Wednesday 9 October 2013

London, Amsterdam & Scandinavia


We started off our Euro trip with a short stay in England, staying with family in Stoke Poges near Heathrow Airport. Then we moved on to Amsterdam, Oslo, Stockholm, Gothenburg and Copenhagen. Since we visited so many places, I will break them up in to a few blog posts. 


We flew to London on Virgin Airlines, our first time ;) We were really impressed with the service, amenities and options for special diets. When booking the flight we were able to choose a Vegan meal. The main was a chickpea curry, it came with salad, a bread roll and fruit. They also brought us a vegan breakfast roll in the AM.  


Best cup of tea I have ever had, Earl Grey at Stokes Park in Stoke Poges. Our relatives took us for Cream Tea, it was such a beautiful setting and the weather was gorgeous. 


There is a golf course, exercise club, spa, gardens and a cemetery.  


We stumbled upon a restaurant called Le Pain Quotidien in Covent Garden in London. And we were blown away! The food was delicious and they labeled their Vegan options. My husband had an open faced bean, avocado and hummus sandwich. I had gazpacho and a big salad with lots of bread. The waiter was so kind and brought us more bread when we ran out. Definitely recommend! We didn't realize it was a chain until we got to Amsterdam. We would have gone again but we wanted to save some cash.. 


To spend on Sorbet! Above is raspberry and mango sorbet, enjoying it by a canal in Amsterdam. 


Another mango sorbet. Yum! 

We dined in a lot in Amsterdam to save money, plus there was also a great grocery store called Marqt with tons of options around the corner. It was by far the best grocery store we found in Europe. 


Oslo was probably the hardest place for us to find food and REALLY expensive! I bought a 6inch Veggie Patty sub and a water from Subway and it worked out to about $15 CDN, ouch. The grocery stores also didn't have much for our regular staples, we would have loved to find some canned beans to make sandwiches... So we got creative and used potatoes instead. 


And reused the expensive subway wrapper ;) 


After a long day exploring Oslo, including Vigeland Park, the Ski museum and the Opera House, we decided to treat ourselves to a vegetarian buffet. I was so glad we found Vega Food Fair so we didn't have to cook. There were a few vegan desserts. I got a slice of chocolate cake - wicked good! And then I took a  slice of carrot cake to go, also good...but the chocolate cake won by far. 


In Stockholm we went to another vegetarian buffet called Hermitage. The food was so fresh and comforting on a dreary day. 


Everything on the menu was vegan except for the lasagna. The mixed vegetables were my favorite, the spices were perfect. Highly recommend if you are in Stockholm! 


There weren't many options for lunch and dinner in Gothenburg, but the grocery store was well equipped. We decided to make pasta and went with this one because of the name. You don't have to be mature to make pasta :) 


I didn't take any food photos in Copenhagen since we ate pretty plain. But I'd rather pack a lunch and be able to enjoy a view like this one. 



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