Last Xmas, my mum, sister, niece and I went to Haarlem. It’s the city my family is from and where almost everyone from my family is born. Once a year we try to visit one city in the Netherlands together. To spend some quality time, do a bit of shopping and to try lots of yummy food. I really wanted to see what kind of vegan places Haarlem has to offer. There are not a lot of all vegan places, but I did find some nice ones that are worth going to. We went by train, so we did not have to worry about parking the car. We left Assen midmorning and around noon we arrived in Haarlem. We needed lunch!
People recommended some places via Instagram and one of them was Chickpea. It was recommended by a girl who works there. So nice! And because another place I really wanted to go, Freaking Vegan, was still closed and we were all really hungry, we decided to have lunch at Chickpea. Chickpea offers very delicious falafel. Served in/with pita bread or as a salad, with lots of salad options you can choose from. They are all vegan and it was very delicious. Beforehand my mum said that she didn’t like falafel as it’s always so dry. Now she knows what good falafel tastes like and she loved it! I definitely recommend this place. It’s great for lunch, but you can also have a lighter bite for a snack. And it was so nice to meet one of my followers at the same time.
We walked around Haarlem, through big shopping streets and some really nice cosy alleys and I loved it. When we were in a sports store, suddenly there was a lovely smell.. there was a lady walking around with fresh Turkish bread. I asked where she got it from, because the smell was irrisistable. She told me where to get it and that they were still warm. Oh my!! I rushed there and was lucky, because there were only 3 left. It was sooooo tasty. The shops closed early as it was Xmas evening, but luckily I managed to find some nice big golden hoops for in my ears, just in time. I was looking for these already for a while. We wanted to visit a place called Mica Coffeebar, to have a little break, but it 
turned out that a lot of cafes and little restaurants closed at 16:00, because of Xmas evening. We didn’t know this and by the time we got there we only had 10 min. So we tried to look for something else, because my mum asked an old school friend to meet us for coffee. We ended up in a really chic place, that was open until late, but didn’t have any plant based milk. So I just ordered a water. I mean, what is the point of drinking tea without milk? We met my mum’s friend, had a nice chat. We then tried to look for a place to have some dinner.
We were able to use the train tickets we had from 18:30 again, but everything was closed at 16:00 already. I tried calling several places, including the place Freaking Vegan, that I really wanted to go to, but I got their voice mail and I assumed that they were closed too. So we tried to see if there maybe was a pizza place somewhere that was going to be open until longer. When we looked for that, we happened to walk passed Freaking Vegan and it looked like it was open! When I asked inside, the very friendly guy said they were open until 21:00! Woohoo!! It’s a 
small place and obviously no one was there on Xmas evening, so we had the whole place for ourselves. It’s all vegan junkfood and we ordered a ‘kapsalon’ (chips, a meat substitute that looks like shawarma and salad), a burger, onion rings and chicken style nuggets. We were so happy to find a place that was open. I was so happy I got to go here and best of all, the food was soooo nice! The onion rings were the best I ever tasted, the portions were big and everyone enjoyed it a lot. We got a hot chocolate to share in the end and without rushing or getting bored, we left perfectly in time for the train.
The train was on time and everything seemed to go well. But when we needed to change to our second train, all trains were cancelled, because of a defect somewhere. So we had to get a bus to Lelystad and from there we were able to continue our journey. The bus journey took long, but was hilarious as we made friend, who we had so much fun with. I really enjoyed it! All together, everything took an hour longer though and my niece really started to get tired, she is only 5. She fell asleep in the last 5 min (isn’t it always like that?), but we did all get home safely.
Haarlem is a beautiful city, especially around Xmas time. There are so many lights everywhere, a big Xmas tree and of course the beautiful and impressive St. Bavo Church in the central market square. I had great fun taking some nice pictures of this beautiful city. I wish we had more time and I had 2 stomachs to try more good vegan food. But I will definitely go back to add to the hotspot list. For now, these are definitely nice places to check out when you visit Haarlem:
HOTSPOT LIST:
– Chickpea: Kleine Houtstraat 2A.
– Mica Coffeebar: Kleine Houtstraat 103.
– Freaking Vegan: Botermarkt 29.
Have you been to Haarlem yet? Or would you like to visit this beautiful city? Please let me know! I would love to hear about your experience and what nice places you discover. You can do this down below or let me know on Instagram via @freedomevermore. Thank you! X
Every year I go on a city trip. Like, I’ve been to Paris, Berlin, Glasgow, Rome.. and this year I decided to explore Copenhagen. I booked for 3 nights, what also gave me about 3 days. Denmark’s capital was on my travel bucket list for quite a while as it’s so known for its sustainability. I will tell you all about my trip and I’ll give you a nice list of hotspot you should definitely check out if you decide to explore this amazing city! What might be fun is to tell you about my expectations, then tell you what I did in the time I was there and in the end I’ll tell you about my conclusion. Another thing I’d like to say before you start reading, is that I normally plan my trips into detail. I plan an exact route, put down the places I will eat etc etc. This time I didn’t. I don’t know why exactly. I just didn’t make time for it and left it a little too late. It was very new to me, but as you’ll read, it turned out fine.
EXPECTATIONS
My flight was on Thursday at 14:00, from Gatwick. I drove there, what made everything so much easier. Before I headed off I wanted to quickly pick up my new glasses, but it turned out the M4 was all closed and so I didn’t want to risk it in the end. It’s a good thing, because it was quite busy on the alternative route. Even though I left a lot earlier, I arrived at the long stay parking at the same time as I had planned if I had left Newbury later. It was fairly easy to park the car and take a 5 min bus journey to the terminal. My flight was on time and everything went smoothly. It was the first time I traveled with a backpack and the first thing what made it so much easier, is that I needed a lot less space for it to fit into the luggage spaces. It was very windy and rainy in the UK when I left, but it was all sunny with blue skies stepping out of the aeroplane. What a great start! It was super easy to get to my AirBnB. It was only a few metro stations away from the 
airport and a 2 min walk from the metro station. My hosts were the kindest people. I felt so welcome and it was like I already knew them. I so appreciated their hospitality. I charged my phone a bit and did a little bit of relaxing, before I went to find myself some dinner. I used the super handy app from HappyCow to see where the nearest vegan restaurant was. This turned out to be ‘The Organic Boho’, what was only a 30 min walk away. So off I went. That is where the trouble started. A while ago I got new shoes, Vans. I love them, but it’s taking me a while breaking them in. I thought they will be fine and all the walking on my trip will give it the final push. Boy I was wrong! My feet were hurting so much after those 30 min, but at least I got there.
The Organic Boho > all vegan!
With a lot of pain I made it to a bench that was overlooking the water. Luckily I was carrying some plasters with me, so I freed my feet and covered the sore areas with Peppa Pig plasters. It was actually a nice spot where I was sitting, because there were so many ducks, gees and even some swans. All with babies! The cutest thing! When the sun was all down I made my way back to the AirBnB. My feet were still painful, but a little better than it was before. I was wondering how I was going to do this trip with sore feet though. I always walk a lot on my city trips, like 12-15 km a day. I just really hoped it was all going to be magically better by the next morning.
-Day 2
42 Raw > all vegan!
I decided to walk around a little bit and that’s when I discovered a lovely shop called Plint. It’s filled with pretty things and it’s so nice to have a look around. I found beautiful black cutlery I really wanted to have, but I wasn’t sure I was able to bring the knives and forks in the aeroplane. The girls who worked there was also not sure and even tried to google it for me. Another customer said he was quite sure I wasn’t allowed and actually I was quite convinced it was going to be impossible. I almost put it back, but then came up with the idea to post it to myself. So I bought it anyway. It’s going to be so nice for in my van. The post office was around the corner and so I posted the knives and forks to myself. Next to the post office was the Rundetaarn (The Round Tower) and I’m always up for climbing something for a nice view. The entrance was only 25kr (about £3,95). The best thing was that 
there was an art exhibition too. So halfway (gives you a good break from climbing it too!) you can look at that. The art was from different artist, also 4 Dutch people. I loved a lot of things. It was different, but with a message and I love art like that. It makes you think about the every day things. Another round up you are able to learn about the Rundetaarn itself (another little break from climbing it). The climb isn’t that bad actually, as it’s a flat floor and it’s basically just like walking up a hill. The last bit are stairs, but then you’re rewarded with an amazing view. I stayed up there for at least 20 minutes. I just love to take it all in from the top. I definitely recommend doing this. And for less than 4 quid!
From the top of the Rundetaarn I saw a park close by and that is where I walked towards when I got down again. It turned out to be Kongens Have. This is Denmark’s oldest royal garden, it dates back from the 17th century. It’s a beautiful park and it’s the garden from the gorgeous Rosenborg Slot. It was built in 1606-34 by Christian IV. This was his favourite castle and he eventually died here too. Nowadays the crown jewels are kept here. I enjoyed my cookie from 42 Raw on a bench next to it. From there I just walked to one of the exits and across the street from there was the Statens Museum for Kunst. In front of the museum was 
water, like a fountain, but without a fountain. Instead there were actually chairs in there, with the possibility to sit on a chair with your feet in the water. A few people were already doing this and of course, with my sore feet, I had to do this too. The water is about 25 cm deep and my jeans weren’t the kind you can easily pull up, but who cares that they got wet, it was so enjoyable. I sat there for over half an hour just enjoying this and the sunshine. Whilst I sat there I saw the sight seeing buses pass by all the time, so I decided to get tickets from the nearest bus stop.
I went for the all including ticket, what gave me access to 2 bus routes and the boat tour for 72 hours. I know it’s super touristy to go on these sight seeing buses, but I like them. Not only because you get to see a lot of things, but I especially like them for the information you get during the tour. The history, some inside jokes, cultural habits and traditions etc. I did the whole bus tour and didn’t get off anywhere but the famous Little Mermaid statue. The bus driver stopped for 5 minutes there so I could get off and take a picture. Very nice of him. I heard that people were disappointed by the size of this Little Mermaid, but because of this I expected it to be even smaller than she actually was, haha! It is a beautiful statue though. Then I finished the rest of the tour. I must say that I was a little disappointed with the information given during the tour. It wasn’t that much. The driver also really took his time and all together it was at least 2 hours, what should have been 1,5 hour. It didn’t matter though, it was still nice to see it all and get a good feel of the city this way. When I got off the bus it was dinner time and I decided to go to Simple Raw.
Simple Raw – all vegan!
Yellow Rose – all vegan!
I went back to the starting point of the touring buses to do the Christiania tour. It was a very full bus, but they only go every hour, so I took it. It was a very nice tour, less long, but I like the neighbourhood. It’s where all the hippies live, haha! There is street art and it’s all about recycling etc. After the bus tour I went straight to the boat. I was lucky again as there was a boat just coming to pick up more people. I had a good seat in the front. When I was waiting for it to leave, it started to drizzle a little, but it was lovely to feel the cool rain on my sun-warmed skin. The best bit of the boat is that there is a live guide, a lovely girl who could speak so many languages fluently, fascinating. Halfway the tour, when we were in the middle of the big river it started pouring so badly though! The guide handed out plastic poncho’s, but I refused, because I was a little wet anyway already and 
I don’t want to use plastic (anyway) for something I actually love. It was crazy really, like standing in the shower. My make up washed off my face, I couldn’t look because of all the water in my eyes and within a minute I was completely soaked. After like 3 minutes it stopped, but imagine yourself standing under the shower for 3 minutes and you have an idea what it was like. It was a lovely boat tour though, you get really good views of Copenhagen this way. Especially of Amalienborg, the Opera house and the part they call ‘little Amsterdam’. When I got off the boat I considered buying new clothes, as it was only the middle of the day, but it would have wasted too much time to walk all the way back to the AirBnB. Instead I walked towards the cafe where the son of my AirBnB hosts works. I said I would have a look. It’s called the Big Apple. Next to the Big Apple is a lovely spiritual shop called ‘Tessies’. They sell:crystals, jewellery, clothes, buddhas etc. Very lovely to go inside for a bit.
Big Apple – omni!
I really wanted to get to the popular Nyhaven and so I took the bus to get there. Just because the bus was there anyway and Nyhaven was the second stop. Nyhaven is the place you always see when you see a picture of Copenhagen. I’m sure you either think of this or the mermaid statue when you think of Copenhagen. Nyhaven is such a lovely area. It’s a shame there aren’t any vegan restaurants or cafes, but I really liked to see the colourful houses and boats. Nyhaven means ‘new harbour’, what is funny as the harbour is actually 350 years old. It’s a must see when visiting the city! I took another look at my Happy Cow app and I decided to walk towards Green Burger. It was a lovely walk, partly through Kongens Have. When I arrived I wasn’t super hungry yet, so when I got there, I first sat down a little further down, to enjoy the last sun rays.
Green Burger – all vegan!
Now call me crazy, but on my last morning in Copenhagen I walked all the way back towards Green Burger. Even a little bit further, because that is where the restaurant Souls is. It was recommended by a few people, so I wanted to go. On my way I made a quick stop at Christiania. The people were just setting up their market stalls and they were dealing drugs all around me. It felt like I was in Amsterdam, haha! They sell a lot of souvenirs, but nothing I’d buy. It was nice to see though and I really liked the beautiful street art everywhere. It was nice to see it. Just before I arrived at Souls I passed a lovely eco shop, called: EcoEgo. Unfortunately it was closed, but otherwise I would definitely have a quick look. They sell all things that are reusable etc.
Souls – all vegan!
I walked all the way back to Christiania, but then I took the metro to the Amager Beach Park. I could easily do this, because it’s the same metro that takes me to the airport. The beach is a 5 min walk from the ‘Amager Strand’ station. The beach in Copenhagen is artificial, but it was still nice. To feel the sand and the cool water on my feet was great. It was quite a cloudy day, with a fair bit of wind, but that didn’t stop some people from going swimming. Even kids were swimming. So brave! After half an hour I had to get up and say my goodbyes to Copenhagen, because 
it was time to head to the airport. It was almost dinner time, but there wasn’t much to eat at the airport. There was a Yo Sushi, with a limited menu, so there were basically only 3 vegan options. Better than nothing though. Later I discovered there were a few vegan options at this place called Retreat. So I got a salad and a chia pudding. It was super super delicious, but so much plastic again. So disappointing, especially if it’s the only real meal you can get. I got to the gate on time, but then it turned out the fight was delayed. When we finally got into the 
aeroplane they said it was going to take another 2 hours due to the weather at Gatwick. Half an hour later we were in the queue, but then a man decided he wanted to get out. Seriously? So we had to taxi all the way back to the gate for him. Before all the safety procedures were finished and the doors were closed again there was another half an hour passed. Oh well.. I was reading Harry Potter, so that is what I did for 4 hours straight. I didn’t mind. No need to stress about things you can’t control. I’ve had a lovely holiday and I won’t ever let things like this ruin it.
CONCLUSION
Something that was disappointing to me was the amount of plastic that is still being used. For a city that wants to be carbon free by the year 2025 and the way they are good at recycling, I thought things like this would have been so much better over here. 
I actually wanted to post this travel article last Monday, but I didn’t plan my things too well and my mum came over, so that’s why it’s a week later.. sorry! I planned to go to Rome this year and so I booked a ticket for the end of May. Steven wanted to come with me, what was extra fun. It was our first real holiday together, even though it was only for 3 nights. Steven chose a lovely hotel, right next to Vatican City, what turned out to be a super location. We also got the Omnia Card. This is a card you can use for public transport, the tour bus, 2 tourist 
activities and Vatican City, all for one price. We got the 72 hour card for £113. The good thing about it is that you don’t have to get transport tickets everywhere and you can skip the (very long) queues. Especially when it’s 30C, you want this! I thought it was very handy and it worked well, until we used it for Vatican City though. This was because it’s the only thing you have to book in advance, but it was very unclear how to do it and it didn’t work. Luckily we did get in, but very last minute. More about this later.
We had to get up very early the Wednesday we left. We had a quick breakfast (thank you PRET and Starbucks!) at the airport before we headed to our gate. The journey went well and before we knew it, we were in Rome. We took one of the many coaches standing in front of the airport (€4,90). With the Omnia card you can probably take the public transport from there too, but we thought before we find out where the buses depart etc. this was just easier. It doesn’t take more than 45 min before you’re in the middle of Rome. The coaches drop you off at the Termini train station. Perfect! It was lunch time when we got out and I did a little research, so I knew that there was a vegan place not far from there. We walked there and though 
the place, called iPhame, looked lovely, it’s very small and we couldn’t sit there. So we went somewhere else. On our way there we did see another restaurant we liked because of the floor and bar. They actually didn’t do any vegan meals, but they were very helpful and totally ok with me telling them what I wanted. I ordered a pasta with veggies and it was super delicious! We then took the tour bus, very close from there, to see most of the tour. We got out at Vatican City, because from there it was only a 10 min walk to our hotel. We stayed at the ‘Infinity Hotel St. Peter’, what is a lovely hotel. It was clean, neat and the bed was very 
comfy. As we woke up so early and it was already the end of the afternoon, we took a refreshing shower and relaxed a bit. In the beginning of the evening we took a little walk to explore Rome whilst there was a lovely summer eve breeze. On our way back we stopped at a pizzeria and I ordered a pizza with mushrooms and olives. Our expectations were high, being in Italy. The pizza was quite disappointing though. It looked nice, but it actually had no taste at all. It made us laugh as it seemed quite ironic, eating a pizza without taste in the middle of Rome. On our way back to the hotel we enjoyed the views of Rome by night. Beautiful really!
The next day, Thursday, we had breakfast at the hotel before we walked all the way to the Colosseum. The breakfast was quite ok for a vegan by the way. There were some fruit options, cherry tomatoes, different types of bread, jam, juice and also muesli and cereals. I did email them a few weeks in advance to ask about this, but they never replied. A shame, but I was happy to see that at least there were some options. The walk to the Colosseum was already an activity on its own, because wohw.. Rome is a beautiful city! We passed the Altare della Patria and many beautiful little streets, but to stand in the Colosseum was truly 
amazing. Something so historic and it’s just almost surreal to be inside. Imagining the things that happened there many years ago.. it made me feel absolutely amazed. When we came out it was lunchtime and though we did go to a place where they serve a vegan breakfast with croissants (and I really wanted one!), they were sold out. What is a good thing I guess, but a shame I didn’t get to try them. So we kept walking until we found something else, but it was a little tricky. We eventually sat down at a place that looked nice, but they also didn’t do vegan food. They were happy to serve the side dishes though. So I had potatoes and some 
roasted veggies. The veggies were nice and though the potatoes tasted ok, the structure felt like they were heated in the microwave. What was much better.. the gelato we had for dessert at a place around the corner from there. I had coconut (with little pieces of coconut in it) and chocolate. Gosh that was very yummy! A lot of gelato places (and you see them everywhere) do vegan options. Just ask! It was very hot, like 30C, but we did walk to the Roman Forum anyway. It was something we definitely wanted to see and the Colosseum and the Roman Forum together, counts as one on the Omnia card. It was a beautiful place and I’m very happy to 
have seen it. It’s hard and at the same time so amazing to believe that people actually lived there. They walked on the very same ground you’re walking on. Though in ruins, the temples there were actually used. I just love things like this. When we came out, it was the end of the afternoon already. We were so hot and we really felt our feet, so we walked back to the hotel to freshen up and relax a bit. On our way we popped into a supermarket and I was so happy to see so many vegan options! There was so much.. a lot of choices in seitan for example. In just an ordinary supermarket. I wish my Tesco across the road would do that 
too, haha! Steven and I chose some things to take home. (In the meantime we already tried the seitan in some wraps and it’s delicious. Only the seitan with rosemary was quite intense. Nice, but just very strong.) I also really liked the pasta with spirulina and so we took that too. We didn’t try that yet though. We walked all the way back to the hotel. On my phone I could see we took more than 21.000 steps (14 km) and so we really deserved a good break. Close to the was a place called Flower Burger and we walked there to get a take away later that evening. And YAY! This is a place you have to go to. First of all the place is 100% vegan, the place itself looks amazing (great texts on the walls) and they do the most amazing burgers. All handmade right there and they are delicious!
On Friday we planned to go to Vatican City, but we weren’t able to book it online. We tried it several times via the website and the app (which appeared to be non-existent). So we went to the Vatican and asked there. Turned out we needed to use the email we got in the whole beginning for this. What isn’t mentioned anywhere in the guide. Really unclear. Luckily there was still space for us the next day, but we had to go with a guide though. We both are not a fan of this, but it was the only way. And as it was something we both really wanted to do, we accepted. So we had to change the plan for today. We decided to go to the Pantheon, 
the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish steps. We took the bus for the first bit and got out only a 5 min walk from the Pantheon. From there it’s only a short walk to the Trevi Fountain. I really liked seeing this. It’s also something you see in so many movies (including my favourite Eat Pray Love) etc. We took some pictures and of course we threw in a coin. We did it together.. how romantic! After the Spanish steps we decided it was time for lunch. The vegan places I looked up in advance turned out to be quite far from where we were, so we tried to look for something what looked nice. It was still quite early for lunch, but 
then Steven found a place with a vegetarian all you can eat buffet. 
were too stubborn and determined to try a good pizza in Italy. The pizza was very nice luckily. The only thing was that they didn’t do sauce at this restaurant. Apparently the cheese was also the sauce and as I order without cheese, I got a pizza base with veggies. It was very yummy, so no complains about the food. It was just strange.
Our last day and it was Vatican City day. The day before, I bought little pack of Soy milk in the supermarket, so I was able to try the cereal and muesli at breakfast. I also suggest they put a plant based milk option next time. I hope they will. The whole guided tour started off a little odd. We had to walk around half the Vatican, before we entered and with a group of about 20 people and 813938134 tourists everywhere, it’s not the handiest thing and it takes a lot of time. Luckily we had a lovely guide and it was very nice to listen to all the things she knew about the Vatican. Being inside was ah-mazing!! I loved it, 
microphone, haha! And then, to finish our Rome adventure we went inside the St.Peter Basilica and wohw! I’ve never seen such a beautiful and such a big church in my life. It was breathtaking! We saw the Pietà and we walked around jaw dropping. We were both so happy, that in the end, we did get to see this all, even though the Omnia Card almost ruined it. We did have to keep an eye on the time for our flight that afternoon, so a few last pictures from the outside, before we went back to the hotel to get our bags. Not before we had another (pink) burger at Flower Burger for lunch though! Our flight was a little delayed, but it was alright, we just relaxed and before we knew it we were back in our beloved London!
You probably realised, after reading all this, Rome is a must go city! Rome is basically one big museum. Everything is beautiful and you keep walking around with your head turning from left to right and up and down (no wonder my neck was hurting the last day). You really feel like you don’t have enough eyes to soak it all in. I really loved seeing the Colosseum and the Vatican City, but I think what I loved the most is the little streets. There are so many beautiful little streets, with little balconies, flowers, amazing colours on the walls, old doors, going up and down, scooters lined up and even some great 
street art. I could walk these little streets forever. Also Rome is, surprisingly, very good with veganism. There are many vegan places and otherwise they are happy to make you something vegan. (Just make sure they have a fully understanding of what veganism is.) Most of the people we met were very helpful! Another handy thing in Rome is, that there are drinking fountains all over the city, where you can have a few sips or fill up your bottle. Perfect for when it’s hot and you have to make sure you stay extra hydrated. The thing I really didn’t like about Rome were all the people who try to sell you things, like selfie sticks, batteries, bracelets, water.. they are everywhere and even though you say no, they keep putting it (literally) in your face. It was a very aggressive way of selling and they’re everywhere you go. Try to ignore them though and keep looking around you!
Like I said in my 
took a little longer, as I think my order was given to somebody else by accident. I really didn’t mind because the staff was so friendly and they apologised. In the meantime I ordered a cupcake for dessert and an apple juice. It was all very delicious. I was so hungry (I didn’t really have breakfast) that I ate all the fries and the whole burger until the last crumb. Then I was so full, that it was impossible to eat the cupcake too. So I had that take away to enjoy later. The fries were definitely one of the best fries I’ve ever had and the sauce that came with it was ahhhh-mazing! The burger itself was a bit like a falafel burger and the bun it came on was lovely and fresh. I so enjoyed this meal. Dophert is not only a restaurant where you can eat, they also do catering and you can order cakes. You can go to their 
and the bagels are delicious. In the same street I found something so nice, called ‘The Tea Bar’. A store all about tea!! I’m a sucker for tea and I love the idea of a tea bar. They have more than 100 unique flavours and also lots of nice gift ideas. Next time I’m in Amsterdam I’d love to go here, but I was just too full at that time to even have one sip of tea. So I walked towards the Prinsengracht and then I just got so lucky with the weather. The clouds were dark grey on one side and the sun was fully shining on the beautiful autumn coloured trees from the other side. It gave such an amazing contrast that I was able to make some lovely pictures. Then a little bit later it started raining and I was blessed with a rainbow. Rain, sun, rainbow, autumn, Amsterdam, canals, boats.. it really was my lucky day! I loved the rain on my skin as I walked past the canal.
‘Bolhoed’ and I really liked that I accidentally found it. I heard about this restaurant a lot and it must be really good. Next time I think I’m going to have a meal over here. It’s a shame I couldn’t stay in the evening, otherwise I could have had my dinner here. A little bit further I found this lovely shop called ‘Varsana’. A shop with everything you could possibly need for yoga or pilates. I really loved this shop and I think anybody who is into yoga will love it too. The last thing I found on the Prinsengracht is the ‘Tulip Museum’. For only €5 you can learn within 20-30 minutes all about tulips. You can also buy a lot of tulip things, including tulips itself. I love tulips and because it’s not that long I think it could be a nice thing to do.
I walked via the Westermarkt and Raadhuistraat to the Kalverstraat. The Kalverstraat starts at Dam Square (most famous square in Amsterdam) and is the biggest shopping street in Amsterdam. You can find all the well known shops like H&M, Blokker, TheBodyShop, Forever 21, Lush and River Island in this street. If you keep walking straight, you will end up on Rembrandtplein. This is a square with a statue of Rembrandt, surrounded with a lot of bars and cafes. I walked back via Rokin where you then come back on Dam Square again. From there, via Damrak, it’s only a 5 minute walk back to the station. At the station I discovered a little cafe called ‘Yoghurt Barn’, where you can get yoghurt with the most amazing toppings (think ‘mango, brownie and walnut’). You can choose any yogurt you want and it turned out they have 2 (!) vegan options: Soy and Coconut. They also have coffee, tea, smoothies and juices. It looks great! Next to Yoghurt Barn you can go downstairs and the first shop on your left is ‘WAAR’. I did post about this amazing shop before, because there is also one in Groningen. I love this shop. It has such lovely gifts (what most probably ends up in keeping it yourself) and they sell (and I bought) the ‘Tony’s Chocolonely’ chocolate. Theeeee best!
In the next train we directly opened the Lifebars and shared it so we could all try every flavour. Omg, they are so nice! My favourite was the ‘Brazil Guarana’ and my mum agreed with me, but my sister liked the chocolate one the best. It didn’t take long before we arrived at Rotterdam-Blaak and when you get out of this station there is a lovely architectural surprise waiting for you. The ‘Cube Houses’. It’s an amazing piece of architecture by the architect ‘Piet Blom’. When I was studying Interior Design I’ve been inside one of them and it was such a cool experience. If you like to go inside yourself, you can, because there is one open for the public. The real reason we came to this station was because here is the ‘Markthal’, what literally means ‘Market hall’. 
It’s an amazing building and inside there is a market, some restaurants and there are flats where people are actually living. It opened on the 1st of October 2014, so it’s quite a new concept. I love the building and then especially what they did with the inside. If you look up they decorated the ceiling with massive flowers, fruits and vegetables. Lovely! In the end I was slightly disappointed with the lack of vegan options though, especially because my hopes were up high walking inside and vegan treats was the first thing I saw. Silly me forgot to remember the name of the company that sells them, but if you use the entrance closest to the station, it’s right in front of you. I did like the big range of tropical and rare fruits and I got myself some red bananas which were delicious. Also there is a juice bar and a ‘Jamie’s Italian’, but overall it wasn’t what I expected. On a cheerier note, behind the Markthal is burger restaurant ‘Burgertrut’, where they sell yummy yummy vegan burgers. They’re not 100% vegan, not even vegetarian.. but they have amazing vegan options!
In the meantime it was lunchtime and we were all so hungry. I wanted to have lunch at ‘Spirit’ as I heard so many good things about this restaurant. It’s about a 5 minute walk from the Markthal and on the way we also bumped into ‘Poké Bowl’, what is a little restaurant with Hawaiian food. It’s actually a fish restaurant, but you can fill your own bowl and the options include tofu, rice and lots of veggies. A lot of people are crazy about this, so I’ll try it one day. Restaurant Spirit is part of a little shopping mall called ‘De Groene Passage’ and there 
is also a health supermarket called ‘Gimsel’ and a shop what is called ‘the Wereldwinkel’, where they sell all fair trade stuff from all around the world. But first lunch.. omg, they were right, Spirit is amazing! It’s a vegetarian buffet, but almost everything is vegan too. I was being so greedy and I wanted to try it all and I ended up with a very big plate of food and it’s not very cheap. I had to pay €20, what was a bit of a shock, but I also didn’t really care as it was my holiday and I really wanted to try all these things. I forgot all about that 
price too when I tasted it, because it was soooo good! I really want to go again, haha! Big pieces of seitan, things with seaweed, tempeh, corn cakes, fried veggies, chunky guacamole.. I’m seriously getting hungry writing this all down. My mum and my sis really liked the food too, but they both got the same drink which they didn’t like at all. It was a ‘matcha latte’ and I agree the matcha was wayyy too strong. Only after a while the matcha sunk to the bottom and though the taste was still quite strong, I actually liked it. It was just not possible to drink the last few sips. I can’t imagine that anyone will like this, so maybe a little less matcha powder is an idea?!
After our tummies couldn’t even stand the thought of another bite we went to Gimsel. It was a good tactic, because walking inside I knew straight away that walking around here with an empty stomach was a bad idea for my bank account. It was a lovely supermarket with lots of great products. You could taste oat yogurt, what my mum and my sis hated, but I absolutely loved (I had to taste it twice.. hehe..). In the end I did buy 3 things. A ‘wooden toothbrush’, what was on my shopping list since forever, ‘dried grasswort’ which you can use as a salt substitute and what do you think they had there too? Lifebars! I was hoping for the ‘Brazil 
Guarana’, but they didn’t have it. They did have ‘coconut’ (hallelujah), so that was that, easy decision. I loved it btw.. this flavour was very tasty too. I didn’t see them in London yet, but I’ll keep an eye on it. We also did have a little wander around the Wereldwinkel, because it’s a lovely shop and my mum and sis bought some Tony’s Chocolonely chocolate. Can’t blame them. On our way back to the station we passed ‘Foodelicious’ and that looked so nice and bright that we had to go inside. You can get so many nice things here. They have a big range of lovely oils, vinegar, tea, beautiful bowls and dishes, books and so much more.. and a lot of very nice gift ideas too.
Back at the station we decided to go to the centre of Rotterdam and that is not even 5 minutes by train. Rotterdam central station is such a cool station. It’s really one of the reasons I love Rotterdam, it has amazing architecture. Rotterdam has a very nice centre for shopping. It actually has 3 shopping streets/areas: Lijnbaan, Coolsingel and Koopgoot. Walking from the station first ‘Lijnbaan’ will appear and then you can via ‘Coolsingel’ go to ‘Koopgoot’, but before we got there we had a little break at ‘Green Delight’. My mum and sis ordered chocolate milk and I ordered the tastiest Chai latte (+ an energy bomb) I’ve ever had. What a lovely place! It’s so different from other cafe’s. We sat in a very comfy sofa and it felt like we were sitting in a living room. On the table there were lots of nice magazines, like the Happinez for example and the atmosphere was just so relaxed. In order 
to go into the cafe you have to go through a very nice shop with amazing goodies, gifts and cactus plants(!). This is a very nice concept, but unfortunately it’s a pop up, so go before it’s too late! After we walked to the ‘Koopgoot’, what is very close from there. I think I like ‘Koopgoot’ the best, because they made it look so cool and there is a Lush. My sis got some new tooth tabs as she nearly run out and I got a new pair of comfy jeans at C&A. Then it was really time to go home, because it’s about 3 hours by train and my dad was picking us up. We didn’t want to make it too late. But before we got to the station we past this really nice restaurants called ‘Freshii’. They just closed it, but I looked them up and I think they’re pretty good. They do burritos, salads, wraps, soups and more.. all fresh and they try to make a lot of sustainable choices. They’re not 100% vegan though, but there are a lot of veggie choices and you can even custom make your own lunch.. so do I need to say more? Great for a next visit!
can speak English very well in Geneva. There was only one guy in this restaurant who could and even though he looked very confident in understanding everything, my pizza came with cheese.. whilst I think I’ve said ‘no cheese’ about 10 times. No worries, I just waited a bit longer and luckily that wasn’t very long, because within 10 minutes there was a cheese-free damping, delicious looking pizza in front of me! Yum!! It was a good pizza, so if you’re looking for a nice pizza, I’m sure you can get one here.. just make sure you get the ‘no cheese’ part very clear in case you’re vegan! 😉 Now the fact is.. my mum is a very active PokemonGo player. No joke! So after our pizza we walked all over the Plainpalais to catch some real Swiss Pokemons. It was starting to get dark and it looked quite nice outside actually. In the middle of the Plainpalais is a skater-park and it was nice to watch some cool tricks. Learn how to ride a skateboard is on my bucket list! Yay!!
The park is called ‘Jardin Anglais’, what literally means ‘English Garden’. It has a beautiful fountain and a clock made of flowers. We enjoyed the boats, the giggling kids chasing the bubbles and the lovely atmosphere for a while and then we went to get a very nice seeded baguette and we ate it, sitting on a step next to a junction. It was a lovely spot with lots of different people and expensive sports cars passing by. We decided to just walk around a little bit and when I really had to go to use the toilet it happened to be that we were standing next to a vegan cafe! 
And it looked so nice! There aren’t a lot in Geneva, so it was a real coincidence. So I joked ‘I only go to the toilet in vegan places’.. Haha! As we just had our lunch and the cafe was nearly closing I told the very friendly lady we were going to come back the next day.
Cathedral’. We walked up the stairs, enjoyed the view and took a look inside this amazing cathedral. What I really liked were the stained glass windows, wohw!
Tuesday.. on the Plainpalais there was a little farmers market and I read that there is also a vegan bakery stand. I was very excited, but apart from a lot of lovely looking fruit and veggies there was no vegan bakery. They’re probably there on a different day. A shame! What I did spot was.. a Starbucks! In front of the Starbucks was this very hot guy sitting next to the entrance, but when I went inside he was gone. Just one minute later he happened to work there and was serving me.. Lucky me! He made my tea with mint instead of green tea and I had to go back to get it right.. what a shame! (I wouldn’t mind him making it wrong another 10 times, hehe..) 
We sat outside on a bench with comfy cushions and had lovely chats and enjoyed the perfect sunshine. Very close to that Starbucks is the University and around there is a very nice park with the ‘Reformation Wall’. Also there were a lot of Pokemons there.. happy mum! I just chilled on a park bench whilst she walked around staring at her phone. I just love her!
made my day. (..after the Starbucks guy did that already) I just appreciate it so much if people care. I hope she will read this. (If you do, then another big thank you for the good service!) No doubt I’d really like to recommend this place. A must go! When we walked back we passed the ‘Art and History Museum’. This is the largest art museum in Geneva and I was thrilled to go inside. Only the museum was almost going to close and as rushing through a museum is no fun at all we made it an activity for tomorrow. For dinner we went to the supermarket again, we chose the broccoli burgers this time and we ate it with the left over bread and sauce from yesterday. We also found these very yummy chocolate soy yogurts. What a feast!
Our last day.. Which started with a visit to the big flea market again, at the Plainpalais (what a joy our BnB was next to this). My mum’s dream came true (she adores flea markets) and I must say I really enjoyed this too. All those old things, so many memories and the exciting feeling you have the whole time, trying to find something amazing between all that stuff. What a good start of our last day here. My mum found a very nice pendant made out of stone and a lovely silver coloured little box with a rose on top. And it was just meant to be that the flea market ended where Starbucks began.. Shame on us! We didn’t sit there for that long this time as my mum wanted to go back to the park to catch this Pokemon she didn’t have yet. So we did that and then we headed to the museum. It was beautiful, I l
ove museums! It’s a shame though that everything is written in French.. and what really is even a bigger disappointment: I can’t speak or read French. It was lovely anyway. At least the numbers are the same and I was able to understand how old things were and (mostly) also where it came from. After a lovely time spend at the museum we went back to the ‘Jardin Anglais’ and just stayed there until it was time to go to the airport. There we got some food and then it was time to say goodbye. My mum was going back home and I was going back to France. What an amazing time we’ve had together though. I love my mum so much!
About Geneva.. it’s an absolute stunning city! The buildings are all very beautiful, with lots of lovely balconies and flowers! The people are all very classy. Everybody is dressed very stylish. We had a lovely time, but the only downside is: It’s crazy expensive!! You better save up a lot of money before going here. Especially if you’re planning to go out for food all the time. To give a few examples, a coffee and a tea at Starbucks are £11 together and a simple bottle of (0,5l) water is £3,50. So I’d recommend to bring a bottle and fill it up with water whenever you have the chance. The water in Geneva is very good, great taste! Also, if you have access to a kitchen, cooking a few meals yourself will save you quite a lot of money too.
HOTSPOT LIST:
Planet Manel 