assortment of wildflowers.  The unique shops and the local bookstore call out to us as we walk by, as do the windows full of baked pasties and British treats that are new to our eyes, with names like sticky toffee pudding, figgyhobbin and fluffy meringues.  There are photo opportunities at every turn!  

Food is a bit of a challenge for us in St. Ives.  We did have some success at the Porthminster Beach Cafe which is perched right on the beach and has lovely sea views while you dine.  The talented chef prepared a thick creamy vegetable soup and a tart filled with nicely seasoned root veggies mounded into a pastry shell and surrounded by a crunchy cucumber salad.  The Blas Burgerworks boasts being among the top burger joints in the country.  We wanted to try their promising Beet Burger but the one hour wait put us off.  At Rajpoot we enjoyed some brilliant korma, a chickpea dish prepared with coconut milk, and served over rice.  Our final night we ended up playing trivia at Coastal Pub and Kitchen. Many of the questions related to England, but our educated guesses proved successful.  We ended up performing better than the British couple at our table while munching on crisp snap peas, kale and lentils.  So we managed to find enough vegan food to get by, but it would be nice if a vegan restaurant opened in St. Ives.

Now for a word regarding travel companions.  When you do journey away from home, it is important to choose wisely and carefully when you decide who to take with you.  Ask yourself these questions about any potential candidate.  Is the person an early riser or a nightowl?  Is the person extravagant with money or a penny pincher?  Does the person prefer hostels or luxurious hotels or quaint 100 year old bed and breakfasts?  Is the person someone who has “diarrhea of the mouth” and won’t even be quiet when you ask them or does the person hardly utter a word?  Is the person a daredevil or a worrywart?  Does the person eat the same way you do so you will be choosing meals that complement both of you?   Is the person a shopper, a moocher, a hiker or the opposite?  Does the person snore or like the room hot when you prefer it cooler?  After you have asked yourself and the potential travel partner these difficult questions, take a trial run. Go away for a few days locally to see how it turns out.  All of this prep will save you lots of heartache in the end.  It is better than going away with someone for two weeks and ending up not speaking to each other because you had certain expectations that your partner can’t meet.  Also, plan on compromising.  You won’t always want to spend time looking at old cars and looking at electronics and he/she won’t always want to wait while you try on dresses or look at jewelry, but both of you must bend to make it work.  Traveling is a lot of fun under the right circumstances with a partner who is a good match.