A Travellin' Vegan Mofo: Petaluma & Oakland

After that exciting night at Lagunitas and a consequent bedtime of 8pm (oh, what working early hours will do to one's sleep habits) Jeff and I made our way into Petaluma proper. It's such a tiny town full of cute stores and bakeries. I was peeking at menus and found a place called Food Bar that boasted a tofu scramble that could be made vegan (uh, it had eggs) and we stopped in. It was actually pretty good, if not a little plain, and the potatoes were wonderfully crispy.

After eating, we wandered around a bit. Downtown is really, really tiny and it took us all of 15 minutes to take it all in.

We then made our way to the Oakland airport because it is far cheaper to catch the Bart there and take it into San Francisco than to take it from SFO. I had been browsing the PPK thread about SF and Oakland and noticed a mention of The Olde Depot and Beer Revolution, two beer shops next door to each other that were vegan friendly! So, of course, we had to stop in. We split the vegan cheezesteak and pretzel. The menu listed the cheezesteak as having TVP as the protein, but what was actually on there was more like a chewy soy meat. No matter, it was delicious!

I really loved both places. Beer Revolution prided itself on not carrying "corporate" beers so we tried to stick with local breweries we'd never heard of. I would recommend a stop in to anyone who enjoys a sudsy pint!

Tomorrow I plan on discussing the two breakfasts we had in San Francisco. We didn't hit Herbivore or Gracias Madre or Millenium or any of the cool spots, but I think we made out just fine.

Vegan MOFO: PDX to SFO via STS

Oh, fellow MOFO'rs, has it really been 12 days since my last missive? You know that feeling when you *should* be doing something (like posting regularly) and you're all set up to do so but then several days go by and it just feels like it's too late to make it up? Yeah, that happened!

No worries, let's dive back in again, yeah? Jeff and I took an anniversary trip (we've been married for 5 years now, woo!) to San Francisco this year. Because flights are notoriously late into SFO due to ATC flow (as in, the fog slows everything down and ATC has to fit in all those late flights throughout the day SOMEWHERE) we decided to fly through Santa Rosa after I got off of work and stop in at a brewery that's been on my list for ages: Lagunitas. The original plan would be to hit up Russian River that Sunday and then head to Lagunitas on Monday, but apparently Lagunitas is closed on Mondays! No worries, I can stop in at Russian River any ol' time.

Lagunitas was, in a word, adorable. The back patio was beautiful and one could have their dog there if one wished (the people next to us brought their rescue Greyhound, which was the best). It's in Petaluma's commercial area, which meant there wasn't a whole bunch to do around our hotel after stopping in at the brewery. Some photos from that magical visit:

This is kind of a terrible photo, but Santa Rosa Airport is actually the Charles Shulz Airport! The airport has these cute statues and is super tiny and my new favorite.

After getting into STS, we picked up our rental car and drove south to Petaluma, where Lagunitas was housed. As I said, Lagunitas is in the commercial area, so we found a cheap hotel nearby and walked there, planning our visit to Petaluma Proper to happen the next morning. Can I just repeat how much I love Lagunitas? They are veggie friendly with their sandwiches (most you can just leave the cheese off) and all but one of their beers is listed as vegan on Barnivore. Plus, pups!

 

 Petting the pup, as I do.

 

 The BEST sampler.

I had the Roasted Veggie Grill (minus cheese!) and we shared a super salty pretzel. Like, ridiculously salty. This is coming from a couple of salt fiends, even!

This is Jeff's face, all the time. hahahahaha!

Tomorrow I will share about our (short) time in Petaluma and a visit to Oakland for, you guessed it, more beer!

Busy!

 Sometimes, SW Portland can be pretty.

Next week I'm finally moving back into my old neighborhood.

If you know me at all (or, hey, just read my whining on here) you know that I do not like living in SW Portland. We moved here because it was cheaper and closer to the school I was attending at the time, but now it's just a chore to travel back and forth. I work up here part-time, but it ain't no thang. I will happily commute back home in the evening if it means I can walk somewhere without worry of getting hit, without climbing massive hills, without the constant drone of the freeway in my ears. Although, I'm curious to see how long it will take me to get used to sleeping without the white noise of the freeway.

That's not to say I won't miss SW. Barbur World Foods has stolen my heart with their hummus and hot pita. Green Wok has happily soothed some intense Chinese cravings. John's Marketplace allowed me to buy beer from Norway. A sweet friend I've gotten used to running with will be farther away. Native Foods (and soon, Veggie Grill) won't be something I'm closer to than all the rest of Portland.

But, I can deal with all of that if it means I'm happy where I'm living. We'll be living within blocks of my favorite brewpub (Hopworks!). I can train for my half marathon without worrying about the strain the hills are putting on my legs (yeah, I KNOW it's a good thing, but do not want). I can walk on real sidewalks on streets that don't end in gravel. I won't have to give detailed directions to my friends due to Google and Mapquest's attempts to send them off a bridge.

So, the Effs have been busy packing, sorting, tossing. We're downsizing in space (but really, not too much) and in closets (we will have exactly ONE at the new place) so it's a great opportunity for us to get rid of EVERYTHING. I have major plans when it comes to interior design, I'm tired of living in apartments that don't reflect me. In addition to all this, we both are in school and working. Our time together feels like those lonely highways where you pass another car every 2.5 hours. I know it's temporary, but it definitely stresses me out.

Being busy means I don't have a lot of time to cook, so our food has been quick or not made by me. Some goodies as of late:

Freezing pizza dough for calzones = genius. Daiya on sale = magic.

Rotini with red lentil sauce from Robin Robertson's One Dish Vegetarian cookbook (LOVE)

  There's a new Laughing Planet by PSU. This is their Chairman Meow bowl, so delicious and light.

Rogue has a lunchtime deal called Hoppy Hour, where you get lunch with a $2 pint. If you know Rogue's prices, you know this is an awesome deal. I got their black bean quinoa salad (not bad, but not the best) and....

 their Yellow Snow IPA. It is my favorite IPA, unfortunately seasonal.

This week I plan to write about my experience at a Native Foods cooking demo! I went with two awesome ladies and a grand time was had by all.

Barreling through Munich

Aaah! You know when you get really busy and days just fly by and you forget to update your blog? Well that happened to me, minus the busy part. I just didn't post.

The problem with travelling all over a beautiful country such as Germany in a short amount of time is the sad fact we didn't get to see very much at all. We had two full days to spend in Munich, one reserved to visit Neuschwanstein. The remainder of that day and the second day we saved to visit a beer hall and explore the city. Well, castle visiting went much longer than we thought (thanks to waiting for the required guided tours) and we had to leave Munich at a somewhat reasonable time to get to Salzburg early. As I will explain soon, this backfired no thanks to some shitty Google walking directions.

We arrived in gorgeous, sunny Munich exhausted from train riding and not expecting the heat. Our hotel was quite a hike away, but we didn't feel comfortable attempting the subway. So we hoofed it. Along the way, my grumpy, sweaty self was excited to see this:

In case you can't see the date, it was founded in 1397! A brewery older than the US! Long before Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue! If you're not from a somewhat "new" country like the US, it probably means nothing to you, but I cannot get over the history of the place. I knew that Munich and I would get along despite the sun. We finally reached our hostel (Hotel Nymphenburg, which I STRONGLY recommend, despite the hike) and the very sweet staff directed us around the corner for food. We settled on an Italian restaurant (a cuisine Germany is VERY good at) and were not disappointed. Something we've learned over the span of our travels: choose a place that's busy. You're almost always guaranteed good food and service, even if you're cheap like us! I had plenty of vegan options in Germany thanks to Italian restaurants and the beer purity laws. That's right, they don't see the need to add shit like gelatin, milk powder or eggs to their beer. I *heart* Germany.

 

And that was kind of it for our first night. I think we were both pooped from travelling and had an exciting adventure to get up early for the next day.

The train from Munich to Fussen (the town outside of Neuschwanstein) was something like 3 hours. It was a very pretty ride, but when you share the train with other obnoxious tourists, it kind of makes you crazy. The gorgeous scenery helped (and the fact you can drink beer on the train).

 We got to Fussen, bought our tickets and figured since the (required) guided tour didn't start for another couple of hours we would hike to the castle. It was about a mile up, no worse than hiking to our very own Multnomah Falls, but it was HUMID as hell. Humidity is not something Portland offers. This lady made me feel even worse about my uncomfortable hike:

C'mon, HEELS?! And a hat?! It took everything I had no to strip off all of my clothing. Well, and Jeff told  me not to. We finally made it, though, sweaty and stinky and thirsty. And it was SO WORTH IT.

 

 

 

 

I rank this castle higher than Versailles any day. Ludwig planned it as a tribute to Wagner's operas, and all of the detail that went into it was just so amazing. Unfortunately, no photos allowed inside, but you must go. Right now. And then have this after, because it is uber sticky and hot up there at the top.

 

Our last day in Munich was spent stashing our bags at the Munich train station and searching for Hofbrauhaus, one of the oldest beer halls in Munich. It also happens to be a site where Hitler held one of his first meetings for the Nazi party. Just the thought of being in a place where something like that happened gives me the chills.

Because Google walking directions suck major ass, we got lost. And then, like almost every other time we got lost during this trip, it began to pour. Now, I'm used to the rain. But when you're lost and the surroundings are unfamiliar and it starts to rain, it feels as if the world is conspiring against you.

 

 

Somehow, SOMEHOW, we found the right street and subsequently Hofbrauhaus. It was AMAZING. The seating was family style and the room was noisy and raucous. We sat next to a German couple from Frankfurt that didn't seem to mind our wet company and swapped travel tips (they told us about Frankfurt - good for shopping - and we told them about Hway 101 and Route 66 - good for driving). Munich, I officially want to come back.

I hope to have a post up about Salzburg today or tomorrow. In my opinion, Portland and Salzburg should be sister cities in their weirdness.

Eating and Drinking in Bruges.

Going through my photos of Bruges, I realized that I would have to split the post up even further to go into any sort of detail. So in this post, I will focus on our gastronomic experiences in this gorgeous city and tomorrow I will share the sights of  Bruges, Antwerp and Oostende.

When people ask what my favorite part of this trip was, I automatically answer Belgium, especially Bruges. Everyone we met was incredibly friendly and helpful and the language barrier was not present whatsoever. For example, our bed and breakfast was run by a man that knew at LEAST 4 languages (Flemish, French, English and German) and he liked to push more food on us, despite the overflowing bread basket still sitting on our table next to the homemade jams and fruit bowls. Our very last night in Bruges was spent getting drunk with a local who Jeff bonded with over futbol. He bought us drinks, we bought him drinks, we exchanged emails and phone numbers and a jolly good time was had all around. I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t have happened in Paris.

Our first mission when we arrived in Bruges was to find dinner. I had made notes on vegan friendly places in most of the cities we were staying in and while Bruges wasn’t overflowing with options, there were a couple. Passion for Food was where we ended up. It was empty save for the employee’s family, which meant the man that helped us talked to us forever about what to see while we were here and his own visit to the states. It was a great experience and I encourage everyone that travels to talk to the people who live there, wherever you go! Generally they’re curious about where you’re from and willing to give you tips and recommendations. On to the goods!

My dinner was a tasty roasted veggie bowl with lentils, chickpeas, bulgur and apples. Being the most substantial thing I had eaten in days (and for days to come), it tasted amazing. Accompanying it was a beer that we would become familiar with during our stay in Belgium.

 

I don’t remember what Jeff had, but I doubt it was as good as mine, I tend to pick well in all walks of life. He did pick this tasty thirst quencher, though. The waiter told him, “you’re on vacation” when he pointed to the 9% alc. label. OH YES WE ARE.

 The next day, after some strenuous sight-seeing (which I will grace you with tomorrow) we set out to find a pub called Staminet de Garre, famous for their incredibly potent house beers. As in, limit 3 per visit potent. It was tucked away in an alley, but you know I found it. I don’t think my face shows just how excited I was.

As they didn’t open for another hour, we decided to take the brewery tour at Halve de Maan, an ancient brewery on the edge of the city. The tour lasted at least an hour and is so popular they do one every hour, in three different languages! At the end you’re rewarded with a glass of the Brugse Zot, the same beer I had the night before. I wasn’t complaining!

 

 

 

 

 

My absolute favorite part of the tour? This guy.

Sufficiently buzzed, we made our way back to Staminet de Garre. You know, for more beer. Potent beer. It was everything I had every dreamed of, and more.

 

We managed to hit this place one last time before we left. The second time, we sat upstairs with a family from Canada who had an old man dressed in lederhosen having a grand old time. Upon leaving, one of the family members told the Scottish server, “if you’re ever in Canada, you let me know!” After they left, the server looked at us and muttered, “who would want to go to CANADA?” To which we giggled. I mean, after years and years of having to claim Canadian citizenship to avoid answering for the Bush administration, it felt good not to be the scapegoat. I love you Canada!

On a final note, I must talk to you about Speculoos. My friends on the PPK have been fired up about it for months and I finally understand why. I’m assuming you’ve tried Biscoff cookies at least once during your life. Well, this is a spread made of those cookies. A COOKIE SPREAD. It is the most amazing food product ever made and we went through two jars during our trip. They’re starting to make it available in the States and I encourage you to search it out. If you are close to me in person, I have a jar of my very own and I MIGHT share with you.