Traveling Raw and/or Vegan

A lot of vegans or raw foodies I know are often concerned that they won't have enough to eat when they go on any kind of trip. To make things easier, they bring their own food, make lots of pre-packed dehydrated goodies for the road, and make sure they'll be able to survive. I admit, I was like that too. On this trip, I decided I would come empty handed. No superfoods. No dehydrated goodies. Just me, my palate, and a sense of confidence that the Mediterranean is full of plenty of yummy fruits and veggies for my consumption. And it was.

As I mentioned in my last post, put out a pure intention and the Universe will provide. So unlike many reviews and travel accounts that you may find on google when you type "vegan travel in Greece" or something to that effect, here is my very positive account of how it can be done! (And I believe this can be applied anywhere in the world that has some form of vegetation!)

Breakies:

As you've seen, breakies have always been a nice bowl of fruit. Sweet energy to fuel my day!

Lunchies:

Usually skipped due to the heat, but if I did have something it would usually be a piece of fruit (fiiiiigs).

Dinners:

Plaka Restaurants, Athens:

I know it's touristy, I know you might get ripped off, but we highly enjoyed our time in the little plaka tavernas. One in particular, cleverly called the Taverna Plaka, was by far our favourite place to go, so much so that we went their twice over our five night stay in mainland Greece. The reason I personally preferred them is they were one of the few places to actually have the vegan version of an eggplant salad. The more upscale a place tries to be, the more they have a tendency to try to add dairy or meat to everything. This place had no pretensions, just really yummy traditional food.

Seaside Restaurant between Sounio and Athens (didn't catch the name):

Another tasty taverna, but by the sea with a gorgeous sunset. My parents had a grilled fish, and we shared these:

More of those infamous Giant Beans

Fried Zucchini

(which I did not partake in)

Eggplant Salad

(this one tasted more like baba ghanouj)

Meat-free Grape Leaves

(all you have to do is ask!)

Olive Oil Garlic Bread

(yuuuummmmy)

Yum. Beautiful place, beautiful food (and my beautiful camera to capture it all).

Diogenes Restaurant, Athens:

Frankly, I found this place kind of overrated. While it got lots of good reviews on places like Trip Advisor, the place itself was really pretty but the food was meh. My mom had a mean Moussaka though. But I was able to have something raw and diverse:

A Tasty but somewhat boring Season Salad

Santorini:

Oh Santorini, land of the sweetest grape tomatoes ever (they are a notorious speciality here, and are literally like candy) and 3,500 year old fava beans (talk about heirloom!). There were so many options for me here it was insane! Breakfast was always peaches or nectarines or figs. Lunch was either skipped or:

Lunch eaten on Thirassia (the island that used to be part of Santorini before that whole volcano incident):

Cucumber Tomato Salad

(always an option in Greece)

Dinners here were also usually salads. OF course the most amazing was the infamous Santorini Salad from Petros (the BEST restaurant in Santorini in my opinion, located in Oia and this is for vegans AND omnivores):

I realized this is called a Santorini salad because it has

their native grape tomatoes, and caper leaves

(apparently the only things that grow here)

The 3,500 year old Fava Bean puree

(soooo tasty)

A no-Feta Greek Salad

from Sunset Taverna,

where most people go to this restaurant to have €95 lobster spaghetti,

and where everyone flocks to well...

watch the sunset obviously, that looked like this:

So you see, it's quite easy to be vegan and/or raw when traveling. Your mind can be at rest, while your tummy rejoices!