spain

Yerbabuena in Madrid

Last I left off, we were enjoying some down time back at the hotel. Madrid isn’t that big – we ran into Ethel and Alene as they returned from Toledo.  This gave us some time to plan out our evening. We decided to meet for drinks at an Irish pub my dad had been eyeing the entire vacation called Ulysses. Standard. After a round of beer (and some salty nuts) we said goodbye to Ethel (who left us for a hot date) and we walked around the corner to a vegan friendly restaurant called Yerbabuena…. Read more >

Balzac

I forgot to mention how my bar stash came to the rescue during our two hour tour through the Reina Sofia. My dad’s blood sugar was bottoming out, so he asked if I had anything on hand.  I always have bars on hand, especially when traveling to less veg-friendly places, so that’s how my Corazonas chocolate chip oatmeal square met it’s final fate.  It didn’t hold him over long though, so it’s a good thing dinner was on the horizon. Balzac is a 10 minute walk from the museum (15 if you don’t know where… Read more >

Retiro Picnic

May 16th We were supposed to meet Alene & Ethel in the morning, but they needed extra zzzz time so the Dieden clan headed out to take on Madrid once again as a party of five. Starting with Atocha, we took in the station from afar, then up close, then inside. I hadn’t seen it since the bombings in 2004, so I was curious how different it would look from the first time I saw it (in 2002). It felt like a greenhouse because of the section of plant life with the clear glass windows… Read more >

Mosque slash Cathedral

A little background for this photo…   Mom: Stop walking and look like you’re having fun. Having less than 24 hours in Cordoba made for an exhaustingly packed schedule, so that’s why our enthusiasm doesn’t completely leap off the page.    After lunch, we headed to the Cathedral (Great Mosque), which is basically the reason people go to Cordoba.   This is the Patio de los Naranjos, a courtyard of orange trees inside the mosque.  [For the rest of this post, I’m going to use the terms Cathedral and Mosque interchangeably because it has been… Read more >

Sevilla’s vegan dessert scene

Babycakes has competition!    I was quite pleased (understatement) when I discovered a vegan patisserie in Sevilla.    It kinda made my trip.  I was like a kid in a candy store (or a vegan in a vegan bakery).  See?!  Not only was it nearly impossible for me to contain my excitement, but I was having a really hard time choosing which treat to order!  I could barely narrow my selection down to two items.            In the end I got a blackberry cupcake and a chocolate muffin (for the road). … Read more >