A Visit to Veganitessen

My next stop in Spain was Seville, and I visited Veganitessen, an all-vegan bake stand in a local market that I'd read about on HappyCow. I was in Seville Monday (when it's closed) and Tuesday (from what I read, when the selection is limited to sweets. Other days there are savory items like vegan quiche).


A cute seating area to devour your humane treat.


Cakes, tarts, cupcakes, oh my!


A chocolate mousse tart, 2.50 euros. All that's missing was a soy café con leche (they don't offer coffee drinks).


A vegan French apple tart, 3 euros, for the road to Madrid.

Find vegan baking tips from Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale.

Greetings from Tangier, Wish You Were Here

From Tarifa in Spain, I hopped on the ferry to Tangier, Morocco. A round trip ferry ride costs 65 euros, but book a guided tour (I went with Comarit) where you catch the ferry for 60 euros, and have lunch included. What's the catch? The tour company gets group rates on the ferry passage, and the guide zips you by many shops and from my understanding gets a commission if you buy something. Too bad frugal me is on board, who is not a big shopper ever. Do watch for aggressive street peddlers (one was trying to sell Moroccan hats he was calling "Bruce Willis hats"!) while, as soon as we got off the boat, someone was trying to pose as our tour guide, who was running a few minutes behind.

Sipping on the Pakistani tea (black tea, cinnamon, cardamon, orange and vanilla, with, so exciting, soy milk), 3 euros, at Bamboo Tea's before hoping on the ferry at Tarifa.

In Tangier, a quick drive to the more modern part of the city.

Did I take the 5-minute camel ride for 1 euro? Of course not! Why animals need to amuse tourists is way beyond me.

The older part of the city had my heart and soul.

A woman selling fresh vegetables.

If you are a woman, imagine the fashion you'd covet if you were a Moroccan woman. Imagine how different your life would be if you were born a woman elsewhere.


At the daily market, spices delight the senses.

On the plane ride, I watched an episode of Frontier House, a series that followed three families recreating life on the American Frontier (I highly recommend it). In a scene where the families witness a chicken being killed, Karen observes how if we connected it to the animal maybe people would waste less. Those clean packaged chickens in the supermarket don't make much of a connection to a living, breathing animal. I thought of that when I saw this vendor.


In shops, bread for sale.

I had seen Poor Little Rich Girl, the story of troubled Barbara Hutton, heir to the Woolworth fortune who died nearly penniless, but had forgotten she'd lived in Morocco.

Most of these rugs wouldn't interest strict vegans who shun wool (learn why), but it was an interesting education. View some rugs from one side, and they appear lighter, another darker; some are reversable, cooler for the summer, warmer for the winter. This vendor was pretty aggressive, but no sale.

A mosque door.

Lunch at Mamounia Palace, with music.

Spiced chickpea soup for all to start.

While everyone else had meat skewers, I savored this cold, stewed tomato and pepper salad with Moroccan spices. My meat-eating sweetheart seemed more interested in this than his meat (he also loved his vegetarian burger at GOPAL. Progress!)

No chicken infecting this beautiful dish: couscous with plump raisins, chickpeas, cabbage and carrots.

Green tea with fresh mint leaves and sugar, with a semolina cookie.

Remembering my time in Tangier warmly, and longing for more.

One Fine Day: A Visit to the Alhambra

The magnificent Alhambra, Granada's Moorish palace.

Within the palace's walls, Columbus sold to Isabel and Ferdinand a sea voyage to the Orient. From our friend Rick Steves' Spain 2007:

"Imaging the scene: the king, the queen, and the greatest minds from the University of Salamanca gathered here while Columbus produced maps and pie charts to make his case that he could sail west to reach the East. Ferdinand and the professors laughed and called Columbus mad-not because they thought the world was flat (most educated people knew otherwise), but because they thought Columbus had underestimated the size of the globe, and thus the length and cost of the journey."

The rest is history...


Its lush gardens.


"Water-so rare and precious in most of the Islamic world-was the purist symbol of life to the Moors. The Alhambra is decorated with water: standing still, cascading, making secret conversations, and dripping-dropping playfully." - Rick Steves.



Looking at the banister...flowing water.




Honey-combed ceilings.

The Alcazaba, the oldest part of the complex.


A view from the top of the Alcazaba.


Washington Irving, the American author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, also penned a biography on Columbus and Tales of the Alhambra.


Charles V's palace, "financed by a salt-in-the-wound tax on Granada's defeated Muslim population." - Rick Steves.

Granada at nightfall.


Admittedly, I didn't even know all of this existed until my travels to Spain. One of the many reasons I travel is the educational aspect and to broaden my horizons. This was by far one of my favorites on our Spanish itinerary.

Next, one more stamp is now on my passport.

Barcelona: I Was Here

At Antonio Gaudí's Sagrada Família. Gaudí worked on it from 1883 to 1926, and construction is still underway.


Studious, witty, budget-minded and a born storyteller, I always bring Rick Steves along (via library book) as my personal tour guide. I'll be quoting from him throughout my visit.

From Rick Steves' Spain 2007:

"Part of Gaudí's religious vision was a love for nature. He said, "Nothing is invented; it's written in nature." His columns blossom with life, and little windows let light filter in like the canopy of a rain forest."

Gaudí's Park Güell. On this day, a city-wide transit strike was in place until the early evening, which meant walking everywhere. I walked uphill to this park, and a total of 12 miles for the day (I had a pedometer on to track it). Phew!

Citadel Park at dusk.


Elegant elderly ladies everywhere walking with their dogs socializing in tree-lined squares. Barcelona's senior population is some of the most smartly dressed I've seen.


In Parc de Montjuïc, the Sardana dancers statue, celebrating a dance performed by the Catalonia community where people join hands and dance in a circle in sync with the drum taps.


Also visited was the Picasso Museum. No photos were allowed (the same goes for the Prado in Madrid and some other attractions) which I prefer in museums. I've seen too many people in museums take a photo of the artwork, then walk away without even having taken a second to view the art standing right in front of them.

Rick Steves fans will recognize Juan at the Pinotxo Bar in La Boqueria. Rick Steves says he loves to flash a smile and give a thumbs up, but he looked, well, busy. As soon as a seat cleared it was immediately taken.


Women shopping for fresh fruit and vegetables just outside the La Boqueria hall. Disappointingly, flimsy plastic bags are everywhere in Spain versus this more idealized way of shopping with a reusable tote.

Hope: bicycles for rent.


Depressing: birds for sale along La Rambla. Why hold captive a creature with the gift of flight in a tiny cage for one's amusement? I love the beauty of birds, and have an outdoor feeder; the birds have their freedom.

No birds or other animals hurt in the making of this vegetarian paella at the Organic Market in the back of La Boqueria.

Tapas time at Tossa: a vegetarian croquette.

Button mushrooms in garlic and olive oil, and stuffed olives.

Bread with crushed tomatoes and olive oil. All washed down with sangria, some of the best I had in Spain.

Lunching with seemingly all locals at Cal Boter. They have a 10 euros lunch (appetizer, entree, bread and dessert). I was told it was no problem to swap a vegetarian item for a meat one, but I was charged (the first of many times I had problems with the bill in Spain). In any event, this all cost about 12 euros.

After onion soup (no cheese and no egg), I had the vegetarian plate and shared a carafe of the house red wine. The waitress said wine was included, which it wasn't.

Sweet endings: fresh melon for dessert.


Next stop, Granada.