Vienna: Organic ice-cream

Fortunately an increasing number of small-scale organic cattle farmers find creative ways to survive for the good of all of us -- and with some dairy cow farmers like the Kaemenas in Bremen or the Greisslers in Lower Austria the good is simply the best -- mouth-watering artisanal ice-cream!

In the case of Eis-Greissler the ice-cream isn't fully organic -- it's made from organic milk and often flavoured with organic Sonnentor spices. The home-base for the ice-cream parlours with the chequered, pastel-shaded doll's house interior is Vienna, and usually you will be able to recognise the tiny shop near Stephansdom by the queue in front of it. The blackboard with the ice-cream flavours you'll notice when queueing from the right lists only the vegan flavours, there's a second blackboard left to the entrance listing the dairy varieties. A small scoop comes at 1.60 €, two flavours at 3 €, three at 4.20 €.

Prices however aren't the same everywhere: The bicyle-powered mobile ice-cream boothes (supplied with fresh ice-cream by cargo bikes) on the grounds of Schönbrunn castle and zoo charge a hefty 2.20 € the scoop.

• Eis-Greissler Wien-Neubau, Neubaugasse 9, daily 11–22
• Eis-Greissler Wien-Innere Stadt, Rotenturmstr. 14, Mar–Dec daily 11–23
• Eis-Greissler Mariahilf, Mariahilfer Str. 33, Mon–Thu(Fri–Sun) 11–21(22)
• Eis-Greissler Schönbrunn, Schlosspark and Tiergarten Schönbrunn, summer only daily 10:30–18

More to try

During my research I also found the following ice-cream parlours trustworthily using organic ingredients, but I did not have the time to try them myself. If you do so let me know about your experience!

• Vidoni, Landstraßer Hauptstraße 2c, daily 10:30-22 or until midnight when the weather is nice
• Leones, Lange Gasse 78, open from end of April(May) daily 12–21(22) (cafe and ice-cream)
• Leones, Praterstr. 16, starting May, 1st Mon–Sat(Sun,PH) 12(14)–20(19); from June, 1st Mon–Sat(Sun,PH) 12(14)– 21(19)
• Veganista, Neustiftgasse 23, daily 11–23
• Veganista, Margarethenstr. 51, daily 11–23
• Veganista, Alserbachstr. 5, daily 11–23
• Veganista, Taborstr. 15, daily 11–23
• Veganista, Ungarstr. 55, daily 11–23
• Veganista, Amerlingstr. 19, Sun–Thu(Fri–Sat) 12–22(23)
• Fresh&Berry, Mariahilferstr. 101, daily 11:30–21 (summer), Mon–Fri(Sat)[Sun] 12(11:30)[13]–20 (frozen organic yogurt, no organic toppings)
• Eissalon Tuchlauben, Tuchlauben 15, Mon–Fri(Sat,Sun,PH) 10(11)–20 (frozen yogurt made with organic milk)

Closed

• Ice Dream Factory, Burggasse 68

Organic Pirna

Pirna, a nicely restored small town a little east of Dresden and the entire surrounding district Eastern Erzgebirge/Saxon Switzerland may be best known for its bad reputation as a stronghold of outer right-wing extremists, neo-fascists and populists. But fortunately the town also has a strong civil society which cleans up the spitted at windows and works for a humane neighbourhood and the integrity of creation. So whether you're on the road with your bicycle travelling the Elberadweg or take the urban train from Dresden -- have a break to support these brave people and marvel at the town with roots in the stone age, its rich medieval and modern history.

For a coffee break head for Café Bohemia a little off the market place, located in a restored renaissance house built in 1480. When the weather is nice you may take a seat outdoors, on the pleasantly quiet cobblestones of Schmiedegasse ("blacksmith's lane"). The Italian-style coffee drinks are made with organic milk, and the rich and lipsmacking home-made cakes contain organic eggs and milk as well as organic fruit and herbs, both home-grown or collected from meadows in the surroundings with scattered fruit trees. As the Saxon cake tradition has it the friendly owner will serve the cake with a dollop of cream. Unfortunately the cafe is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

On these days, in the morning or if you prefer a hearty lunch proceed to the Vorwerk Podemus organic supermarket you may know from Dresden, with its fully organic bistro.

Another option for a cake or snack is the town's only artisanal organic bakery Spiegelhauer near the train station. The family also had an organic cafe cum ice-cream parlour in nearby Heidenau but this does no longer exist.

Small German towns with beautiful old city centres often have a small traditional organic corner shop in one of the historic lanes, and Pirna is no exception: However, the owners of the former organic greengrocery Naturkosten closed their shop near St. Mary's city church a few years ago and turned it into a beautiful organic bodycare shop, boringly dubbed Naturkosmetik.

There's still another small-scale organic grocery in the south, a little out of town, the Bioladen in Pirnas Grünem Haus.

• Café Bohemia, Schmiedestr. 12, Wed-Sun 12-17:30
• Vorwerk Podemus w/ Bio-Bistro, Breite Str. 4-8, Mon-Fri(Sat) 8:30(8)-19:30(14), lunch Mon-Fri 11-14
• Bio-Bäckerei Spiegelhauer, Bahnhofstr. 17, Mon-Fri(Sat) 7-18(11)
• Naturkosmetik, Kirchpl. 2, Tue-Fri(Sat) 10(9)-18(13)
• Bioladen in Pirnas Grünem Haus, Rottwerndorfer Str. 12, Mon-Thu(Fri) 9-18(19), Sat 9-12

Closed

• Eis-Cafe-Bäckerei Spiegelhauer, Dohnaer Str. 27, Heidenau

Paris: Organic creperies

What would a visit to Paris be without tasting a crêpe? These thin pancakes come in two varieties -- galettes with savoury toppings make a perfect lunch while sweet teeth will prefer a crêpe with sweet toppings. For the real thing head for a crêperie, a specialized small restaurant serving no other food (apart from perhaps a salad), and you should do this for lunch as the better owner-run shops will usually close early in the afternoon.

My favourite place is Crêpe de la Joie, a family-friendly 100 percent organic owner-run crêperie near tube stop Censier Daubenton. The buckwheat-based galettes have savoury fillings, often with an egg on top, while the sweet crêpes are made of wheat. All crêpes and galettes (except the one of the day) are dubbed after mythological figures like elves, gnomes and fairies and all of them are vegetarian or even vegan. The friendly owner prepared food for us even though we arrived ten minutes before her closing time. This will surely not be the rule but a little broken French and a friendly smile helped us to get a perfect start for our visit. The shop also sells Hildegard of Bingen food products.

Hip, professional Breizh Cafe within the Marais does not observe the usual French rules for opening hours but serves crepes and galettes all day. The place with its rough wooden interior does not use organic ingredients as a rule, but the flours for both, the galettes and the crepes are always organic.

• Crêpe de la Joie, 4, Rue du Fer À Moulin, Tue-Fri(Sat) 12-15(17)
• Breizh Cafe, 109 rue Vieille du Temple, Wed-Sat(Sun) 11:30-23(22)

More to try

The following organic creperies I found in preparation of my stay but did not have time to visit. If you come there I'd love to hear about your experience.

• Ryam, 53, avenue secrétan, Mon-Sat 11:30-19
• Crêperie La Belle Bio, 49, rue de paradis, Mon-Fri(Sat) 12-15(15:30)
• Biosphère Café, 47 rue de Laborde, Mon-Fri(Sat) 12-18(22), Sun brunch 11:30-15 (gluten-free organic restaurant and pastry shop, 8th arrondissement)

Mannheim: Sustainable Shopping

If you prefer to set out on a shopping spree on a bicycle and prefer a rented bike that is not tracking you pay a visit to Fahrrad Schieber, a more than one hundred years local bicycle workshop located a few steps from the Wasserturm landmark within the squared part of town, the "Quadrate". For 10 EUR a day (as of 2019) you will be provided with a well maintained used bike. If it against all odds breaks during your trip, do not hesitate to step by, it will be fixed promptly.

Founded almost 25 years ago your first stop could be HautNah, a fashion boutique specializing in ecologically and fairly produced clothes made from natural materials. The shop is a member of the International Association of Natural Textiles (iVN) and aims at those looking for classical long-living cuts rather than at cutting-edge fashionistas (for trending fashion you may try the shops listed below). Needless to say that HautNah also offers an assortment of healthy outfits for babies and toddlers.

For shoes proceed a few steps along the Kaiserring to Fußspur ("foot trace"), a small local chain specialising in environmentally friendly produced and European-made shoes.

Leaving the ring road and entering the Quadrate through Kunststraße you'll find a tea shop of the Tee Gschwendtner franchise. Although this specialist chain is selling conventionally produced teas and tisanes in the first place its shops have proved to be a trustworthy source of organic teas and herbal infusions for years. You can buy all kinds of loose teas and herbal infusions as well as high quality tea bags and even pre-fab iced teas, and there will usually be organic options. Although most teas will be filled into bags before your eyes there's always a minimum quantum you have to buy (usually 50 or 100 grams), and you have to buy standardized packages (bigger sizes being 250 or 500 grams).

Even longer west in the Quadrate area, located between the castle and parade square the new Umgekrempelt ("rolled up" and/or "turned inside out") clothes boutique offers both, fairly traded and organic slow fashion as well as a repair service and upcycling workshops. In addition you'll find a lot of accessoiries and gifts here, and even plastics-free degradable glitter. Note that this likeable shop keeps closed both, on Mondays and for a (rather late) lunch break.

Leaving the Quadrate for the eastern part of town the Wohnhunger gift shop next to Eddie's zero waste supermarket offers a selection of organic delicatessen like coffee, soups, chocolates, liquors, herbs and spices, some zero-waste items like natural soap and cotton dish washing clothes and a lot of other cosy things. Unfortunately the organic coffee isn't used at the coffee bar, and the milk for the coffee drinks isn't organic. About three years ago the shop also offered an organic soup or stew for lunch, but these are songs from the past.

On your way you'll also pass Weinrefugium, an upmarket, carefully designed wine shop offering a good selection of natural and organic wines. (For more and only organic wines visit the Bittersüß delicatessen in Neckarau.)

• Fahrrad Schieber, R 7, 39, Mon–Fri(Sat) 10–18(13)
• HautNah, M 7, 13, Mon–Wed(Thu–Fri) 9:30–18:30(19), Sat 10–18
• Fußspur Riemann, N 7, 13, Mon–Sat 10–18
• Tee Gschwendner, O 3, 1, Mon–Fri(Sat) 10–18:30(18)
• Umgekrempelt, M 2, 15a, Tue–Fri 11–14,15-19, Sat 12–18
• Wohnhunger, Seckenheimer Str. 23, Tue–Fri(Sat) 10–19(16)
• Weinrefugium, Seckenheimer Str. 19, Tue–Fri 11–14, 15–18:30, Sat 10–13

More to try

Here's a list of shops which I had on my list for research but didn't manage to visit myself. Let me know about your experience!

• Weltladen, S 2, 3, Mon–Sat 10–18 (fairly traded goods, often organic)
• Freudenhaus, Q 5, 2, Mon–Sat 11–19 (fair and organic fashion)
• Ecoshowroom, Villa Lanz, Erzbergerstraße 18, Tue 17–20, Sat 15–18 (organic, fair and sustainable fashion with own label soome)

Greenwashed

The city's online tourist guide suggests to get yourself a "bio" picnic basket for a stroll at the embankments. Don't fall for it! The only organic items that come with this "Wellness-Korb für Vegetarier" are two bottles of the organic bionade soft drink:

• Die Metzgerei, Rheinparkstr. 4 (bistro in the Lindenhof neighbourhood)

Closed

The following places do no longer exist, although you still might find references to them on the web:

• Fairbrothers, C 8, 18 (fairly traded organic fashion)

Mannheim: Zero Waste

Light and spacious instead of small and crammed -- Mannheim's package-free vegetarian supermarket Eddie's with its large shop window front is easy to find between two tram stops of line 6, Werderstraße and Pestalozzischule. Not everything here -- some herb blends to give an example -- is organic, but everything organic (which is the majority of items) is clearly marked "bio" on the shelves. In addition to a small selection of fruit and veges and all you need of dry food the shop's section of plastic-free household items offers alternatives when you need to replace plastic boxes, toothbrushes, drinking straws and the like. The bodycare and household chemicals section is very well assorted and -- unlike other zero waste shops which usually restrict themselves to liquid detergents -- also offers washing powders and soda by the kilogram. Students will get ten percent discount on Wednesdays, and the place has also gotten itself a decent coffee machine -- for a coffee at the spot or into the mug you provide. (If you buy a reusable mug the first shot is free.)

By now all supermarkets of the Basic chain should be equipped with at minimum one dry food refill station, and allow you to take home cheese, antipasti, cured meat and sausages from the meat and dairy counters in your own containers. That's exactly what the Mannheim branch at the tram stop Schloss offers -- partially supplementing but certainly not replacing the selection at Eddie's.

For coffee or ready-made meals head for the Kombüse gastro pub in the Jungbusch neighbourhood. Everything on their menu is available to take away, and they kindly ask you to come with your own jars. One-way packaging will be charged with a small surplus.

And last but not least: Naturally the organic bakery Bihn will happily put your purchase in the bags and boxes you provide.

• Eddie´s, Seckenheimer Str. 21, Mon– Fri(Sat) 10–19(16)
• Basic, B 1, 3–5 (Kurpfalzstr.), Mon–Sat 8–20