Vegan Street Day & other non-vegan adventures

First a note: I wrote yesterday about green spaces and then saw this apartment building today. I passed this street many times before yesterday. I just didn't have "green" on my mind. You see what you want to see.

Today was Stuttgart's "Vegan Street Day" (VSD) and the event received a surprising amount of press. VSD used to be aimed at the vegetarian crowd. This year, they not only made the event vegan-specific, but they doubled the size, which is remarkable considering that the vegan crowd is even smaller than the vegetarian crowd. Vegetarianism is definitely catching on in Germany, but the stereotype of the Lederhose-wearing, three-times-a-day sausage-eating "true German" still remains. Whatever the case, the street day was definitely a success.

Vegan Street Day Stuttgart 2013

After touring the VSD, watching a few acrobatic acts, almost buying a cute T-shirt, and dodging countless animal rights petitioners along the way--(love ya, but I am not going to sign a petition based on a 5-minute spiel)--I visited the decidedly non-vegan cafe Zimt & Zucker ("Cinnamon & Sugar"). I've walked past this cafe several times, but almost never when it is open because, like so many cafes here, it's only open when I am at work and is rarely open when I have free time. That is, the American university/yuppie culture of studying, reading, and/or generally hanging out in cafes has definitely not caught on here. However, since today is a holiday (Pfingsten), the cafe  is open for a few irregular hours and I had a chance to visit. It turned out to be interesting, though perhaps more alluring from the outside and definitely better suited to visiting together with a friend. This is a forewarning for any of you who come visit me in Stuttgart! :-)

The knick-knack decor gives the cafe a "homey" feel.
Pittsburgh people: it also reminds me a bit of Zenith on the South Side.

How can you pass up a menu like this?!

That's all for today, dear blog readers. Now it's a rainy day in Stuttgart and I am making some non-Stuttgart travel plans. Stay tuned!