Thursday, January 15, 2009

Electric Lotus Restaurant review, Dresden

The Electric Lotus is located on Louisestrasse which is quite a hip area. There's a long counter with the menu posted above and about seven wooden tables with chairs scattered around the one large room. The atmosphere was pretty basic but the fresh flowers on all the tables cheered things up a bit. The restaurant bills itself as veggie fast food and the menu is simple: bio burger, dahl, thai curry, "mediterranean art", gulash, crepes, and a couple bottled drinks. They have a deal for 6 Euros where you get an appetizer, main, dessert, and some other stuff I couldn't understand because it was in German. Customers order, pay, and pick up food at the counter. The girl who took my order spoke English. I went with the dahl which came as a huge bowl with rice for 3.30 Euros total. The dahl was sweeter than the dahl (lentils) found in most Indian restaurants in American where I've eaten. It was not spicy at all but there were a variety of spices at the counter one could use to add some heat. I think next time I would try the burger or the special combo if I could figure it out. Electric Lotus was nice for a cheap veggie meal and I would return to try other dishes.

Brenn Nessel Restaurant Review, Dresden

I had my largest vegan screw up at Brenn Nessel. But first, let's get to the good stuff. Brenn Nessel is off the tourist path so you have to search it out. It's really cute inside with candles on all the wooden tables, a big wooden bar, a low ceiling, nice music, and good lighting. The menu was all in German and I didn't really try to speak English to the waitress, though this was probably my first mistake. I randomly ordered a cous cous salad because I could make out "cous cous", "salad", "avocado", and "vinegrette" in the description. A reviewer on Happycow.net had written that all the vegan options were just the menu options without cheese. However, in my infinite wisdom, I didn't try to ask for no cheese and just hoped there would be none. Of course there was a cubed white cheese all over the salad when it arrived. I didn't feel right sending it back because it was my fault for not asking. I spent half my time scooping out the cheese and when I was done it looked like I had only eaten half of the significant portion. I'm sure I still ate some of the cheese but I have only myself to blame. Otherwise the salad was really good. There was cous cous, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, and a light and fresh vinegrette. After my meal I had a beer and read for awhile in the comfy restaurant. The beers were 2 Euros each. I was slightly drunk when I emerged back into the pale sunlight.

I highly recommend asking for no cheese or help with the menu when hitting up Brenn Nessel. Still, the atmosphere and food were nice.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Dresden, Germany

This entry is copied straight from my journal.



1/18/08
Dresden has been lonely. The old town is grand and imperial but walking through the streets I feel small and invisible. No one speaks English, which at one time I would have liked, but here, alone, it is daunting. All I want to do is sit in the sun and read but I am almost out of books.

I sat in the hostel kitchen tonight while a trio of Australian girls made dinner from food left on the "free" shelf. I was so happy to hear English I just sat listening to them excitedly devise their dinner menu. Then I couldn't think of an intro line. I sat there like I was invisible. Finally I asked them where they were from. All these images of drinking with them in the bar downstairs or walking around with them tomorrow flashed through my head. Our conversation was about 3 exchanges long. My meal finished I had no further excuse to remain there so I retreated to the solitary of my empty room. As I was leaving I imagined myself through their eyes, awkward and uncomfortable. All plans of company dashed. Another lonely night.

DRESDEN DAY 2 1/19/08

It was rainy when I woke up this morning. I got dressed and headed upstairs to the kitchen for breakfast. Upon opening the little fridge I found that someone had taken 2 of the 3 remaining soy yogurts I purchased yesterday. Cursing under my breath I ate the last one with nuts and raisins left over from a larger mixed nuts bag my mom supplied prior to the trip and drank a chocolate soy milk.

I put on my rain jacket over my hoodie and stepped outside. It was only drizzling at that point so I stated down Krospergerplatz. I turned onto Louisestrasse. I had a litte map given to me by the hostel and I planned to visit Buchers Best, a used bookstore, first thing. I quickly discovered that Louisestrasse is a rather hip street lined with skate shops, head shops, boutiques, and restaurants. I reached Buchers Best just as they opened at 11 am and was led to the back room by a tall thin girl with cropped brown hair and an eyebrow ring. She proudly told me that she had just finished the English book shelf yesterday and recommended Herman Hesse and Gunter Grasse. She gave me green tea while I browsed the 5 small shelves. I ended up buying My Century by Gunter Grasse, Seducing the Demons by Erica Jong, Lonesome Traveller by Jack Kerouac, and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. I was tempted to also purchase Hard Boiled Wonder by Murakami but I need to conserve funds and not weigh myself down. I had finished The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera the night before so I sold it to Buchers Best for 2 Euros. I liked the book okay. It was nice to read it just after Prague so that I recognized the location and historical references (well, not all of them). I find Jundera to be very preoccupied with sex. Most of his female characters don't seem to enjoy sex while all of his male characters certainly do.

Then I walked a bit more around the neighborhood before eating some Dahl at a veggie restaurant I had sought out before arrival. When I left the bookstore the sun was out and the threat of real rain looked to have passed. After lunch I walked to the old town to check out Grosser Gartens with the hope of spending the afternoon reading in the sun. As I crossed one of the many bridges I could tell this was not to be as the sun had taken refuge behind some ominous clouds. I made it to the gardens and found an open air market taking place across the street. Wandering through I smiled to myself as I watched old German women buy meat, cheese, vegetables, and sweet baked goods from the little stahls. I wanted to buy something myself but I only had a 50 Euro note and didn't want to try breaking it. Finally I crossed the street and walked into the park. I took some random paths off of the main trail and found a beautiful tiled fountain standing in the center of a small clearing. I sat on a bench further on under a large tree I was unable to identify and got started on My Century. After about 20 minutes I had to give up because I was too cold. The sky was still dark, the fun refusing to make a second appearance that day. I walked around a bit more but I was cold and wanted comfort so I began back towards the river with my hostel in mind. On the way I tried to get some money out of a bankomat but was rejected 3 times by 2 different machines. Now I am sitting in the bar at my hostel drinking a beer and a Dandy Warhols song has just come on. I feel quite happy to be just where I am.


THOUGHTS ON DRESDEN

-lots of punks around
-really good stencils and street art
-seems hip but I've run out of things to do far too quickly.
-tons of bikes but I haven't seen any fixed gears

Lehkahlava in Prague

Lehkahlava ("Clear Head" in English) vegan restaurant is located down a tiny side street near the Charles Bridge. I walked by the street without noticing it on my first try. The restaurant is often packed at peak meal times so I highly recommend stopping in at odd hours. There are 4 different dining areas, each uniquely designed to be comfortable and interesting. Right as you enter that's a room with couches and pink and yellow walls. I imagine this room is used for large parties. There's another dining area that has creamy pink walls with giant silver flowers stenciled on them and another in the back that has blue walls with twinkling star lights on the ceiling. There's even a little courtyard where the toilet is and some tables to sit at if the weather is nice.

The menu is extensive with appetizers (chips and guacamole, various breads and dipping sauces), soups (soup of the day as well as red lentil with veggies), salads, entrees, desserts, juices, cocktails, beer, and wine. I tried the red lentil soup with veggies and was pleased to find the creamy coconut milk base soup with red lentils and pieces of red pepper simple and tasty. I treated myself to a Pilsner Urquell (I walked around in the rain all day!) beer for the reasonable price of about $2.50. As my main I selected the bulgar wheat risotto with red and yellow peppers, zucchini, carrot, and smoked tofu in a red sauce. The portion was large (I actually had to take some home. Be warned, they charge for the take home container) and the sauce was spectacular. It was almost like a sweet barbeque sauce. The total was about 15 dollars which is quite cheap considering I had soup, a beer, an entree, as well as leftovers. I really enjoyed the whole meal. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I stopped by again the next day for lunch.

On my second visit I tried a simple marinara pasta with vegetables. I could see everyone around me enjoying the special and was kicking myself for having chosen something else. That is until the huge dish of fat noodles heaped with vegetables was set in front of me. The dish was filling and delicious, leading me to think anything you choose on the menu will turn out to be wonderful. I highly recommend this restaurant, not only for the cute interior and friendly, English speaking staff, but also for the huge portions and tasty creations.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Prague, Czech Republic

I took an overnight train from Venice to Prague. It was only 70 Euro and I was in a 4 bed sleeper with a family that I believe was German. The daughter was around my age and had a bunch of piercings and hair dyed reddish purple. When I took off my jacket and she saw my tattoos she seemed suddenly interested in me and helped me figure out the lights. I don´t think any of them spoke any English though. The train was fine, I slept well, except that early in the morning they woke us to get off, get on a bus and drive into the Czech Republic from Austria. They said it was because they were crossing borders that this had to be done but I´ve now taken 5 overnight trains and that was the only one where we had to disembark and take a bus.

After a little confusion I reached my hostel in Prague. It was a bit far from the city but it was incredibly relaxed and nice. One of my favorite my whole trip, actually. It was called Sant Jordi Hostel. Check it out if you ever go to Prague. The first day I used the free internet for awhile and then walked into the city and randomly found myself in front of the astronomical clock just as it was about to start. It was a little anticlimactic but whatever. Then I found a grocery store and bought some soy milk and cookie crisp cereal, gnocchi, pasta sauce, and broccoli. When I was leaving I noticed a little stand just outside selling these sweet pretzel like rolls. There had been a huge crowd when I entered the grocery store so I bought one upon exiting and it was hot and delicious. I made the trek back to the hostel with my goods and cooked a scrumptious dinner that I couldn´t finish and passed out.

The next morning I woke to find a drizzling Prague outside my window. Since I was alone (first part of the trip alone besides Lucerne!) and could make these sorts of decisions, I had a museum day. When I was on the internet after eating my soy milk and cookie crisp, I looked up and noticed this giant poster of a drawing of a woman. It was beautiful. The signature in the corner said ¨Mucha¨. My guide book had said something about a Mucha museum and at that moment I knew I would be visiting said museum. It happened to be the closest to the hostel so that was my first stop on my impromtu museum day. I had never heard of Alfonso Mucha until that day but now I think he is my favorite artist, graphic artist at least. His drawings are swirly and intricate and beautiful. Check this out.



The museum was really amazing. There was a little film about how Mucha (pronounced ¨Mooker¨) was born in then Czechoslovakia and by chance became famous because he was working in a print shop on Christmas Eve when all the real artists were at home and the famous actress Sarah Bernheardt came to the shop demanding a poster quickly. They gave him the job and he produced and long thin beautiful poster for her and was immediately signed to do all her posters afterwards. He moved to Paris and became very famous but he always felt guilty about his wealth knowing his Slavic people were still not independent. So he travelled to the states to make money so he could return to his homeland and devote his talents to helping his people become free. He made a whole Slavic epic series of huge paintings with really Slavic looking girls and Slavic symbols. Those are not in the museum because they are huge but the film showed them. When Czechoslovakia finally gained independence Mucha designed their postal stamps and all the money. He did everything. I bought a shitload of postcards and bookmarks at the shop. I think I might get one of his flower designs or something of his for my next tattoo.

Next up was the nerby Museum of Communism. It was a little hecticly laid out but I enjoyed it. There was some film footage of the protests in Wenceslas Square against communist occupation that were just brutal. To think that it was all happening in 1989, when I was alive, blows my mind. It was just kids trying to voice their opinions peacefully and they just got beat to hell. I had to look away several times as I couldn´t help but tear up at the police brutality. Revolution sounds so cool but the reality is bloody and not pretty.

I was getting hungry at this point to I headed to one of the veggie restaurants happycow.net and Julie recommended. I was practically jumping out of my seat I was so giddy to be in Prague seeing awesome museums and eating at cute vegan restaurants. The meal was really good (read the review next). Afterwards I crossed the street to Charles Bridge. Since it was sort of rainy out there weren´t a whole lot of people on it, which was really nice. I wandered across to the castle side and took a small side street to the Franz Kafka Museum. I haven´t read a whole lot of Kafka but as he´s a really influencial classic writer I felt I should go to the museum. It was a bit confusing but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The low point was in the mirrow hallway where a school group of german 15 year olds were camped out. I could hear one boy saying ¨sex¨and ¨pussy¨over and over again. He had probably just learned them in English and he was, you know, a 15 year old boy. Anyway, I avoided that hall.

Finally I walked to Wenceslas Square to see the memorial for the two young students who lit themselves on fire in protest of the communists occupation in 1969. Then I came back to the hostel and showered, ate lunch leftovers, read and wrote until I passed out. It was so nice to do whatever I wanted!

My second day I set aside to do Prague Castle, which is the largest castle in the world. I shelled out 40 bucks for the extended ticket and audio guide so I could see everything. First I went to St. Vitus Cathedral which had huge beautiful stained glass windows (including an amazing one done by Mucha) and a million chapels. The tombs were closed as was the option of climbing the tower. I walked around and saw some more but about a third of the things I wanted to see were closed. I wish they´d tell you that when you buy the more expensive ticket just so you can see those things. It was cold and windy at the castle and I was just so fed up with everything being closed that I left and walked back to the hostel. Ok well not before I ate at the same veggie restaurant as the day before. On the walk back I stopped and bought 3 different kinds of Czech beer to try. People in the hostel living room were watching Little Miss Sunshine so I drank my beers and watched with them. Then I wandered into the kitchen and talked to some people about where I should stay in Krakow and what to do in Turkey. When I finally got back to my room there were two new Australian girls so I stayed up with the two Canadians talking to them for awhile.

The next morning I finished up my soy milk and cookie crisp and headed out to Dresden.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Venice and I are not friends

In Venice I could not find a bed to sleep in so I opted for 8 hours there and then an overnight train to Prague. On the train from Florence I could see that it was raining in Venice. Undeterred, I marched headlong into the storm with flip flips on because the Florence storm had taken out my chucks already. I got to Saint Mark's Square after huddling under various souvenir shop canopies until the owners kicked me out. By the time I finally arrived I was cold, wet, tired, uncomfortable, hungry, and my feet ached. I walked around the square, took some grey pictures, got lost in the little streets continuously crossing this or that canal, ate some overpriced Chinese food sitting in my soaked pants, bought gifts for Jacki and Remy, and then walked back to the train station. I still had 4 hours until my overnight train. It had basically stopped raining at this point but I was so miserable that it was too late. I paid a Euro to go to the bathroom and change into dry clothes and then sat in the train station, reading and sleeping.

Venice was what I expected it to be: rainy.

Il Vegetariano Veg Restaurant Review - Florence, Italy

Back to Florence. It wasnt hard to convince Julie (also a vegetarian) to check out Il Vegetariano. We got there right when they opened. The interior is really rustic and cute. Theres a dining room when you walk in and stairs to the left which lead down into another dining room, the kitchen, and a further dining room. The staff didnt speak much English but there was one woman there who translated the menu for us. The place was full of locals so Im not sure she even worked there. You order with the cashier and then wait at the counter for your food to come up. I think youre supposed to give them your ticket as well. The menu is a little small, with the vegan items marked. Dishes include pasta, couscous, eggplant, salads, soups, and lots of desserts. Free whole wheat bread comes with the meal. Julie had pasta with mushrooms, which was good. It had a nice flavor and at first I was a little jealous that I hadnt picked it as well. I had the seitan wih green beans which came with rice and salad. The flavor was very rich and the seitan had a good consistency, not too chewy. The portion was quite large. I want to try the desserts next time but I was too full.