In and around the Euganean Hills: Organic farmstays

An hours' bicycle ride from Padua (optional with an ice-cream or coffee break in Selvazzano Dentro) or one and a half hours from Vicenza gets you to La Buona Terra near the village of Cervarese Santa Croce, an organic farmstay, popular party location with families, educational farm for kindergardens and farm restaurant. You can stay either in one of the clean, rustic guest rooms and holiday homes located inside various farm buildings (advanced booking required), or on the camping site on the farm. A popular place with children -- there are not only cows, chicken, horses, donkeys, dogs (no cats), and frogs here, but also a spacious swimming pool. (Less popular among the kids: to ask the farmers, Luisa and Domenico, to remove the cleaning robot in the mornings.)

After breakfast (organic with a few exceptions, and usually with freshly home-made cakes made with the farm's own organic flour) you may pre-order lunch and/or dinner (around 8 pm), except on Mondays. Expect hearty home-made farmer's kitchen, home-made pasta, left-over soups, a grilled chunk of home-made bread topped with olive oil and an equally thick slice of sopressa salami from the farm's own pigs, freshly grilled vegetables, rustic meat courses from the farm (you may even be served a hearty stew of chicken necks) and (often) organic wines from nearby wineries. On weekends the farm restaurant is open to the public, but you are asked to phone in in advance (+39 328 077 0977). Vegetarians are gladly catered for with the four-courses "menu verde" while the omnivore one is dubbed "menu rosso", and as the farmers' daughter is a vegan, do not hesitate to mention if you are, too. Children are equally welcome and pay less. On summer weekends dinner is often served in an informal garden party style with antipasti plates and pizza-style foccachia bread, often accompagnied by life music.

There's also a farmshop selling the farm's home-made products: eggs, sopressa, preserves and liquors. Officially it keeps open on weekends between 15:30 and 19:30, but unless there's a bigger party of visitors around take this with a grain of salt and ask Luisa or an employee if you want to buy something.

One of the bicycle tours may lead you to the South-Western slopes of the Euganean Hills, to Ca' Orologio in Baone. Among vineyards and olive groves you will find Maria Gioia Rosellini's dedicated organic winery, producing natural wines of exclusive taste. You may enter the 16th century Venetian villa to taste and buy, or decide to rather stay in these magical surrondings and make use of the bed-and-breakfast offer (better book in advance, though). The breakfast itself is only partially organic, depending on the availability of organic products in the village supermarket (which is rather limited). You have the opportunity to cook lunch and dinner yourself, and serve it with a glass of Ca'Orologio wines.

• Agriturismo La Buona Terra, Via Repoise, 73, Cervarese S. Croce
• Ca' Orologio, Via Ca' Orologio, 7a, Baone

Esslingen: Sustainable Shopping

Window shopping in Esslingen's city center is fun – due to an abundance of lovingly curated boutiques and owner-run specialist shops. However, during off-work hours, the nice pedestrian areas and small streets seem almost deserted: Many of these shops do not have employees and, consequently close at 6 pm, many also for a lunch break. However, if you come here during work hours or on a Saturday morning til early afternoon, you will find a lot of assorted goods and handicraft that anonymous malls and stream-lined shopping districts wouldn't care to offer.

Take the Greek specialist shop in the Küferstraße shopping street, opened in autumn 2021 during the covid-19 pandemics: Odysée Feinkost attracted my attention by presenting an assortment of organic pre-packaged snacks in its shop window. The day after I came around and found an owner who was both, knowlegeable about his goods and which of them were organic – and glad to have a chat. There are not enough organic preserves, herbs, wines, oils and dry food to satisfy all needs, so better come here for inspiration rather than with a fixed shopping list.

For fairly traded exotic dry food, spices and beverages walk a few steps to the Weltladen (almost) next door which also has a decent assortment of loose-weight food and sweets.

Opposite the fair-trade shop you'll find a real gem: Die rote Zora is not just a fair and slow fashion boutique, it's a small tailor start-up: The three young women working in the workshop in the back of the shop design and make the original and robust clothes that you can buy here or via their webshop. The feel of the garments and the quality of the seems should be sufficient to cure you from cheap fast fashion. The prices are really fair, too: good to make a living and absolutely affordable given the almost timeless, yet lively (to some probably: naughty) designs, repairability and longevity. For an air of Berlin in Swabia, I highly recommend both, the shop and the label, dubbed after the militant West-German feminist group – or their fictional name-giving character, a female leader of a gang of young orphans fighting injustice.

Interestingly, Esslingen has more than one local fashion designer cum tailor-shop cum fashion boutique: Olly's own label Aleksarah also focusses on natural and sustainable materials, with flowing and colourful, but more conventional designs. Also this shop is a female enterprise, but unlike the Zoras, offers a small selection of other fashion labels aside their own designs. Needless to say that all clothes will be adapted to your fit if necessary.

• Odysée Feinkost, Küferstr. 16, Mon–Fri(Sat) 8–18(17)
• Die rote Zora, Küferstr. 5, Tue–Fri(Sat) 10–18(17)
• Olles natürliche Designermode, Fischbrunnenstr. 1 , Tue–Fri(Sat) 10:30–18(16)

Organic Augsburg: Eat & sleep

One of the oldest cities in Germany, with roots back in Roman history, a rich medieval history – including the world's oldest intact social housing project, the Fuggerei –, and the birthplace of Bertolt Brecht, one of the most influential writers in modern theatre, Augsburg is without doubt worth a visit. Conveniently located on the railway tracks between Munich and Nuremberg, urban trains ("Regionalbahn"/"Regionalexpress") from Munich central station depart twice an hour (at day time) and can be used with the Bayernticket flat-rate ticket for Bavaria which is the budget option if you plan to travel from and to Munich on one day (one way takes about 45 minutes). Augsburg is also an ICE/IC train stop: These high velocity trains will save you about a quarter of an hour on this route, but tickets usually come at a significantly higher price.

If you plan to stay overnight there's a pleasant fully organic hotel about three kilometers from the main train station, the Bayerischer Wirt, a certified Bio Hotel in the suburb of Lechhausen, yet easily accessible by tram and bus or bike. Although the hotel is located directly at a noisy main road, the outdoor seating area in the backyard is a peaceful oasis. The hotel restaurant serves Bavarian meat and fish dishes as well as internationally inspired vegetarian ones – with varying results: While the roasted meat was perfectly done (rare as requested, caramelized yet melting), and served with the most delicate onion crisps I've ever tasted, the strips of veal in mustard cream were quite bland and uninspired – health food with boringly blanched veges and saltless (though home-made) spaetzle. Instead of ordering bottled mineral water you may fetch tap water from the water dispenser at no cost. Needless to say that all drinks are organic, too, and the aperitifs were a pleasant refreshment in the summer heat. The dessert menu is quite limited – prefab organic ice-cream, home-made cakes and a parfait when I visited.

If a healthy local kitchen with liberal opening hours does not satisfy your expectations of a city vacation, there are two promising day cafes easily reachable for cyclists on the way from the main station to Lechhausen: Café Himmelgrün near the banks of the river Lech in Berliner Allee serves fully organic breakfast, lunch, coffee and cakes, and you can also find sustainable gifts and nice things. The cafe is run by Augsburg-based organic bakery Schubert – you may have come across the name at the bakery counters of organic supermarkets, both in Munich, Nuremberg and elsewhere in Bavaria.

In front of the cafe's outdoor area the bakery has installed a mobile sales booth for bread, snacks and cakes of yesterday's production, from the quality control desks, with short best-before date or small blemishes, all sold at low fixed prices: A kilogram of bread for example comes at 3 EUR, yesterday's savoury snacks at 1 EUR the piece, and six pieces of cake at 7 EUR. Customers are encouraged to reduce waste and take home their purchase in their own bags or boxes. Unfortunately the booth dubbed Grünfux deluxe is closed in the afternoon as well as on Mondays and on weekends.

Augsburg's long history of textile fabric production, print and trade is reflected in the Bavarian State Textile and Industry Museum, less than 10 minutes from the inner city hotspot Königsplatz by tram no. 6. The museum's cafe dubbed nunó (from the Japanese word for "cloth") is not only a charming spot in an impressive industrial building of a former spinning mill, but also predominantly and certified organic, serving light and internationally inspired lunch, breakfast and Sunday brunch, and of course a recreational coffee. Meat, bread, veges, and eggs are reliably organic and of regional origin if possible while drinks at the bar are still predominantly conventional. As most museums the place is closed on Mondays and – except for special occasions – in the evenings.

If you are so unfortunate to strand before closed doors the next organic supermarket with a small bistro – a branch of the Denn's Biomarkt chain – is located in walking distance.

Inner city

My absolute favourite for meeting friends or family is the cosy day cafe and bar Dreizehn within the Kresslesmühle cultural centre. The food is 100 percent vegan, properly seasoned and absolutely delicious. There's a daily changing special meal (a marvellously filling mushroom-spiced polenta with ratatouille, fried organic tofu crumbles and salad when I was there) in addition to the small standard menu. Unfortunately it's not possible to have breakfast yet, and when you cannot sit outside next to the old mill stream due to weather conditions it's advisable to book a table.

In the backyard of St. Anne's church, the Annahof next to the fenced city market, the church parish gives host to a lively all-day cafe restaurant cum bar dubbed Anna with a great outdoor area, which is open in the evenings, too. The place serves lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch inspired by international kitchens. Once it was certified organic, but since it no longer is the restaurant is not allowed to advertise with organic ingredients. Nevertheless the managing director assured me that they were still using as much organic produce as before: both eggs, milk and most fruit come from organic farms and distributors in the vicinity. On the menu you'll find organic beer (Lammsbräu), on occasions organic wine (ask for it), lemonade (charitea) and ice-tea. For breakfast you can have organic crunchy cereals, and the bread comes from the Schubert bakery. Unfortunately meat products usually aren't organic. During the warm season the cafe sells organic ice-cream to take away in a biscuit cone, delivered by the Cramer's confectioner's. Only plain flavours like vanilla, chocolate, plan hazelnut and lemon were available in July 2019, the scoop at 1.50 EUR.

For a light vegan lunch bowl or a smoothie stop by 100 percent organic ice-cream shop Juice 'n Cream in the Ulrichsviertel neighbourhood.

If you are in the mood for a pizza there's a branch of the partially organic NineOFive chain at Fuggerplatz.

For a no-frills coffee, snack or lunch you may also head for the self-service cafe at the city branch of the Basic organic supermarket chain between the state theatre and the cathedral.

Want a liquid give-a-away or treat yourself with a good bottle of organic wine or high-quality juice? Uli Scheffler Weinhandel in the Bismarckviertel is one of those small owner-run shops that create the soul of a city: Describe your occasion, and Uli will come up with a suggestion for you that (as to my taste and knowledge) will work (and taste) perfectly. While the shop keeps open on Saturdays you'll have to go without his advice as you'll find Uli at the Mariahilf farmers' market in Munich on that day of the week.

Around the main train station – bakeries and package-free

For last minute travel provisions you can buy an organic snack or sandwich at the Hofpfisterei bakery branch five minutes from the main train station. Unfortunately it's closed both on Saturdays and Sundays.

If you have some more time the city's package-free supermarket Ruta Natur is located no more than 10 minutes from the train station, directly on the way to the Stadtmarkt market place.

Alternatively you may proceed to the Schubert branch at the tram hub of Königsplatz. There used to be a serviced day cafe but after some reconstruction work the area of the bakery shop has diminished to the sales counter and a small self-service area where you may sit down with a sandwich or snack. When the weather is nice there are also chairs and tables outside. The coffee drinks from the automatic machine could taste better, but everything is organic.

There's another Schubert branch inside the city market, around the corner from St. Anne's church (and you'll find another Hofpfisterei branch there, too).

Sunday-open in Hochzoll

To buy fresh bread, rolls or cake on a Sunday morning you have to commute to 12-Apostel-Platz in Augsburg-Hochzoll where the only Sunday-open Schubert branch is located. It also sports a cafe, most suitable on weekdays, though.

• Bayerischer Wirt, Neuburger Str. 122, Mon–Sat(Sun, PH) 7–23(15), warm kitchen Thu–Mon, PH 11:30–14, Mon-Sat 18–21:30
• Himmelgrün, Am alten Schlachthof 9, Mon–Fri(Sat–Sun) 7(8)–18(17)
• Schuberts Grünfux deluxe, Am alten Schlachthof 9, Tue–Fri 9–13
• nunó, Provinostr. 46, Tue–Sun 10–17
• Denn's Biomarkt, Oberbürgermeister-Hohner-Str. 1a, Mon–Sat 8–20
• Dreizehn, Barfüßerstr. 4, daily 9–22
• Anna Café, Im Annahof 4 , Mon(Tue–Sat) 9–18(23), every first Sun of a month brunch 9–14
• NineOFive, Fuggerpl. 9, Sun–Thu(Sat) 17(12)–22
• Basic, Ludwigstr. 2, Mon–Sat 8–20, bakery and bistro from 7 am
• Uli Scheffler Weinhandel, Neidhartstr. 25 (entrance Bismarckstr.), Tue–Fri(Sat) 10–19(16)
• Ruta Natur, Prinzregentenstr. 7, Mon–Fri(Sat) 10–18:30(15), four saturdays before Christmas 2022 10–16
• Bäckerei Schubert, Am Königsplatz, Mon–Sat 7–19
• Bäckerei Schubert im Stadtmarkt, baker row, Mon–Fri(Sat) 7–18(14)
• Bäckerei Schubert 12-Apostel-Platz, Münchner Str. 18, Mon–Fri(Sat) 7–18(12:30), Sun 8–11
• Hofpfisterei, Bahnhofstr. 24, Mon–Fri 8–18
• Hofpfisterei Stadtmarkt, baker row, booth no. C4-C5, Mon–Thu(Fri) 8:30(7:45)–18, Sar 7:30–14

More on Augsburg

• Ice-cream

Closed

• Lokalhelden, Bleigässchen 2, (vegetarian and vegan restaurant)
• Mom's Table, Maximilianstr. 77 (vegan restaurant)
• Schwarze Kiste, Gögginger Str. 26
• Sowieso, Schießgrabenstr. 4 (organic restaurant and cafe, social enterprise)
• Färberei, Färbergäßchen 5 (restaurant), replaced by partially organic winery and bar Tante Frizzante und Herr Brand, Tue–Thu(Fri) 17(16)–23(1),Sat 12–1

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)

Budapest: Sustainable shopping

At the first glance Budapest is full of organic health (food) shops, Bio Bolt in Hungarian, however, most of them predominantly deal in pills and powders. So unless dietary supplements (including super foods, plant-based milk alternatives, flours, nuts and other ingredients to prep up your cereals) are what you're looking for or the shop (like the recently opened Bio Egészség Biobolt behind the Synagogue) is on your track anyway, it's much easier to stick to one of the many branches of the German DM chemist's chain for travel supplies like organic dry goods, fruit juices, vegan alternatives, eco detergents and natural bodycare. Check for organic labels as (especially for cosmetics and toiletry products) there's increased green-washing in conventional product lines which also are available here. The DM own brands "DM Bio" (food) and "Alverde" (body care) are both good value and safe if your budget is tight or you're in a hurry.

Food souvenirs

What you won't find there are typical food souvenirs from Hungary: paprika, salami and wine. To buy these you need to find a proper biobolt or farmers' market, and these aren't as easy to find as one might expect. A reliable source is BioABC, a small, yet well assorted organic supermarket in Belváros, located between Astoria and Kálvin tér. They have only a small selection of wines (above the fridges), the salami is tucked away in a separate fridge in the right-most corner next to the shop's window front, and you can choose from several types of Hungarian paprika powder. Apart from this they stock local fresh produce, dairy products, sweets and cookies, preserves as well as natural body care, both of local origin as well as imported goods, in short all daily necessities. Bring your own containers for buying loose-weight dry goods.

A second option is the Mennyország Szíve Bio Bolt a few steps from the Keleti Palyaudvar train station. Here you can also have a coffee, breakfast or vegan lunch just after arrival or before departing. However, the place is closed on weekends as well as public holidays which is why I cannot give an account of the quality of neither the food nor the range of goods sold here.

For high-end Hungarian wines pay a visit to Cultivini Wine Cellars and Tasting in Belváros (5th district). The place is very upmarket, with the opportunity for wine tasting, and specializes in Hungarian wines. If you ask for organic and natural wines the sommeliers will competently advise and answer questions, but you have to be bold on your interest in organic wines as they will point you to conventionally produced wines in the course of the discussion if you aren't firm.

Books, coffee and tea

The classical bookstore you know from French movies does still exist -- and has adapted to modern times by becoming a cafe and co-working space in Erzsébetváros: The English language bookstore cum cafe Massolit does not only sell hand-picked English literature, a few tourist books, a small selection of stationary and fairly-traded coffee drinks or organic tea, but also offers quiches and cakes for both, a breakfast or the casual snack in between. While the milk for the coffee is organic (though not certified), the origin of the ingredients of the bakery items isn't easy to tell, for a good reason: Both, the bagels, cakes and quiches are hand-made by friends of the shop owner from the neighbourhood who earn an additional income this way. While some of them will certainly use eggs or milk from a properly working local farmer, conventional supermarket supply is also part of the game. If you want to stay here for work buy a co-working card, take a seat in the pleasant backyard or at some of the wooden tables inside. Water and wifi is for free but note that the place is closed on Mondays.

• Bio Egészség Biobolt, Dohány utca 20/corner Síp utca, Mon-Fri(Sat) 7:30(8:30)-19:30(17), closed for lunch
• Bio ABC, Múzeum körút 19, Mon-Fri(Sat) 10-19(14)
• Mennyország Szíve Bio Bolt, Nefelejcs utca 3, Mon-Fri 11-19
• Cultivini, Párizsi utca 4, Sun,Tue-Thu(Fri-Sat) 11(12)-21(22)
• Massolit Books & Café, Nagy Diófa utca 30 , Mon-Fri(Sat-Sun) 8:15(10)-19:30

More to try

When I asked locals about where to buy organic fruit I was directed to the Fény utcai piac marketplace near Széll Kálmán tér. Unfortunately, none of the market stalls showed signs of the key words "bio" or "öko", or of any organic labels or certificates. Since I don't speak Hungarian (and the command of foreign languages among the farmers was limited, too), the topic was too difficult to handle -- let me know if you're able to find out more. On weekends there are two dedicated organic or at least partially organic farmers' markets, pay a visit -- I'm glad if you'd share your experience with me.

• Bio-piac, MOM Kulturális Központ, Csörsz utca 18, Sat 6:30-13
• Szimplakerti háztáji piac, Szimpla kert, Kazinczy utca 14, Sun 9-14 (small-scale farmers, not necessarily certified)

Closed

References on the web do often exist longer than shops and venues themselves. The following places I found abandoned when I stepped by.

• Farmer's market at Közös piac, Király utca 8 (central passage), Sat 10-17
• Born 2 Bio, Kertész utca 50 (supermarket cum cafe)