The most infamous street in the world

Last week I took a stroll to St. Pauli, the next 'hood over, which is infamous for its live sex shows and other forms of formerly scandalous behavior. Here's where sailors used to come on shore leave to get drunk, get laid, and get tattooed. Maybe they still do.

I must be a total prude, because window-shopping for sex toys with the in-laws (or parents) is very high up on my creepometer.

 This is probably where the Salvation Army originated.

I had currywurst here on my very first day back in Germany. (Before I became a Vegan, obviously.) I remember it not being very good. The Tofu King vegan currywurst from viana is definitely much better. Without the grossness factor as well. But you can't beat the local color.

I think there is or was a German tv series based on this police precinct on Reeperbahn and Davidstrasse.

Stairs to the famous Hafenstrasse, the Elbe down below.

Detail on the old fishauction hall.

On the Vegan front, not that much to report, got my snacks (organic cornwafers and pretzel sticks) at Budni on Talstrasse (Budnikowski = fabulous local Hamburgian drugstore chain). And the Rockn' Roll Hotel Kogge does serve soylattes.

Plantings

I took these photos of this year's plantings about 10 days ago. I planted basil, cilantro, calendula, lemon balm and nasturtiums. There is no fresh cilantro (coriander) to be had in the stores here, and no seed either, so I bought a pack of whole cilantro seeds which is sold as a spice, and planted some to see what would happen.

Apartment Search with Vegan Fringe Benefits

I was up at 4 am yesterday, which wasn't that strange, considering I'd gone to bed at 8 pm the night before. Which wasn't that strange, considering I'd only slept 4 or so hours the night before going to bed at midnight,still waking up at sunrise as usual. It was early enough to catch the 6:14 train to Berlin, if just barely. I literally got there the very last minute, the conductor was doing her 'The doors are closing' spiel. No idea how I made it to the station in 5 minutes.
It was great because the train wasn't all that crowded. A lot of people were sleeping, stretched out all over the place. It reminded me of those 40 and 55 hour trainrides we took to Greece and Italy back in the day.

I didn't know there are compartments exclusively for women.

Neither did this guy.

Took the subway to look at an apartment, which of course was the main purpose for this trip. I did like it, even though the bathtub is really short, and the balcony had been turned into an indoors space.

 

This building in Schoeneberg on Grunewaldstrasse speaks for itself.

Had a lovely soy cappuccino at this chocolate place in Schoeneberg, called Winterfeldt, it's on Goltzstr. 23. They have an extensive selection of all kinds of unusual and pricey chocolates. I particularly think the tiny pralines are cute. Love the way they decorated the walls.

Then my stomach dragged me all the way to Friedrichshain to Yoyo's Foodworld, where I opted for a Vegan Sumatra burger. Sorry, couldn't wait to take a photo before starting in on it. It was absolutely delicious. Juicy, great fries, good salad, even though I couldn't decide if those couple of large leaves were for decorative purposes or for eating. Got some of the patties to take home, along with a Buccaneer bar, which is sort of like a Vegan version of the German Mars bar = American Milky Way. Or is it the other way around?

And, a soy hazelnut icecream cone for dessert at Caramellos.

To round the day off, I found the perfect summer jacket at the Chapati store next door.

Another amazing subway ride

I probably don't get out enough. When I saw these kids on the subway with their crazy 'dos I thought to myself, how atrocious. My second thought was, I must be getting old. And then: Does this have something to do with the band Tokio Hotel? A friend told me years ago about this German (?) band that seems to be very popular with teenagers. I might have come across photos of them somehow. You know, like you pick up completely useless information from the magazine rack at the cash register when you're waiting to check out, or when you open your yahoo account and there it is, the so-called latest news in headlines.

Maybe their hair looked something like this? Are they responsible for this fashion?

I wasn't really stalking them, they did get off at the same stop and changed into the same connecting train. Anyway, I thought they were pretty darn cute.

Today's Menu

Breakfast: Porridge with Aroniaberries

Lunch: Lentils, Polenta and Carrots

Coffee: Berrycobbler

Dinner: Homemade Sourdoughbread with Sundried-tomato spread and Sauerkraut

Snack: Speltpretzels with Ricemilk Chocolate

Vegan Pizza

It's really not that hard to make your own pizza, it's just one of those things that I hadn't really considered making before I turned into a Vegan. I've made vegan pizza once since, with a nutrional-yeast-melt topping, which was also very good; it was a bit work-intensive since you have to cook the sauce beforehand. At Yoyo's foodworld in Berlin, they use Cheezly mozzarella, which was surprisingly good, so I decided to try this at home.

For one serving:
Dough:
125 g spelt flour
2 g dried yeast
1/2 ts salt
1/2 ts sugar (for the yeast)
warm water
spoonful of olive oil
Topping:
several spoons of tomato sauce
1 onion cut into rings
Cheezly mozzarella or other vegan cheese-like substance
thyme and oregano

Mix ingredients to a firm dough and work the dough through thoroughly. Shape into a ball, put into a bowl, cover with a kitchen cloth and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Knead the dough through once again and roll out onto baking paper on a baking sheet with a rolling pin.
Spread the tomato sauce onto the dough, top with sliced cheezly and onions and sprinkle with the herbs.
I preheated the oven to 200 degrees Celsius, and baked the pizza for 15 minutes. It was very good. The Cheezly melts nicely. This has all the potential of becoming a staple in my kitchen.