Traveling and Eating, Eating and Traveling

The great thing about macrobiotics is that it's not about being strict with yourself. It's about finding balance. That's not always easy when traveling but having some food of your own helps. (As did the Philly airport having hummus. If I have to be stuck an extra three hours somewhere please let there be hummus!) We had granola made before we left and three hummus and sauerkraut sandwiches each. Which helped deal with the food on the flight there.

In a word: horrible.



The food on the way back: better. (Note: the vegetables actually look like the color they are supposed to be!)



In Austria, aka Sausagelandia, we had the best breakfasts (that were fully included at the hotel). Make your own muesli out of oatmeal, nuts, coconut, seeds (mine with fresh plain yogurt, Dandelion the Bitter Green with applesauce or fruit) plus awesome dark bread and homemade jam, or sometimes cheese, and a piece of fruit.



Lunches and dinners were a different matter. I had looked up veg places online but like restaurants everywhere most had gone out of business by the time we came a'knocking. We did eat at one fabulous organic Indian restaurant. Had an awesome rice, chickpea and lentil plate.



The rest of the time we ate pizza, fish, or a chocolate covered pretzel filled with apricot jam (kind of weird I have to say). One thing I tried to remember everywhere we were was to chew slowly and drink lots of water. I think both helped me digest everything I ate with minimal problems.

Spain was better for us mostly because we were staying with vegetarian Argentines so we could all cook together and they didn't think it was weird to eat quinoa or lentils. They ate way more fruit than we normally do but it's also much hotter there. Another great thing about macrobiotics is that it changes per the climate. If you live in a hot place (or happen to be having a really hot summer) you eat more fruits, salads, and spicy foods. All of these things cool you off more. In our typical SF cold climate we can get away with eating hot oatmeal for breakfast almost every day of the year. In Barcelona not so much.



I had also looked up veg restaurant options there and again several were closed, missing, disappeared. We did find two other all veg restaurants, one vegan and one vegetarian. The vegan one we found first and Dandelion the Bitter Green ate more than his body weight in tofu, greens, and fruit smoothies. I had an awesome polenta, black beans, and guacamole plate with a fresh fruit smoothie. At the second place I had a teriyaki seitan dish and gazpacho plus strawberries with chocolate and whipped cream for dessert.





We even found a veg restaurant in the tiny town where Salvador Dali lived. It was far on the outskirts of the touristy area but was doing quite a business. Low stools around wooden tables on (maybe I'm remembering this wrong) a dirt floor. Everyone smoked and there was a kitchen cat that hung out on the tables when you were not eating. I had a couscous and veggies dish and everyone else had rice and veggies.

And except for the time we ordered chickpea soup which came with half a bowl of meat in it (sausage, ham, bacon, ham, and maybe more ham) we did pretty well. We had the best falafel I've ever had from a small chain restaurant that apparently is styled on NY falafel places. You got the basic pita with balls in it and then added extras from a salad bar. Baked cauliflower and carrots, plus roasted red peppers made me so happy at that moment.



The only quest that was unfulfilled was my desire for churros and chocolate. Apparently it was a common dish, on many menus, but no one actually had any churros in stock. I take comfort in the fact that I had an "ice chocolate" in Sausagelandia which was unsweetened hot chocolate with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. Amazing!