The end of 2016 was quite hectic for me. Mainly because I had to find another job before I could book my ticket to Holland. At some points it was so stressful, but in the end I got to choose between 2 jobs. It was hard, but I did it and then I could finally book my flight to Holland for the Christmas holidays.. and a little longer, as my new job doesn’t start until the 16th (yes.. that’s today!). So I booked a flight from the 20th of December until the 9th of January. Steven, my boyfriend, left the 16th for his holiday to Brazil and was going to come back just 2 days before me. So the time in Holland would be a good distraction from missing him. Even though I basically did something every day and it sometimes felt busy, it was also quite a relaxed holiday, because I had 3 weeks. And because it’s 3 weeks and that’s quite long, I will write a little bit of what I did every day, like a journal. Of course I do have a few hotspots too! I will list them in the end, so you can easily find them.
December 20
I was so excited about this day. I was just very much looking forward to Holland. Partly cuz I already missed my boyfriend like crazy and because I love Christmas! I left very early as my flight was at 7:40 in the morning. I like to book early flights, because otherwise the day is so long before you can finally leave and also because then you don’t feel like you’re spending the whole day traveling. I had 2 (heavy) suitcases and my handbag, but I managed to get to the airport at a perfect time. The flight was very relaxed and that 1 hour I was in the air, I even snoozed a little bit. At the airport my sister and my niece were waiting for me. It was such a nice surprise to have my niece running to me with her face all brightened up. What a lovely moment! We drove straight to Rikus, my mum’s work. I wrote about Rikus before, but for the people who don’t know yet, Rikus is a hotel – restaurant, in a former farm. It’s a beautiful renovated building, with lots of peace and amazing nature around it. So in case you ever want to escape the big city and go for total silence.. book a room! (I’ll list them as a hotspot again) It was so nice to see my mum, even though I’ve seen her not that long ago. It always feels like I haven’t seen her for ages. We went back home for some tea, before we went to the hairdressers. My mum wanted to cut her hair. I didn’t agree with it, as I like my mum’s hair long. So with me not taking my eyes of the scissors it was being cut. In the end, I must say, though I prefer it the way it was, it was looking very nice. It reminded me I have to cut my hair myself. I always do that myself and I might write an article about it one day if you guys will like that?! After the hairdressers we went to the snackbar, what is so Dutch. You can compare it with the Fish&Chips shops available in the UK. Only at the snackbar you get mainly fries, and you choose some sort of snack with it. There are no vegan options if it comes to the snacks, but I love fries so much, that I don’t mind. I brought my own Vegenaise mayonnaise and I really enjoyed the veryyy yummy fries. What a great end of my first day.
December 21
I decided to go to Germany today with my mum, my sister, my niece and Odette (a very nice colleague of my mum). It’s only an hour drive. Just across the border, in Leer, there is a very big shopping mall, where apparently things are a lot cheaper. I never went, so I was curious. Nobody knew exactly where to go to, so we first ended up in the centre of Leer. What was actually very nice. Next to where we parked the car was the Bio Markt, where I got some nice vegan goodies. Yummm! I bought a new shirt at H&M and I’m very happy with it. Though I had to keep a close eye on what I spend, I had to get this shirt. I wore it a lot already, it’s one of my favourites now, so worth it. I also bought this cute wooden sign what says ‘Have yourself a merry little Christmas’, on sale. We eventually used the TomTom to find this big shopping mall, called ‘Familia’. We first had some tea there and then we did some more shopping. I didn’t think it was that much cheaper, but I did get some nice things. It was still nice to be in a huge supermarket, I love that. We had so much fun too, good laughs! In the evening my mum and I did the Christmas tree.. I know, a little late. It was very nice though. As we’re celebrating Christmas, the gifts have to go somewhere.. haha!
December 22
Today my dad got the most amazing news ever! It needs a little explaining first.. my dad is ill and he can’t work anymore because of too much pain. It became impossible. Though in Holland it isn’t easy to just stop working. What is a good thing, but if what you have makes it sometimes a lot of times impossible to even function normally during the day, there comes a point where you need to stop working. My dad reached that point about 2 years ago already, but he kept trying. He is an all round carpenter/builder, specialised in renovating, so it’s heavy work. The whole process of being able to stop working, but still to receive the money you have the right to, is long and sometimes very unfair. It was super stressful, what made the illnesses worse. But today.. he finally received the letter, after all his hard work, that he didn’t have to work anymore, but would still receive his payments! To get this incredible news just before Christmas is just so amazing! You probably understand that there were a lot of happiness tears! It made the day very special. Another very nice thing was that Julian, my brother, and Marsha, his girlfriend, performed together on stage for the first time and it was so lovely. They sung a beautiful song whilst Julian also played the guitar! I watched the little video about a 100 times. So proud! In the evening my mum and I watched one of my favourite Christmas movies, ‘Love Actually’. Gosh I love that movie!
December 23
Apparently everything we did for Christmas needed to be late, because we went to get groceries today. Normally I’m never like this, especially not when it comes to Christmas (remember I started to do my Christmas shopping in October?). Lucky us, we didn’t need a lot of things other people needed too, so everything was there and it was very cheap. We had enough food for 8 people (ok and we still ate from it 2 days after, so we could have had 12 people over I think). All together it was something like 80 euros, which I think is such a good price. In the afternoon I looked after my nephew Jinan. We went to the little village supermarket, because he wanted to get Julian and Marsha something for Christmas. What is so sweet, as he’s 9. My heart melted of course. He picked sweets and chocolate and we wrapped it together. They were the first presents under the tree. When we got home I worked on my blog and he also did some things on the laptop. In the evening I cooked us some dinner and we ate it together, he’s so sweet! In Holland ‘The Voice of Holland’ is on at the moment and so my mum and I watched that together. A lovely relaxed evening in front of the telly. Did you know the program originally comes from Holland?
December 24
I planned to drive to the north today, to Uithuizermeeden to be precise. To deliver some last Christmas cards (again, I know.. late!) and my best friends and my grandparents live there. When I wanted to post my aunt and uncle’s Christmas card they just got out of the car with 2 of my cousins, so we had a little chat, was nice to see them. Then I drove to my grandparents and I stayed there for a few hours. I love my grandparents and I always see them every time I visit Holland. It’s important to me. In the afternoon I went to the house of my friends, Nienke, Jeroen and their 1 year old daughter, Annemarie. We had a late lunch together and did lots of chatting. They got me some very nice gifts and Nienke made me a very nice hand-made card and tags. I also always see them when I go to Holland. I know Nienke since I was a toddler and Jeroen since I was 13. I love them! One of the reasons I also love to go to the north is because I love to drive the car, haha! As it’s Christmas evening my parents and I decided to watch a Christmas movie together. I actually wanted to watch ‘Elf’, but my dad is not a big fan and so we looked on Netflix. I actually like movies I already watched before (haha!), but there was this movie called ‘The Spirit of Christmas’, what looked nice and none of us watched it before, so we gave it a try. Turned out to be such a nice movie, with a very nice actor.. hehe.. So I want to recommend it for next Christmas, in case you’ve watched ‘Home Alone’ too many times already.
December 25
It’s Christmas! ..but guess what.. in Holland we’ve got 2 Christmas days. 1st Christmas day and 2nd Christmas day. Today my sister still had to work and so we decided to celebrate Christmas on 2nd Christmas day. Felt a bit weird to do nothing on the 1st, but I was looking forward to tomorrow. At lunchtime we went to Rikus, as Freek was having lunch there with his son, his son’s wife and his grandchild. Freek used to live across the street, but he moved to a home for elderly now. My parents still visit him 2 times a weeks and sometimes I come with them. We just went to say ‘hi’ and I had a Christmas card for him. In the afternoon I wrapped up all my gifts, what was lot of work, but I like it.
December 26
Yay!! Was looking forward to this day and I started cooking straight away. I made sweet potatoes with a nice black bean filling (recipe), a beetroot salad with dill (recipe) and an aubergine curry with rice. It wasn’t even that much work and I really enjoyed it. I was also very excited to meet my brothers girlfriend, Marsha, as it would be the first time I would meet her. So I got myself ready, my mum was doing the table in the meantime and everybody was walking in around 16:00. We decided to first do presents, because doing dinner before presents, whilst there are a 9 and 2,5 year old excited for presents, the dinner will not be very peaceful. There were soooo many presents! We should have gotten at least 3 big Christmas 
trees to make it fit. It took us 2 hours to open everything, but it was so much fun. I got so many lovely things! Really appreciate them all. The only thing is that I wish that Steven could have been there too, missed him so much! Everybody liked the dinner and to make it even more perfect.. my sister made a chocolate pie with chocolate icing! Deeelicious! I’m so lucky to have an understanding family. My dad and I are the only vegans, but everything was vegan and everybody is ok with that. I feel so grateful for that! We had a very good time at the dinner table. Marsha, who’s so nice btw and a perfect fit for our family, brought her guitar and we sang lots of songs together. Was so much fun! This was one of the best Christmases I’ve had. Would have been totally perfect if I didn’t have to miss Steven though. I hope everybody had a lovely Christmas too. Tell me about it if you like!
December 27
On the 21st of August it was my nephews birthday, but I never gave him a present. I promised Jinan to go to the cinema for his birthday, but the last time I was in Holland we didn’t have enough time. Of course I didn’t forget and because it’s the Christmas holidays, there was enough time now. So we went today. He picked the movie ‘Pets’ and it was on in Assen at 10:45. Jinan absolutely loved the movie, I thought it wasn’t that good actually, haha! It was nice to be there with him though and see him laughing and having fun. After, we ate some fries at the snackbar across the street and it was so nice to spend some quality time with him. Before we went back to the car we walked to ‘Eko Plaza’, a health supermarket. We got some vegan mayonnaise, chocolate, red chilli pepper sausages and I got a hair mask from Weleda. My hair is quite dry from drying it with the blow dryer and I decided to look after it a lot better. So regular hair masks will be a good treat for my locks.
December 28
Quite a relaxed day today, I didn’t do much. Christmas is finished, but I still didn’t watch one of my favourite Christmas movies, ELF. This movie is so stupid, that it’s hilarious! Haha.. My sister and Jinan never watched it before, so in the evening we went to their house to watch it. We had tea, some yummy snacks and we laughed so much. It was a lovely evening!
December 29
Because I love Nienke so much, we planned another visit today. This time she was coming my way. She also brought Annemarie. We had lots of tea, lots of biscuits and we did lots of chatting! Melody, my sister, also came with Joëlla for a little bit and the 2 girls together are just so much fun. It’s like watching an entertainment show!
December 30
Starting the day, like every day so far, with a lovely sleep in. Opening the blinds woke me up instantly though, it was very white outside from all the frost. It looked beautiful, but it meant it was very cold outside. I don’t like cold. The only thing what excites me about it, is that I can take some nice pictures. So around lunchtime I went with my dad to walk the dogs. I took some nice wintery pictures, but we went home quite fast again, as is was way too cold. At home we made tea to get warm again and we kept chatting for a few hours, lovely! In the meantime Steven send me pictures of palm trees and sunny markets.
December 31
Tonight it’s New Years Evening! Yay! I love to end a year, to start with a new one. In the afternoon we were all invited by my mum’s work. My mum works at ‘Rikus’, but the owner has another Hotel-Restaurant, called the ‘Jufferen Lunsingh’. The party was at the ‘Jufferen Lunsingh’, same as last year. Before we went there I made some cinnamon rolls (recipe) for tonight. In Holland, at New Years Evening, we eat oliebollen. Oliebollen are typically Dutch and are some sort of fried cakes. They are not vegan, so that’s why I made the cinnamon rolls instead. I should veganise oliebollen though, that would be nice. Maybe next year! At the ‘Jufferen Lunsingh’ it was really nice, but after 2 hours we went home for dinner. We always eat the same thing at New Years Evening and everybody is always very much 
looking forward to it. We eat mushroom ragout with pastry cups. My dad always makes it from scratch. He used to make it with chicken, but as we’re both vegan he veganised the recipe and it’s delicious! My mum, brother, Marsha and me played a card game in the evening, what was very fun. After that we watched ‘Ik hou van Holland’ (I love Holland), a game show. They always make a special New Years Evening version of the show and it’s very nice and very funny. We kept watching that until it was 00:00!!! After wishing each other a very Happy New Year, I got a message from my amazing boyfriend. He wished me a Happy New Year all the way from Brazil (where it’s 3 hours earlier). Loved that so much! Then we went outside to 
watch the fireworks and to wish the neighbours a Happy New Year too. Eext is a very small village, but quite a lot of people have beautiful firework. Julian and Marsha had a wishing balloon and they asked me to help them. So we went to the dark field behind the village and we tried and tried, but the wind was just too strong and unfortunately it didn’t work. My hands got so cold, that they were stinging a lot. I was scared they might fall off. Happy to be back in the streets, I joined my mum at the neighbours house and we stayed there for a little bit. Around 2:00 we were in bed, but I wanted to wait until it was 3:00, so I could wish Steven a Happy New Year too. Around 3:30 I finally fell asleep.. cheers to a New Year!
January 1
Heading to the north again! To wish my grandparents a Happy New Year. We picked up Melody in Groningen as she celebrated New Years Evening with friends. My aunt, Renske, my uncle, Rudie, and my cousin, Blessing, were also at my grandparents and later on another aunt walked in too. So lovely to see everybody, to catch up and to wish them all a HNY! In the end I quickly went to Nienke, Jeroen and Annemarie for an hour. Had some tea there and we said our goodbye as I wouldn’t see them again until the next time I’ll come to Holland. We left in the beginning of the evening and we took Blessing with us. He always likes to stay over for a few days when it’s the holidays. He is such a nice child. He just turned 12 and it makes me realise how fast time is going, as I remember the day he was born so well.
January 2
My sister, Melody, picked me up in the morning to get groceries, because my cousin, Santos and his girlfriend, Charlotte, and also Julian and Marsha, were coming for dinner tonight and we were going to cook. It’s hilarious and partly exhausting to go to shops with Joëlla, haha, but we got everything we needed and so as soon as I was home again I started to cook. I made this yummy aubergine curry (recipe coming soon) again and the raw RainBOWL (recipe) salad. They came around 4:30 and after some chatting we had dinner. Melody made a nice pasta salad, yummy pizza and a dElicious apple pie. Everybody enjoyed it and almost everything was all finished in the end. That’s a good sign! We drunk some tea after and I must say that it was a really lovely evening, lots of fun!
January 3
In Groningen they opened the first Vegan Supermarket! Yay! My dad and I went to check it out. It wasn’t very big anddd.. they had ‘Oatly Foamable’! I didn’t succeed finding it anywhere else in Holland and there it was. I was so happy! It’s the best milk ever! So I got 3 packs. I also got some nutritional yeast and chorizo slices for my parents and 2 croissants. Apart from the ones you can roll out and bake yourself in the oven, I didn’t have a normal croissant since going vegan. I really liked this supermarket. The staff is amazing and very friendly. The man let us taste some mayonnaise and told me about the vegan supermarket in London (why didn’t I know this?! They will definitely will be a hotspot soon!). After walking outside with lots of vegan goodies we decided to go for a drink. We went to ‘Coffee Company’. It’s a very nice cafe. Lovely green tea and a cool interior. You can 
sit upstairs, where you can find benches and comfy chairs and downstairs you can sit at a long table. You can also plug in your laptop at the work tables next to the windows and work from there. Very popular with the 347962352 students living in Groningen. We ate our delicious croissants there and talked about all the holidays we had together when I still was a child. Lovely times! On our way back we popped into this very nice store called ‘Yantra’. You can get all sorts of nice jewellery, Buddha statues, singing bowls, crystals and a lot more. Such a beautiful store. I got myself some lovely smelling incense. Just before we got in the car I was able to quickly take some pictures of the many graffiti art around that place. Love it! In the afternoon I introduced my mum to the series of ‘Sherlock Holmes’. Steven introduced it to me and because I miss him so much I like watching it again. Luckily my mum loved it! We watched the first episode, but then we had to get ready, because we planned to go to Odette in the evening. Nicki (another nice colleague of my mum) was going to pick us up. Odette lives above Rikus with her boyfriend. ..and OMG! I love her house. It’s so cool. It’s one big space, but with just a few build-in walls to make a bath- and bedroom, overlooking beautiful fields and the forest. I’d love to live like that one day. We put on some facial masks and we watched ‘The Proposal’, with lots of chocolate, crisps and other snacks. A real girls night. So much fun!
January 4
Today I looked after Blessing, Jinan and Joëlla. Jinan and Blessing were doing things on the computer as it was cold and rainy outside. Joëlla and I went to get some groceries. I could go grocery shopping with her every day, so nice. She was behaving very well, apart from throwing the Pombears on the parking space in the end. Haha! When we got home we all had lunch and after Joëlla’s nap we watched some Peppa Pig together, with cucumber sticks and Pombears. I loved it!! I’m missing so much of my nephew and niece and to spend time with them when I can, just feels amazing. Blessing slept at Jinan’s house since, but as this was his last night he slept at ours. In the evening we watched ‘Iron Man’ and he really liked that. It’s also a movie I’ve watched with Steven.. hehe..
January 5
Happy Birthday to Melody! Normally I always have to go home just before or on my sister’s birthday, but because my new job doesn’t start until the 16th I had time to stay longer and so I finally was able to be on her birthday. We went to her in the morning and she made a very yummy yogurt cake with an Oreo base.. I had 3 pieces.. or was it 4? Oops! I braided my brother’s hair in the meantime and we drunk tea. Very nice! In the afternoon I went to my friend Esther. Blessing wanted to come too, because she has a lovely English Bulldog, Lucy. I know Esther from secondary school, but only later on we became friends, because of Pamela. Pamela was my English Bulldog and she went to Esther when I moved to 
the UK. I’m forever thankful for the amazing life Pamela had with her. It was lovely to see Esther and her boyfriend and wonderful to cuddle Lucy. She also got me some very nice gifts. I’m very excited for her to come to me in April. Yay! In the evening Rudie and Renske were picking up Blessing again but they also stayed for dinner. Surprise surprise.. I made the aubergine curry again! I also made pasta with a home made tomato sauce. They absolutely loved it! I knew that for sure as Rudie had 5 plates.. I don’t know how he did that, it was impressive! They stayed in the evening too and we all had Chai tea with Oatly Foamable, yum! It’s always so much fun with them.
January 6
In the morning my mum and I went to Freek and in the afternoon we looked after Joëlla, who wasn’t feeling very well. Poor her! So we stayed inside and watched some Peppa Pig again. In the evening my dad made home-made pizza, what was delicious. After that I introduced him to Sherlock Holmes. Yes, I really like to watch the same things over and over again. It’s my ‘special’ talent.
January 7
No!! Snow! It snowed in the night and everything was white outside. I don’t like snow. I love the look of it and I love to make pictures, but I don’t like that it’s cold and messy. My mum and I went to Assen, to go shopping. I still needed some gifts and it was nice to go to Assen for a bit anyway, the city I lived for 5 years. My mum needed a special kind of pencil sharpener and as we passed the arts and crafts store, we popped in. We found one and in the meantime I wrote ‘GO VEGAN’, with the big wooden letters they sell there. Hehe.. little activism! I got all the gifts and I also scored great new jeans and we had some yummy tea together. Shopping with my mum is the best! It was a good distraction too, because Steven was on his way back from Brazil and I’m always a bit worried with such a long journey. Luckily in the evening he send me a message that he landed all safely. The hard part now, was waiting for the next evening. Missed him so much!
January 8
There is somebody else I always go to when I’m in Holland and that is Mrs. Veenstra. She has been a friend of my grandma since forever and so my mum and all my aunt and uncles grew up with her. She is such a lovely lady! It’s always feels like a little party going to here. She is so sweet and super hilarious,, I love her dearly! My grandma called in the meantime and my aunt, Marieke, my uncle, Roel, and all 5 of my cousins happened to be at her place. So after we said our goodbyes we drove to Uithuizermeeden again. Was so lovely to see them all, because I don’t get the chance that often. ..and guess what?! They all turned out to be big Sherlock Holmes fans, haha, so funny! Tomorrow I’ll be going home again, this was a great last evening!
January 9
My last day here. Normally I’m not that happy to go home again, but knowing that I would see Steven again after more than 3 weeks, just made me very excited! I was going to be home around 20:00 and I was counting the minutes. I had this little suspicious feeling that he might be waiting for me at the Airport, but as today was his first day back at work, it was very unlikely. In the afternoon I packed my suitcases, what wasn’t that easy. How was it possible I had more stuff now than on my way here?! I still don’t know and though both suitcases were heavier than they should have been, the lady at the check-in was very kind. Lucky me, because normally they’re always very strict in Groningen. The journey took so long as I was so excited. 
I landed safely though and who was waiting for me there?! Steven! Gosh I love that man! I was so happy to be back in his arms.. best surprise ever!
HOTSPOT LIST
Rikus – Hoofdstraat 10, 9463 PC, Eext
Jufferen Lunsingh – Hoofdweg 13, 9337 PA, Westervelde
Bio Markt – Mühlenstraße 128, 26789, Leer
Familia – Nüttermoorer Str. 2, 26789, Leer (Germany)
De Nieuwe Kolk – Cinema/Theatre – Weiersstraat 1, 9401 ET, Assen
Eko Plaza – Torenlaan 24, 9401 HR, Assen
Vegan Super – Nieuwe Ebbingestraat 87, 9712 NG, Groningen
Coffee Company – Oude Ebbingestraat 39, 9712 HB, Groningen
Yantra – Oude Ebbingestraat 61, 9712 HD, Groningen
I hope everybody had lovely Christmas holidays and that you liked to read what I did in mine. If you have any questions or if you want to tell me about your Christmas, I’d love to hear it! Please leave a comment below or show me on Instagram by tagging me or by using #PlanetManel. Thank you! X
HYDE PARK
debates at ‘Speakers’ Corner’. If I’m in the neighbourhood I always like to stop by and listen to what they have to say. You can find ‘Speakers’ Corner’ in the corner next to Marble Arch/Oxford Street. If you walk from there, following Park Lane, you’ll bump into a monument for animals in war. I like that the animals have a monument as just as a lot of innocent people, a lot of animals were killed during all the wars. I do also find it a little hypocritical. As some of the animals were forced to fight and ‘They Had No Choice’ (one of the inscriptions). It was designed by the English sculptor David Backhouse.
KENSINGTON GARDENS
king’s state apartments and Gallery and much more. It’s been a few years since I visited myself, but I do remember I liked it and it’s worth to go. The palace also has a very nice cafe and shop. I sometimes go there for a green tea with soy milk. The park itself is very beautiful. I really like the pond with lots of swans, ducks and gees. As a nanny I’ve been to the Diana Memorial Playground a lot of times. It has a big pirate ship, a huge sandpit, climbing frames, a little water stream (great for in the summer) and the kids can play and run around for ages. Kensington Gardens is very green. There are a lot of trees and nice little paths to discover. It’s definitely one of my favourite London parks.
RICHMOND PARK
artist and several films and tv series have been filmed here.
RAW BARS
STOCK
For work I had to go to Taunton. After that I was off and because Bath is quite close, I decided to go to Bath. I always wanted to go there, because everybody always says it is such a great city. I was very excited to go. When I got out of the train it was already dark, but when I was heading to the AirBnB where I was staying, I already starting to love Bath. The lights shining on the old buildings, the Bath Abbey, the water. It’s so beautiful! I couldn’t wait to see it by daylight. I arrived at my AirBnB 10 minutes later than expected, but the hostess was very lovely and welcoming. She also had a very sweet and brave dachshund and I was just delighted to be in a house with a pet. The hostess showed me my room and it was so perfect. Within 2 minutes I knew it was going to be hard to leave, haha! The room was very stylish and the bathroom very modern, I loved this surprising combination. She gave me the key, we had a little chat and then I left again to have dinner somewhere. I say ‘somewhere’, because for the firs time I didn’t plan every minute of my trip.
I really enjoyed walking through Bath, even while it was dark. It was quite busy on the streets, probably because there was a rugby game going on. I walked and walked until I saw the Odeon cinema. Then I thought it would be nice to watch the new ‘Bridget Jones’ movie. So I quickly popped in and it turned out I had a good half an hour to find something to eat before the movie started. Not too far back I saw a Mexican place, called ‘Mission Burrito’, so I went there and asked if they could do something vegan. You could choose whatever you wanted and so it was possible. I chose a rice bowl. What is rice and all the (vegan) toppings they had, what meant: black beans, vegetables, salad, guacamole and a dressing. The presentation wasn’t great as it was all 
just thrown into a plastic container, but I must say that it did taste nice. The rice was perfectly cooked and the whole combination was rather delicious. It was a perfect meal before the cinema, because there was still some space left for popcorn. YUM! I love popcorn! When I was sitting in the cinema I heard Dutch people behind me and I had a little chat with them. They just moved here. How great! The movie started and I was very looking forward to it as I heard it was hilarious. And it was! OMG! I laughed so much, it was a very good movie. It’s been a while since I laughed about a movie this much. I’d love to watch it again. When I got back to my BnB I took a quick shower, listened to some music, decided where I wanted to have breakfast the next day and then fell asleep in this most fantastic bed. It was like sleeping on a cloud.
The next morning it was only a short walk to ‘The Green Rocket Cafe’, but on my way I discovered this really nice shop, called ‘Grasse’. It has a lot of unique stuff and it’s really worth to take a look inside. It was a lovely walk to the cafe, as it was a beautiful sunny day. ‘The Green Rocket Cafe’ is a super nice vegetarian cafe, with lots of vegan options. I chose the English breakfast (vegan option) and a cleansing juice with beetroot. It was so tasty! Very filling as it was quite a lot, but it was a very good start of the day. Like I said before, I didn’t plan anything and I didn’t do too much research before I came here. I 
decided to just go with the flow and see what it will bring me. I started walking and went into some lovely little shops. I especially liked the art gallery ‘Imagianation’ (beautiful art!) and ‘Arcania’, with the salt lamps, buddha’s, incense and much more. The shops led to the Bath Abbey and I took some lovely pictures. Behind the Abbey there were the ‘Roman Baths’ and I went inside to look at the ticket prices. They were £15 and I knew this was going te be something I will really like. It wasn’t busy at all and so queued up. I was right, I had a lovely time over there! I loved to learn about the baths and their history. In the end you could also taste the water. It wasn’t very tasty. It was warm and had a very strong taste. A bit earthy or something. But the minerals were very high, so I drunk 3 cups! Haha! I spend 2,5 hours in the Roman Baths and I can say that this was really a highlight of my trip.
Another great thing about Bath (and I think that everybody who visited this city already agrees with me), it has an amazing shopping centre. It’s very divers. There are big streets, little streets and narrow alleys. Full of shops, common high street shops, local shops, hand-made stuff, it’s like there is no end. I popped into FatFace as they are an ethical shop. (If you want to know more about this, please take a look at their 
rescues and re-homes cats and dogs. I gave him some money and had a cuddle with the adorable Golden Retriever who kept him company. The man gave me some treats to give her and it was so lovely, it made my day! Not much later I bumped into a sign what said ‘Art Cafe ->’. I remembered I read about this cafe and that they did some vegan things too. I was really craving a cup of tea and so I went there to get one. It’s a cafe under a chapel and it very nice. I chose a chai tea with soy milk on the side and a yummy looking piece of chocolate cake. And it was yummy! I had a lovely little break there before I did some more shopping. I got some 
nice things and also I did find some very good Xmas presents for family and friends. Of course I had to go into Lush (did you notice that I’m a fan?) and I bought my favourite bubble bar, ‘Rose Jam’. Then I headed to a health shop I read about, called ‘Harvest Natural Foods’. A very nice health shop you can compare with 
I wanted to have dinner in the ‘Acorn’, what apparently is the best vegetarian restaurant in Bath. Every time I mentioned I was visiting Bath for my blog and hotspots, the restaurant ‘Acorn’ came up. When I found it, it wasn’t open yet, so I decided to wait in Starbucks and have a small tea. When I then walked into the ‘Acorn’ I must say I had a very good first impression. The atmosphere is great and it all looks lovely. Luckily they still had some space for me and I ordered a cauliflower dish and a chocolate cake. They gave me very nice complimentary bread with olive oil and a seed dip and it was very very delicious. Just like the rest 
of the food. The chocolate cake was possibly the best I’ve ever had. It was very filling, but the taste was just define! As it was Bonfire Night I was just in time to watch the fireworks outside. It was very cold and though the fireworks were quite nice, I didn’t think it was that spectacular. When I got back to my BnB, I made myself a cup of tea, put on some music, run a bath and popped in my RoseJam bubble bar. I had the loveliest bath ever. It was so relaxing and I just felt so happy about my weekend. Everything was going so well and I just had such a good time. This bath in Bath was a perfect end for an unforgettable day.
The next day it was hard to get out of bed, knowing this was the last night. I really appreciated this BnB, a lovely break from daily life. I thanked the hostess and gave her back the key. I had breakfast at ‘The Green Rocket Cafe’ again. This is definitely my favourite breakfast-hotspot in Bath. This time I chose the yogurt with granola and a green juice.. it was perfect. After that I thought it would be nice to learn a little bit more about Bath by going on the HopOnHopOff bus (so touristy, I know..). There were 2 tours for 1 price. I paid £14,50 to go into the hills and overlook Bath and to go around Bath 
itself. It was quite cold that day, so I pulled my hat so far over my head that I was just able to see something. I still don’t know how I survived being in an open-top bus though. It was freezing! It was also very nice. Those buses might be touristy, but I think it’s a fun way to learn about a city. When I got off I started to walk to ‘Beyond Kale’, but on the way I bumped into some other lovely shops. ‘Timber Treasures’, where they sell hand-made wooden gifts, which are ethically and sustainably sourced and ‘Pink Art’, a lovely gift shop with so many nice things.
I was very happy when I could warm myself up in Green Park Station. This used to be a train station, but now it’s a place with different markets, events, shops and cafe’s. To see what market is on, on what day, 
I had one of my best weekends ever in Bath and I’m sure you will have an amazing time there too. Please let me know if you decide to go there or to tell me about your experiences with Bath. You can do this by leaving a comment below or to show me on Instagram by using #PlanetManel. Thank you! X
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!
Last week I was in the Netherlands. I always go back to the Netherlands about 3 times a year. I only went in the beginning of May this year (you can read about that time by clicking 
On Thursday the 20th, very early in the morning (4:00) I woke up to get to the tube station, because I had to go to Liverpool Street. From there I take the Stansted express to the airport. At the airport it wasn’t busy at all and I could easily walk through security. No hassle, I like it! There is a Starbucks at Stansted Airport and I don’t need to tell you that I always go there, haha! The flight was a little bit delayed, but overall it went very well. I was going to sleep one night in Eindhoven for a few reasons. The next day I was going to a birthday party in Woudenberg and because my parents live all the way in Eext and we were going to Rotterdam the day after it would have been so much traveling. Also it gave me the chance to go to Amsterdam before the party, plus my best friend lives in Eindhoven and I didn’t see him for almost 2 years and it was our 5th anniversary this October! And if that wasn’t enough, I always wanted to sleep in the 
The next morning I woke up so well rested, without the airplanes waking me up. They have very good windows. I got myself ready and left the hotel to head to the train station to go to Amsterdam. I will tell you about my Amsterdam trip in my next travel post. So I will skip to the part where I met my mum at Amersfoort station that evening. When I arrived at the station my sister was there waiting for me. They wanted it to be a surprise, but ‘my mum’ was texting me whilst I knew she was driving the car and so I expected my sister to be there as my mum would never text and drive. It was so nice to see them both! I actually saw my mum the week before, because she came to London for 4 days to help me at work, but it was like I didn’t see her for so long. The party was very nice. It was the birthday of my mum’s friend Trudy, they know each other from school, so they have been friends for quite a while. I didn’t see her for very long and it turned out her sister and her parents were there too and it was all lovely to see them too. The biggest surprise was that Trudy made a vegan cake, because she knew I was coming. I couldn’t believe it! She has no idea how much I appreciate that. It was a lime-yogurt-cake and it was deliciousss!! I also really liked that everybody liked it so much, even though people were thinking at first that a vegan cake must come from a different planet. It turned out vegan cakes were not made out of grass, haha! I had some lovely conversations with people about my blog, though mostly I talked to my sister. I know.. but we didn’t see each other for so long, there were lots of things to talk about. Overall it was a lovely evening and I’m so happy I was a part of it. The next day we went to Rotterdam, but just like my Amsterdam trip, more about that in my next travel post. So lets fast forward a bit.. Sunday morning! I was so happy I didn’t plan anything that Sunday, as the last couple of days (weeks actually) were a bit crazy. It was the first day since ever that I didn’t have any plans. So I had a lovely sleep in and in the afternoon me and my mum did one of the things we love best.. grocery shopping! I got the ingredients to make an authentic Dutch apple pie. And honestly, that is the only thing I did that day and it was lovely!
Monday I had another sleep in, yay! ..and then I made the apple pie. Never in my life I made it just right. My sister is very good at making them, but with me they were always too dry or not done. With that in mind and the fact that I was also going to veganize it, I was a little nervous. Especially the moment I was cutting it, but you know what.. It was perfect! I never made such a good Dutch apple pie. The fact that it’s all vegan must have made it perfect. I’ll make sure to share the recipe with you guys soon! In the evening my cousin Mandy was going to come as after being vegetarian for 10 years, she’s transitioning to being vegan. I’m so proud of her and I wanted to share and show all the products I have and use. Unfortunately she got very sad news that morning and had to cancel. I really hope to meet her next time. In the afternoon I watched ForksOver Knives and Cowspiracy with my mum. These documentaries made my dad go vegan. My mum is vegetarian for quite a while already and I would love her to go vegan too. She was very surprised by all the facts and really understands me more after watching it. The things what is stopping her to go vegan too is cheese and that other people will always think she is the difficult one. Though she is thinking about living more vegan and making an exception now and then. What is already making me so happy, as it such a big step in the right direction. I love that my family is becoming more and more conscious. Personally the hardest part of being vegan is that the people I love most are not caring about their own health, animals and environment enough to do something about it. I know I can’t force this upon them, but luckily my family and friends are nice enough to talk about it. I think I can consider myself very lucky with people like that. I could have been in the middle of big meat eaters who don’t want to listen to anything what matters. It meant a lot to me that my mum watched the documentaries with me. In the evening my brother came to visit. He lives in Groningen (for only 2 months) with friends. It was so nice to see him and because me and my mum dropped him back home I even saw where he lives at the moment. It’s an amazing location, in the middle of the centre. Though it’s 3 boys living there and I don’t think I need to say more, haha. Though I really liked what he did with his personal space and also that he really has a good time living there.
On Tuesday I got out of bed at a (for me) reasonable time, because I wanted to go to my mum’s work. My dad has a new car and he let me borrow it, what was super nice. For the people who didn’t know yet, my mum works in hotel-restaurant called 
The next day I was looking after Joëlla and planned on visiting my friend Nienke and my grandparents (they live in the same village). My mum was coming too and so we waited for her to come home from work. She had to work a little longer than expected, but it was so nice to spend some time with Joëlla. We sung songs, read the book ‘The Gruffalo’ twice, cuddled and made pumpkin soup together in the meantime, so we could bring it over for lunch. When we finally arrived Nienke was waiting for us with a set table and we were al so hungry that we immediately started to eat. The pumpkin soup was so yummy and I’ll share the recipe for sure. Nienke has a daughter Annemarie and it really feels like she’s my niece too. She’s such a cute girl! It was the first time I saw 
her walking and she changed so much, that I told myself I should visit a little bit more often. Joëlla and Annemarie played so lovely together and it was hilarious at times, we all had a good laugh. Children can be the funniest ever! Before we left we had to visit their pet pig.. of course!! They have a pet pig.. you understand I’m madly jealous! She’s called Madelief and the kids loved to feed her apples and chestnuts. Lucky piggy! It was a shame we didn’t have more time, but because I wanted to visit my grandparents too (I aways do), we had to go. It was lovely to see my grandparents and again we couldn’t stay long, but for me it’s very important to see them. On our way back we dropped Joëlla (who of course fell asleep in the last 5 minutes) of at her house and then went home 
where I made dinner for my parents and myself. Already the last evening, but another amazing day with my lovely friends and family.
Most of August I was in France, in Cessy, what is just over the border from Switzerland, only a 20 minute drive from Geneva. We stayed there with my employers family. They all slept in their house, but they also had a caravan. The caravan was surrounded by trees and quite private. Perfect! I lived in the caravan for 2 weeks straight and I absolutely loved it. It reminded me of my childhood as my grandma also had a caravan. The smell, the atmosphere, everything came back. Also it made me realise that you don’t need much. I could easily live in a caravan. Just to have a tiny living space, a simple kitchen, bathroom and a bedroom. It made me feel so happy to
There was a breathtaking view too. Almost every day (sometimes it was behind the clouds) I was able to see the Mont Blanc. And not only a nice view, but also fresh figs of the fig trees every day. Freshly picked fruit really makes my heart beat faster! So amazing! Across the field, only a 5 min walk, there were 2 donkeys and 2 horses.The first day of my weekend I walked to them and I stroked one of the donkeys for almost an hour. She was so nice. She came running to me and then just wanted to be stroked. I loved it! Donkeys are such nice animals. That day I also went to a mall called ‘Val Thoiry’, about a 30 min drive. They had a little car I was allowed
to use, what was so kind and super handy, as it really gave me some freedom to go to things on my own. There was an H&M there, what was so handy as I needed new leggings. When I was getting them I also saw a sun-hat, a simple black one with a little scarf around it. I always wanted to have a hat like that, but I could never find one I liked. They’re so handy, because then you don’t always have to wear sunglasses. I’m so happy I got them, because I can already tell you that I used it a lot and I really liked it. Very useful and it looks nice too! There was also another hat, the ones which are always 100% wool. But this one was 100% Polyester. I really liked it too, but I had no idea how to bring it with me to 
London. So I figured the H&M here in London would have them too. Unfortunately I didn’t find them so far. What is such a shame, because I really like to have a hat like this. There was also a very big supermarket: ‘Migros’. And I just loveeee big supermarkets. So I got all my groceries there. Mostly for the week, but also some things what was gonna last longer. It’s quite expensive there, couldn’t believe the prices sometimes. But on holidays I almost get everything I want. So I made it quite expensive in the end. I kept everything very healthy though. Very nice groceries.
The next day I went to Divonne, a village only a 10 minute drive away. In the morning and the beginning of the afternoon there is a market. A lot of french breads, olives, but also some clothes and a lot of other things. I got new elephant bottoms. I always wanted to have a nice pair of those, but as I’m very picky I can never find exactly what I want. But they had a black and grey one and it was perfect, so I got them. I wore it a lot! It was quite a lovely market where I got the most delicious sun dried tomato spread. I got a fresh baguette, grilled some veggies when I got home and that was my dinner. It was so delicious, I could have eaten that every day. In the evenings I did a lot of reading, writing or I watched ‘Orphan Black’, a super nice show on Netflix.
That week we went with the boat on lake Geneva and it was so much fun. We went to the other side of the lake, had lunch there and then went back. In the end everybody jumped off the boat into the water, but I don’t dare to do that. I need to know what is under me, otherwise I panic. Must be a control thing. It looked so nice though, so in the end I sat on the side of the boat and put my feet in the water, what was amazing! I did get a wet bum as another boat past us and made a lot of waves. It was very refreshing, haha! The water is so clear and has such a beautiful colour. I really really loved it!
The next weekend I went to the supermarket again to get fresh fruit and veggies and food for when my mum was gonna come that week. I also went to a big health store, what was called ‘Satoriz’. It was next to ‘Val Thoiry’ and it was quite a big store and very nice. A lot of vegan products. Though they didn’t know things like vegan mayonnaise and cheese. I got a lot of other very nice things though. Finally some good vegan treats. In the middle of the store there is a cafe. I had lunch there and asked for a vegan meal. They gave me a lovely plate of food, with a mash potato vegetable pie, beetroot soup, a little salad, 2 different dips and some very nice 
bread. I also had a dessert, some sort of pudding with fruit on top. Everything was very fresh and so tasty, I really enjoyed that. My mum came that Thursday and I was so looking forward to that. First of all to just see her, but also it was nice for me to show her my work and to give her a good idea from what I do. We also went to Geneva together for a few days, what was lovely. We had such a good time. It was so nice of my employers to let her come over. I really appreciated that.
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:
The family I work for go to Mallorca every year. There is a lot of their family too and they stay for a whole week in a villa with a swimming pool, vegetable garden en a lot of space. It’s breathtaking. Last year I came with them and this year I went with them again. I feel very fortunate that I can come with them as Mallorca is beautiful and the family is very nice.
tomatoes in the London supermarkets. And then the oranges.. I mean.. Oranges ripened under the Spanish sun, without pesticides. Do I need to say more?!
For the main course they had super delicious rice with green beans and some delicious tofu. Th dessert was very yummy too. Fresh fruit, cut up, with freshly squeezed orange juice. The fruit here is so amazing! This was just the first evening, but the whole week I had delicious food. Like ‘avocado salads’, ‘pasta with fresh garlic, cherry tomatoes and rucola’, ‘an oven dish with tomatoes, aubergine and potatoes’ and ‘raw coconut chocolate balls’. All meals were very nice, but out of everything I think I liked breakfast the most. Just because every morning there was a big big fruit platter ready in the middle of the table with more than 10 different kinds of fresh fruits. I love fruit and every morning my heart skipped a beat when I saw it. The day the ladies had a day of I even had the chance to make one myself that morning. So lovely!
Another very nice thing was that there was a black street cat. He was very skinny and hungry, but so sweet and lovely. He was shy at first, but with a lot of patience and calmness he felt more and more comfortable and even the kids could stroke him. And not only he liked to be stroked on his back, but you could touch him everywhere. He was a true sweetheart and I really bonded with him. What was unfortunate in a way as I of course wanted to take him home. If I had the space in London I’m sure I’d take him to a local vet on my day off, to get him vaccinated and chipped. 
Instead of doing that I went to Inca on my day off. A town not far from where we were staying. Inca is quite a shopping town and the day I went there was a big market. I went here because there is a vegan cafe there and I needed to check that out of course. I parked the car under a supermarket, which was nice, because then it wouldn’t be so hot when I come back.
heartbreaking and I wanted to shout at the people who’re selling them and shout at the people who’re buying them. I felt so powerless. How could they do this to them? Was I the only one there who thought this was just not normal?! There was a little girl who was picking out a bird. This is the trouble. Nobody was telling or teaching here that this isn’t the way of treating animals. She was happy to get a pet and she’d probably grow up thinking that this is normal. I just stood there, being angry and feeling devastated. It was such a bad start of my day. I hate to walk away and leave the poor creatures.
It was very crowded, but I was looking for my vegan cafe. Following the map I found it easily. It’s in a little street, away from the market. You wouldn’t think there was a cafe if you’d just look at the street. I was very excited. The cafe is called ‘Acai’ and the entrance looks very nice. Inside it wasn’t really what I expected it to be. First of all there was nobody, apart from a few guys sitting around a table in the middle. Second.. the place was quite big, a bit too big to create a nice atmosphere. There were tables with chairs randomly put down to fill it up, but it looked a bit odd. Now this might sound a little negative, but it was just not what I expected. The place was only open for 2 months and so that explained a lot. I do really like it that there was a vegan cafe and that they tried to make it nice with the things 
available. What I also really liked were the handmade things on the wall from ‘Jipita’, which were for sale. Especially the huge dreamcatcher without feathers and a peace sign was really nice. It’s not only a cafe, cuz in one corner there was a little vegan shop, called ‘Lo Vegano’ with all vegan stuff. I couldn’t resist to buy some cheese, spacebars and chocolate biscuits. Then I had my lunch. They guy who served me was very nice and friendly and though he said his English wasn’t very good, it was no problem at all to talk to him. There were a lot of nice things on the menu, but they also had a burger and of course I went for the burger, haha!
one person, but it was so good!! The burger was just amazing, the chips so tasty, the garlic mayonnaise so delicious and the smoothie.. I’ve never had such a good smoothie and I’m not joking. This was the best smoothie ever! I really enjoyed my lunch. It would have been nice to go there again, but the next day we were leaving, so no chance. I really enjoyed my lunch and I really recommend it. So when you’re in Mallorca and you happened to be close to Inca, definitely go and have a meal here. Or at least try the smoothie! On my way back to the car I walked past a jewellery market stand and saw a beautiful hanger for a neckless. A silver Ganesh! I just had to get it. Now I only have to find something to hang it around my neck, but I’m sure I can find something in London. It made me so happy, as it is so beautiful!
I still had the afternoon to spend and I decided to go to a place I also went last year, called ‘Port de Pollenca’. I’d be only 15 minutes away from the villa and so it would be easy to go back from there. I went for a little stroll near the water and the little shops and then decided to do some sunbathing. Normally I’m not a big fan of the beach, just because (and I know this sounds slightly ridiculous) there is sand everywhere. It sticks on everything and even after a shower you have the idea that it’s still there. I went anyway. I brought my towel and some smoothies I bought in the supermarket in Inca. It was actually quite nice. I figured out that, because I was on my own I enjoyed it a lot more. The sand was still sticky, but at least I was able to do what I wanted. I went into the sea, had a little dip, looked at the fishes and then back to my towel and I did that as many times as I wanted. Also I had the time and so I made sure I was all dried up and almost sand free before I put my clothes on again. I really enjoyed it!
For dinner I went to a restaurant called ‘Cappuccino’. They had an organic quinoa salad over there and so I had that, together with a very expensive organic lemonade (8 euro’s for basically 2 glasses). It was delicious though, but knowing there are lemons growing everywhere in Spain I thought the price was just crazy. I stayed a little longer, just to watch the people and then again I went for a little stroll through the little streets and then walked back to my car. It started to be a little dark already and so it was time to go back. It was a lovely day!
The next morning we left to fly to Geneva, where we will be staying the rest of August. So a lot of goodbyes and not knowing I’d come back here again, I sure enjoyed this week!
Thanks to the Groene Meisjes and also a lot of vegan related articles, Berlin was on top of my travel bucket list. I booked the beginning of this year and finally the time was there. First I was going alone, but as my mum and sister really liked to explore Berlin too, we made it a girls only trip. I was there one day earlier, Sunday the 10th, but they were joining me the next day.
to try the key again. It looked like it was so stuck, but then suddenly it turned around and I was able to open the door. Yes! It felt like solving the last part of a puzzle. When the door opened there was a big weed smell coming my way. I’m Dutch, so I’m used to some, but this was quite a lot. It made me laugh as I felt this was going to be 1 big adventure! Shortly after, the owner texted me back to tell me the key was tricky (ya I got that) and that he was going to change the sheets in the afternoon. Oh and 2 minutes later he came out if his room, wasted and stoned, on his way to the bathroom. He apologised and it made me laugh even more. I sat down for a while and charged my phone before I was heading out again. It was hot (30+ C) and my tummy felt a bit upset, but the adrenaline made me walk from Alexanderplatz all the way to the Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz. A lovely walk, passing the famous Berliner 
Fernsehturm (the tv tower), the beautiful Berliner Dom (cathedral), the Altes museum, a nice market at Unter den Linden, Brandenburger Tor, Reichstag and crossing the Tiergarten park. As my energy wasn’t the way it normally is I walked slowly, took my time and made sure to stop a few times. It was actually rather lovely. It always gives me such a great feeling to be in a new city, by myself, reflecting on everything what happened lately, being in the now and looking at all the different people around me. When I arrived at the Sony Centre, after laying down in the park for a while, I was totally exhausted. I chose to eat a burger in one of the restaurants there, called ‘Corroboree’. It 
was an Australian restaurant with a few vegan options. It’s a very big restaurant and because the weather was so nice, everybody was sitting outside, but there is also the possibility to sit inside and you can even sit up stairs. The burger itself was ok, but the salad could have been so much better. Big pieces of raw white onion is not really my thing.
A bit before 21:00 I made my way over to the cinema and I was very excited. Watching the finals in the cinema! Even though I supported Portugal since the beginning, I decided to support France as, I had to admit, they deserved it more. I was the only one who was by myself and the only girl. I had a lot of looks my way and I could hear all the guys thinking ‘What is she doing here by herself?!’. It was quite hilarious, but no way I was going to miss the finals. After half an hour I caught myself supporting Portugal anyway and I was very happy they won in the end. Yay!! The only thing what concerned me was that I had to go back to the AirBnB, via a very dark, dodgy station and it was past midnight. I must admit, I’ve felt a lot safer before and I was very happy when I finally was back in the building and closed the door behind me. It was 1:00 and I was so tired, so I slept very deeply.
The next morning I took it easy, showered, got a juicy apple and half a kg of very sweet cherries at the local supermarket and ate them on my way to the main station, Hauptbahnhof, where I was going to pick up my mum and sister. They arrived perfectly on time and it was so nice to see them! We decided to have lunch first and then we headed back to our very interesting AirBnB. My mum and sister couldn’t believe the circumstances and actually wanted to find another place to sleep, but I convinced them it was just adding to the adventure and we were only sleeping there anyway. After everybody was done freshing up we headed to the Sony Center, got a Starbucks and looked at the 
lovely museum shop. Then we decided to go for a little walk and we did a little shopping. What made us decide to head over to Veganz, a supermarket with only vegan products. And wohw.. that was so nice! I didn’t want to leave. We should definitely get one in London too! It’s not a huge supermarket, but they have a lot of products. I stocked up on snacks, some lovely biscuits and of course.. chocolate! Both the coconut biscuits and the double chocolate biscuits are very nice. Also the white chocolate with coconut I really recommend. I haven’t tried the rest yet. Above Veganz is a vegan shoe shop called ‘Avesu’, where they sell shoes, bags and belts. Very nice! Also there is a very nice restaurant, called ‘The Bowl’, where we had dinner. They have beautiful food. We ordered: 
Buddha bowl, the Italian bowl and the Mexican bowl, together with some sweet potato fries (because they are sweet potato fries!) on the side. We all shared and it was very yummy! I loved the interior, with the petrol blue and the relaxed atmosphere. We did have to wait for our food for quite a while, but we had a good time in the meantime. For our dessert we picked some of the nice cakes they had downstairs at ‘Goodies’, next to the supermarket. What a lovely cafe this is, we definitely need one in London too! The cakes were amazingggg and the staff very friendly. I would have loved to come back here to try some more cakes, hehe..
The next day we had a banana bread breakfast at a little cafe called Leuchtstoff. It’s a cafe I think you wouldn’t find in London. It’s definitely Berlin style. Everything is made out of wood and there is only old vintage furniture. The banana bread and the tea were lovely and they have very nice staff too. You get your tea in a glass bottle, what looks very nice, but it’s far from practical as the bottle gets very hot and you can’t really poor it into your cup. Also not everything is vegan, but they do have a few options, also for lunch. The atmosphere is very relaxed and I liked that, so I would recommend this lovely cafe, if you happen to be around there.
After we went to Alexander Platz. We did a little shopping and went to Kaffee Einstein for a little break. I got a tea as I don’t drink coffee, but if I have to believe my mum and sister, they have the best cappuccino over here. They were totally crazy about it, so if you’re a coffee fan, go and try it! My tea was also very delicious btw. It was a lovely day again and we decided it was a good afternoon for a bus sightseeing tour. We got tickets from a lady who was very nice and helpful and got on the bus with live information. Already after 5 minutes the guy who was doing all the talking had to tell us to be more quiet, apparently we were chatting too much. Oops! I really enjoyed this bus tour and so did my mum and sis. It’s nice to see all the important things and get information about it. For me it really adds to the 
trip. You start to understand the city better. The only time we got out of the bus was when we were at the Berlin Wall. It was very interesting and such an important part of the city’s history. A little surreal to walk there. After getting back to Alexander Platz we agreed it was time for pizza and headed to a place called ZeroStress. They have all sorts of pizza’s here, but what I like about it, is that they have 3 vegan pizza’s to choose from. I must say it was a very interesting place. Not very big, very easy going (what you expect looking at the name), but very friendly staff and tasty pizza’s. The only thing we didn’t like so much about this place was the music. It was very loud and only techno, which is really not our thing. For ZeroStress I think the music was a bit odd.
This morning we had breakfast in my personal favourite. A lovely place called ‘New Deli Yoga’. The place is minimalistic, pure and no nonsense. They have 2 types of vegan breakfast and a lot of smoothies to choose from. So much, that is was hard to pick one. I went for a green smoothie eventually, my mum for a coffee one and my sis had a very nice banana smoothie. I ordered the vegan omelette and I was so happy I did as it was the best one I’ve ever had. It was so nice! In the back of the cafe there is a yoga studio, can it be more perfect?! The staff was so friendly and we felt very much at home here. If I ever go to Berlin again, I make sure to go here for a lovely breakfast or lunch. Great place! Very close, 
across the road, there is a lovely ice lolly pop store, called ‘California Pops’, where they sell amazing vegan lolly pops. I was too full from breakfast, otherwise, even though it was in the morning, I would have tried one. Next time! Around the corner is also the supermarket called ‘Bio Company’, which you can compare a little bit with the Whole Food Market. I bought a lovely hand cream from the brand Sante. This is an amazing brand I didn’t know. I have to find out if I can get it in the UK, because I love it!
in the middle of all the museums, enjoy the weather, the buildings, the classical music from street musicians in the background, the people and each other. I do have to admit I was a little upset I wasn’t going to see the inside of these beautiful museums as I love visiting museums a lot. But I know my back and neck wouldn’t like the hours of standing still and the pain I would have experienced from that would have ruined the time inside anyway.
Italian dishes. Only when we got there it happened to be closed that day. When we walked a little further we bumped into a lovely little restaurant called ‘Let It Be’. What made me feel happy that the other one was closed, because otherwise we’d never discovered this and never ate the amazing burgers they had over there. Another very nice place for today.
This was our last morning. We took it easy this morning, but then we decided to try ‘Brammibal’s’ again. This time it was open and we each chose 4 donuts (I had: cinnamon, salted-caramel-hazelnut, maple-bacon-coconut and a peanut butter-chocolate). This is a lovely place btw, I really liked it. The interior is very simple and nice, perfect to enjoy lunch or a donut. It was very funny to find out, after we made the most silly jokes, that one of the staff members was Dutch and he was understanding everything we were saying. Oops.. Haha! I was so lucky, because when we were there an amazing, huge, most beautiful, blue merle 
Great Dane walked in. I was instantly in love. Took a thousand pictures and cuddled her untill she and her owner left. What a lovely last highlight of this trip! We also ordered a take away bagel, we ate at Kaffee Einstein when we were at the station. The bagel was amazing!! The best bagel I’ve ever had. (The donuts were for when I got home that evening. I was very excited to try them, but unfortunately they were very dry and I didn’t like them. Maybe I should have eaten them straight away, but then I still think they would have been a bit dry.)
Then it was time to say our goodbye’s and my mum and sister left. Because there was a train going straight to the airport and my bag was too heavy to carry around for much longer, I decided to go to the airport even though I would be a few hours early. It made it a relaxed day and my journey went well.
cranes, fences and scaffoldings everywhere. And apart from a few very friendly people (especially in the restaurants/cafe’s) it looks like people can’t smile and the English is very 50/50, what came to me as a surprise.
So if you find yourself in Berlin, you’re sure of a list of lovely cafe and restaurants. Let me know if you know one or more of these lovely hotspots and definitely let me know if you’re deciding to go! You can show me by using #PlanetManel on Instagram or by leaving a comment below. Thank you! X
Planet Manel 