Hey guys! I've got a wonderful opportunity to go travel in the Balkans this September-October, and I'm trying to figure out if/how I can stick to 811 while I'm there.
I'm going to start in Greece, where I assume I'll be a week, and then go through either Albiania and Montenegro, or Macedonia and Serbia (still haven't decided which os the two options), and then to Croatia. There's a chance I might go to Italy too.
The trip will take about a month and most of my traveling will be by trains.
Is there anyone who was in these countries recently or is there currently and can give me some tips and advice on what to expect in terms of being able to find fresh, ripe fruit? Obviously I won't have a blender or juicer with me, so the emphasis on ripe fruit is even more important than usual.
Permalink Reply by Richie Fruitbat on Hey, I live in Bulgaria, close to the countries you are visiting, so I can at least tell you what it's like here (assuming the places you are visiting will be similar).
If you can find fresh outdoor markets you will be able to get ripe fruit, although there will not be a huge selection. There are fresh fruit/veg shops where you can pick ripe fruit up too, sometimes with a bigger selection than available on the markets. Supermarkets and regular shops will not be much help I'm afraid. Certainly here in Bulgaria, most people's idea of food is definitely not 80/10/10 friendly, so you may have to seek out the best alternatives you can find at some points. Pasteurized 100% fruit juice should be easy to get hold of, and you might find cooked vegan stuff at deli counters in shops.
Hope that helps!
Permalink Reply by Shery on Noted all of this. Thank you! :) How much can I expect to spend in terms of money?
Also, at worst, is it easy to find places that just serve plain potatoes/rice?
Permalink Reply by Richie Fruitbat on Prices will vary from country to country I'm sure, but in Bulgaria fruit can range from amazingly cheap to wildly expensive depending on whether they are in season and how far they've travelled to get here. As a tip, the cheapest fruits usually taste better! They are in season and have not had to be picked too early to be shipped a great distance. Bananas and dates are usually pretty reasonable though. Bananas are usually about 2.60Lev (1.30Euros) per kg here.
Restaurants etc can be hit and miss. Roadside cafes/grills etc often can't do much other than deep fried or grilled and dripping in fat veggies. The better quality restaurants, like the ones attached to hotels can usually do plain boiled rice or potatoes and a simple salad, (as long as you can make yourself understood) ;-D
Permalink Reply by Dori on Stick to the grapes. They are in season then and shouldn't be too expensive ;)
Permalink Reply by Shery on I can't do mono-days of any fruit. I get pissed off and start undercarbing, which is the worst. But if grapes are really in season in sept-oct... I'm sure going to enjoy a bunch of meals from those :)
Permalink Reply by Dori on you will have trouble finding ripe fruits besides grapes, apples.
You will be able to find dates in some parts (I know you can buy them in Zagreb, Croatia and Novi Sad and Belgrade in Serbia).
Otherwise, you will find fruit, but it mostly won't be perfectly ripe.
I think this doesn't apply for Greece. Somehow I think you will have no trouble there ;)
Anyhow, good luck ;)
Permalink Reply by Elena Sendler on Hey! I'm from Slovenia and really this is the best time for a fruit bat to travel these parts. There is an abundance of fruit right now, in winter time; it would be a different story. The best tomatoes I've ever had were the ones that we bought on our vacation in Greece. They had absurdly expensive fruit, so we only bought the tomatoes that were almost rotten and they were the best I've ever had :)
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