Best news ever!
I am going on a magical mystery tour of Eastern and Central Europe in the spring. Starting off in Istanbul, I'm going to hit Budapest, Prague, Vienna, and hopefully Berlin. There is no reason for this trip other than the fact that I'm craving an escape from law school, DC, and... myself! And thanks to some extra waitressing money coming in, I can just about do it. (Although I really should be throwing it into bottomless pit of lawschool loans.) In my experience, if you put something off until there's a good time, you'll never do it.
I have been to some of Europe before. Right after college my bf and I traveled to England, France, and Spain via Eurorail and had a grand old time. The only dowside (other than the fact that my bf insisted on climbing every winding staircase in every church) was the food. Although these countries aren't naturally hostile to vegetarians, we weren't prepared in advance and it caused plenty of problems. After a day of trampling through museums and unknown parts of town, you're so hungry that you'll eat anywhere- even if the only available food is patatas bravas and beer. The other issue is that if you're not paying attention, you end up spending way too much money just to get some tofu. I'm hoping to avoid both these problems this time around. (Although, living on carbs and beer is not a fate worse than death.)
But this time I'm going to be uber-prepared. I'm going to have a list of every vegetarian establishment in all of Europe, and be aware of where grocery stores are. I'm hoping it will be relatively cheap as well. My friends think I stlll can't make it all vegan (cough, cough, M.E.!) but I'm going to do it.
In the meantime, if I come across good ideas for veggie-friendly travel between now and then, I'll definitely post it either here, or in the margins under the travel section. And if anyone reading this has recomendations, lay it on me! I'm ridiculously excited to embark.
6 comments:
That sounds like so much fun. And haha about the loans (I feel you, I recently graduated [just with a Bachelor's] and am feeling the pain. I love how you get all the congrats for graduating, everything is great, and about five minutes after you walk you are getting student loan repayment info in the mail. :-)
Good plan on being prepared to be a veg abroad. It's not something many people (at least I wouldn't) think about when first planning a trip, but making sure you have access to edible food is a pretty important thing.
Have fun, and make sure to take lots of pictures so all us vegan bloggers can be jealous of the places you are going to get to see.
oh the sandwhiches we would eat
if boys and girls were bars and grills....
Wow, your trip sounds really fun!
I cannot believe I never knew there was a school whose mascot was the Scottie! I googled your college and showed the link to my mom and we were both ery excited about it hehe. (Yes, I guess we are a *tad* obsessed with Scotties)
Oh man, you should see the scottie stuff I have a a result of that place. Its a reallyamazing school too- I'm totally sending all of my daughters there. (Should I have any.)
I've been planning to comment on this post for a long time, but I feel like once I start, I won't be able to stop!
First: CONGRATS on your upcoming trip! You are going to have such an amazingly wonderful time!! And congrats on saving up the $$ to fund it - that's quite an accomplishment, especially since you've been busy with lots of other things!
Second: Don't worry about the law school loan debt. I know it's much easier said than done (& to be honest, I just had another break-down about my own law school debt last night), but consider it an amazing investment that will pay huge dividends for you in the future! (And this is coming from someone whose debt is in the fever-inducing 6-figure-range - yikes!)
Third: I love that you're planning food for your trip already. I try to do the same thing when I travel - it makes it so much easier.
I actually spent a year living abroad (while in undergrad) in Ireland. I also backpacked for 3 months after that time, & had the opportunity to visit many of the places that you mentioned. (In fact, my bf & I did the Eurorail thing just like you & your bf did!!)
Anyway, Berlin is surprisingly veg-friendly, while Prague can be a little bit more difficult.
(I spent my second law school summer in the Czech Republic - taking classes on international law - so I feel pretty confident in saying that most of the CZ is pretty focused on "meat & potatoes.")
In Prague, itself, you'll have no problem finding lots of basic salads & boiled potatoes (that's what I lived on!) but there are some other options as well. For example, Italian places are always a good choice, as are Indian restaurants.
Also, if I can think of any specific suggestions on where to eat, I'll definitely pass that info along to you.
(I do remember going to a really cool vegetarian buffet, but I'm not certain whether it was in Prague or in Brno - I'll have to let you know...)
Alright, I'm sorry this was so long, but I'm really excited for you! (And I apologize for talking about myself so much - I just wanted to share a bit!)
PS I'm totally jealous that you're going to Budapest - it has been on my list of places to go for a long time! I can't wait to hear about it!!
PPS I don't know if you like beer or not, but Germany & the CZ have some of the best brews in the world - make sure you try as many as you can :)
Good for you! Between the debt and exhaustion, grad school tends to suck the travel right out of you... Fight the power, is what I say! ;)
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