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Vegan in Hannover, Germany: Hiller Vegan Café

1/30/2016

The Lemon Tree & GPSmycity.com have partnered to bring you informative articles available in the downloadable app that works offline! Get maps, tips and all the information you need from this article, available here at this link.
To me, Hannover is one of my favorite cities in Europe. It’s a place where the big city life meets small town Germany. Hannover has everything that Hamburg, Berlin and Munich has, just packed in a dense city center. It's a city packed with music, art and culture, and the vegan scene is no different.

One of my favorite personal quests in Hannover included tasting Hannover's thriving vegan scene. Hiller claims to be the oldest vegetarian café in Germany, selling hot meals and sweet treats since 1955. Today, Hiller has been vegan since 2012. I recognized the name Hiller because they serve food truck-style meals at the many vegan and city events in town.

Meandering west of the Hauptbanhof, we found Hiller tucked away in a residential side street corridor and nestled behind a tiny street-side café with bushes to privatize guests to the walker-bys.

Sitting outside on a hot summer day, the staff (and the nagging bees) welcomed us with a simple menu, or “speisekarte.” Nothing too complex or over the top, the menu looks basic and straightforward, but trust me the flavors burst with excellence.

Cute, quiet and quaint, this is a place to visit for an authentic European experience. Most Americans would call it the slow food movement; Hiller’s is not a fast-paced location. And that doesn’t mean that they are slow or unorganized, it’s just the lifestyle and I dig that. It’s what Europe is, a slow moving snail (schnecke) compared to our bullet-paced eating culture in America. Eat healthy. Eat slowly. Enjoy life. Sounds simple right?

I decided to order the CHAMPIGNONS À LA CRÈME MIT SALBEI-RISOTTO UND SEITAN-KRUSTLING. Or in English, mushrooms in a cream sauce with sage risotto and a seitan steak. To me, this was the most unique option on the menu, plus I had a hankering for seitan.

While trying to perfect my own homemade meats, I realized that restaurant seitan and gluten-based meats have something to them – flavor. As a vegan food critic, I know a lot of “stuff” has to go into vegan meats. I remember in college I used to love Morning Star’s bacon strips, until I read the ingredient label. It had MSG and all these other things in it that I could not pronounce.
Making seitan at home is sometimes not the same as compared to restaurant style.

And hot damn did I make the right choice. I forgot my DSLR so I had to use my IPhone to capture the savory and palate-popping flavor. Everything was perfect and in unity even right down to the mushroom.

Mushrooms with quark (similar to a yogurt sauce) is a popular German essen (food). They sautéed the mushrooms to perfection, soft, but left with a slight crunch. Mixed with the seitan, I felt my body powered with enough protein to last me through my upcoming Greek vacation.

And, the bees liked it too. Swarming and disturbing my meal, the bees were out for any chance at a lick of food, but I think they preferred the apple and avocado salad. But in all honesty, how could the bees not like the salad? It was a molten lava of chakra-pumping vegetables that ignited my confidence to believe that I could achieve anything. (And least thats how I connect to healthy food.)

Topped with “apfel-zwiebel” (apple onion) dressing, I ran to the train station after eating to grab ingredients to try to recreate their dressing. This salad knocked my socks off especially with the combination of the crunchy carrot and romaine with the soft avocado. The light dressing atop of the carrots were my favorite part.

For Hannover, prices are a bit on the higher end, but I promise its worth at least one dine. Hiller’s offers a Saturday buffet and mid-day 3 course meal. To sign off I’ll leave you with Hiller’s motto:

“Überraschend. Natürlich. Vegetarisch.”

Surprising. Naturally. Vegetarian – must I say more?

This Lemon Tree article is now featured on GPSmyCity. To download this article for offline reading or travel directions to the attractions highlighted in this article, go to Vegan in Hannover, Germany: Hiller Vegan Café

Kontakt
Blumenstraße 3, 30159 Hannover
Telefon: 0511 - 32 12 88
E-Mail: info@restaurant-hiller.de
http://www.hiller.hasede.com

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Porto, Portugal: Up Close & Personal in 20 Photos

1/26/2016

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Oh Porto. Where to begin? Porto is a special place where life pushes the pause button and bartenders fill Port wine to the brim - all for 1.50 Euro. Colorful and vibrant, I felt at home in Porto. I could see myself living the simple life of hanging laundry on the balcony while staring at locals walk their dog. Porto fuses the old with the new. It's a place to sip tea at an 1800's vintage cafe or shop at the city's best art galleries. Either way, you're sure to be happy and at home in Porto.

Friendly and smiling, the locals welcome travelers to their shop, guesthouse or home all with one thing in mind, sharing. Here are up and close pictures that showcase Porto's most beautiful and intimate details. Photos are not edited or cropped. Some may have minor shadow reduction editing but other than that, this is how Porto looks to the naked eye.

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7 Life Questions I Answered From Studying Yoga in India

1/15/2016

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My journey with yoga officially began a decade ago. I landed in Australia on my twentieth birthday in search for a change while in college at Bowling Green State University. Yoga and Australia transformed my life to when I moved back to the US I experienced deep reverse culture shock that led to depression and chronic stress. Being sick led me to India. I needed to travel and I began my fitness career and wanted to learn yoga from the source. Yoga was my favorite exercise and I desired to learn more.

I went to India for many reasons, but like any twenty-two year old, I wanted to answer many life questions. Many, well all, of my questions were answered but some were defined years after India. Ya know, the “connecting of the dots” experience. Yoga makes one wise and look at life differently.

Without further ado, these are the many questions I wondered while roaming every rickshaw, listening to the yoga guru and sipping chai at a street side cart.

What is most important in life?
When I lived in Australia, fun in the sun was the most important thing in life. Respecting the earth, surfing the ocean and watching the lorikeets fly overhead were what really mattered. Back in the US, I felt pressured to succeed with my studies and work hard at everything. Part of this was because of the words heard from my Eastern European great grandmother and grandma. This of course, influenced my earthly and stable parents to breed me with this notion. Although it’s beneficial in many ways since a dedicated work ethic is good, but when it becomes a priority it loses its luster.

When I got sick, I could not see anything but my own deterioration of my health. My parents always said, “Nothing is greater than your own health. Without that you have nothing.” In India, I realized that our health is everything. The stress and beat downs that we put on our bodies is horrible. We treat ourselves like a machine, not accepting of rest or when we breakdown. The mind plays a major role in this, and in India they value the mind more than we do in the US. Although everyone has a different opinion, without your health you can’t do the simple pleasures of life whether that’s snorkeling on a vacation, hiking a mountain or walking to the grocery store.

Is it normal to feel like you don’t belong in your own culture?
Yes. When I moved home from Australia I felt lost. I did not identify to the work-driven "America dream" life.
Yoga taught me the spiritual reason as to why. From a spiritual perspective, if souls have lived in other parts of the planet there is a reason why you feel more at home in some parts of the world and odd in others. I think for anyone who travels extensively realizes some negative things about their own culture and they cannot relate to it. But, the important lesson is to value the positives and strengths that come from your native culture.

Pic w/ Random Family at Fathepur Shikri

Is living an unconventional life okay?
I struggled with this for along time before India. Australia exposed me to a different life where money and suit-and-tie jobs were not the most important part of life. Fast-forwarding to 2016, I think society is more accepting of this now than ever. I believe people need to do what makes them happy even if that makes them an outcast.

I’ve been an outcast most of my life. Even in fitness. Sometimes I feel like I don’t know where I belong because I can see through the smoke screen and runaway from any trends or conventional BS. In India, seeing the most unconventional country in the world made me accept my own eccentricities. India helped me "come out of the spiritual closet" as I balance logic and spirituality. It's challenging because at times, but I've never been happier revealing my true identity.

What is spirituality?
My knowledge of spirituality expanded while in India, but mostly afterwards. I believe that India was the setting point to expose me to many spiritual terms that we know today. Looking back, spirituality is the reality that we live in - souls living a human experience to learn lessons, the flow of nature, the movement of planets, the air we breathe – everything is spiritual.

In India, I believed one’s spirituality was diving within their inner world. Breaking patterns, suffering, letting go, and discovering who you really are was a part of the spiritual process.

During my journey, I wondered the difference between religion and spiritualty. I see that religion is a system under the spiritual umbrella.

Ever since I was a young teenager, I would sneak down the “New Age” aisle at Barnes and Noble and read astrology books. Today, I understand that astrology is the system that influences the human experience. I questioned why people’s personality differs and why one person went to college for art where another did for business. I believe society and culture molds us, but deep down there are innate traits that “are who we are.” I think everyone’s opinion differs on spirituality, but I came to realize in while living in Germany that good, evil and everything in between is part of this spiritual experience that we must learn from. And a lot of this experience is based on our choices and free will.

Even death is a spiritual part. My yoga guru said, “The spiritual person is not afraid to die as he or she will live again.” Although tragic deaths are hard to comprehend, when you understand spirituality you know there is a reason behind the “how.” Souls need to experience the extreme in order to learn lessons. It’s sad but true. And I better accepted the terms of death from studying yoga.

What about the bad parts of life?
One of the best lessons I learned in India is that the “bad” parts of life cannot be avoided. I understood that life is like the weather. One day is sunny. Another is cloudy. The others are a shit-storm. We cannot avoid it, but how we handle or process the emotions is key.

The bad parts are what make us grow. It sucks really, but like yin and yang, the polar opposite of good, cannot exist without the bad. It’s just the way it is.

It made me realize that blessings in disguise are some of the best things that can happen to us. If I never became an insomniac and caffeine addict, I would have never gone to India. Although I suffered for a year and a half of miserable health, it was the best thing that happened to me.

Is there such a thing as a soul mate?
I remember in my early college days watching movies and wondering about this question. India proved to me that soul mates and deeper connections exist. This ignited my understanding to the subject. Soul mates exist, but they may not always lead to a romantic relationship, which I did not understand until leaving India.

What is the purpose of life?
This is the million-dollar question that everyone wants to know. Everyone has his or her own opinion, and it took me some five to seven years after India to truly understand this. The purpose of life is to live, learn and grow. It sounds simple, but when combining human emotions its complex. I acknowledged this when I consulted the jyotish astrologer at the yoga center. If we do have a blue print or map to our life we are here to fulfill some need to the people and the planet. Although there is free will, we choose our actions – which everyone hopes it benefits society.

Elizabeth Kovar M.A. is author of her travel memoir, "Finding Om," which is about her journey through the South Pacific and India to backpack and study yoga - solo. Print and ebook versions are available on all major devices. For more information and direct links to the ebook- click here.

Donors Chris & Ellen Dalton of my fellowship to study yoga in India

Ayurveda Yoga Retreat

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The First Three Weeks of Reverse Culture Shock

1/8/2016

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They say, “No one knows how beautiful it is to travel until they return home and sleep on their same old pillow.”

As the plane neared Detroit city limits, I looked at rows of broken down homes. The young girl behind me screamed, “Oh no! Not here! Tell me we’re not landing here.” Although laughing in my head, a tear streamed from my face. Once the plane landed, I said, “This is it. Fifteen months of living in Europe is officially over.”

It’s hard to explain as those who’ve never lived abroad consider you as a snob. But I know deep down my soul yearns freedom – to be free from constraints, bullshit policies and convention. While living in Hannover I was free. I was able to pursue my creative pursuits and live life the way it should be.

Reality struck on the runway, the fairytale life is over. Driving to Cleveland from Detroit, my eyes were too sore for the local sites. Why are houses so big? Why are cars so big? Why the hell is Cabella’s slapped in the middle of nowhere alongside the freeway? The lack of zoning in America drove my mind crazy as natural spaces were ruined with Adult Mart and empty strip malls.

But, to best describe my emotions I felt a blanket of sadness. No more stylish cafes, just corporate Starbucks and Panera. No more handmade brotchen sandwiches, just the “eat fresh” signs of Subway. Oh, how can this be?

The thing about Germany, although its reflected in some of the wages, The Deutschland is highly affordable. Human rightful things such as food, housing and services are affordable. My eyes bled tears the first step into the grocery stores in America. Sure, European grocery sizes are smaller, but its better that way because you eat the entire can or jar without something massive sitting in the fridge. Boxes of strawberries were five-dollars, red peppers are $2.50 and bars of healthier chocolate ranged from three to six dollars a piece.

It maddened my mind because I used to buy three peppers for one dollar, a cucumber for 55 cents and an avocado for 99 cents. I thought, “This is a crime. Produce should never be this expensive.”

I noticed these outrageous food prices more in Seattle. Thanks to inflation, everything went up and now eating out for two costs about thirty dollars with tax and tip. At least in Europe tax was built into the price and tipping is near obsolete. Everything is much more expensive. But that brought upon my old stress-induced patterns – of struggle.

Everything is a struggle for the average-waged American. And eating healthy isn’t a trend, it’s a birthright. I forgot how flushed with cash people are in Seattle, marking this as financial epicenter on the west coast. It made Munich and Hamburg look cheap. Women flaunted around town dressed to the nines in Gucci and Prada. My mind went crazy as I analyzed every price tag and read every food label.

Why the fuck is there so much shit in our food? My palate drastically changed in Europe for the cleaner, and my stomach ached for days. I ate a Mongolian place where I built my bowl with veggies, tofu, rice and teriyaki sauce. I woke up at 4AM with severe stomach pains because of the sodium. Not only did my mind experience reverse culture shock, but so did my gut.

I had this same experience coming home from India where my body could not handle bread or other American substances. I wanted to guzzle a gallon of water after every meal and I needed to eat something sweet to knock out the salty flavor in my mouth.

It seemed strange walking around a city that I once loved. I felt like a foreigner and an outcast. Where are the old buildings? Where is the Rathaus? I kept trying to search for things similar to Hannover.

Everything felt foreign – even the English language. I enjoyed the moments of tuning out German being disconnected from the shit of the world. I could not help but “tune in” to people’s conversations here. I forgot how much we worry about food, health and celebrity gossip. I swam at a YMCA in Cleveland and the people talked about their diabetes and how they need to give up cream in their coffee.

It perplexed me as if you were to ask a German to skip drinking lattes and cappuccinos I think they’d die of a heart attack. Eating is just eating and enjoyable. Eating fruits and vegetables isn’t “hard” it’s a part of life in Europe. In general, no one freaks out about an afternoon coffee and cake.

I felt really sad to be back in Seattle, but I think that adjustment is changing. My chronic pain is coming back, which ensures that everything is due to stress and running up and down these hills.
I sat a café to work and watched people come in and out. They reminded me at how creative this city is and can be. What is produced here is unique, and I am learning to slowly fall back in love here. I can’t deny these parts of me that make me feel more at home in places like Australia and Europe. I just “get it” there sometimes more than I do here, and I dislike that part of myself, but I must admit Americans – especially Ohioans – are damn nice people. Customer service is a hell of a lot better here and I know things will take their place.

But I looked at my pictures of Lubeck, Germany and tears streamed down my face. There is something that ignited my soul in Germany. I can't touch it or explain it, I could only feel it. Maybe there's something interesting about living in a building that was built in 1400's?

Until next time, I can only stare at the Puget Sound from my window, and although its not Old Town, it’s the place where I need to be right now in this very moment in life.

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a feel good travel blog

Vegan in Hannover, Germany: Hiller Vegan Café

Porto, Portugal: Up Close & Personal in 20 Photos

7 Life Questions I Answered From Studying Yoga in India

The First Three Weeks of Reverse Culture Shock

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