Veganz, Wir lieben Leben- alleine

Last week I decided that I needed to stock up on some fake meat products (when does anyone ever NOT need fake meat is really the question), and head out to a Vegan grocery store in Prenzlauer Berg. I had heard of this place from a very nice Australian man who works at the Vegan hamburger stand at the Mauerpark flea market on Sundays. I had been meaning to check it out for a while, and figured that our "alone activity" would be a perfect opportunity to do so. I had never been to Schönhauser Allee before. I wanted to get ingredients to make bran muffins, and the recipe called for protein powder and flaxseed, so I figured the Vegan grocery store would be the best place to find these things.

Riding on the U-Bahn alone is no new experience to me. I do it almost every day, seeing as I really prefer to do a lot of things (such as grocery shopping, seeing films, and going to museums) alone. I always notice something different every time I do it, though. This time there was a woman with a dog in a bag on her lap. I had never seen this in Berlin before, I suppose I had assumed it was an "American" thing. I also saw a girl with bright purple dyed hair, and I almost asked her where she bought her hair dye since I've been having trouble finding purple dye for myself. But I think I'm still a bit to shy to ask strangers where they buy their hair dye. I also don't know how to say hair dye in German.

Once I got to Schönhauser Allee, I wandered around for a bit before finding the street that the grocery store was on. I noticed that this particular neighborhood is very "bio" friendly--bio markts, bio fruit and vegetable stands, and even a bio currywurst stand. I will have to go back there and sample their vegeterian brats sometime.


I found the grocery store, and got so caught up in all of the fun fake meats there that I totally forgot to take a picture of the store at all. They also didn't have any flaxseed or protein powder, which was kind of frustrating. I asked the woman at the store (in German!! I'm using it) whether or not she knew where I could get them, and she directed me to a Bio Markt at the Schönhauser Allee U Bahn station. On my way there I found a puppet theater:


After going to three different "Bio" places in the U Bahn station and not finding either protein powder or flaxseed, I decided to head home and enjoy my various fake meats:



This activity was really nothing new for me. I quite enjoy exploring the city by myself, and do it quite often. I feel like seeing things by myself is healthy and a better way to experience the city, because I'm not on someone else's time schedule or demands or wants or needs. Berlin by myself had become a Berlin I know and am beginning to feel a small affection for.