EuroTrip2k17 Gluten Free Food Travel Series: Observations and Tricks
My first time traveling to Europe was in 2013 when I didn't have any food allergies...at least none that I knew of yet. Now that I'm eating with restrictions, I look back fondly on that first trip, remembering it as a nonstop smorgasbord of trying tons of new foods knowing that I might not find them back home in America. I still believe this is exactly the right mindset for how everyone should vacation, no matter what you can or cannot eat. Even though you think you might have to eat "safe" with an allergy, it doesn't mean that you can't eat savory! You should go and eat all the gluten free culinary culture that the country, town or city has to offer! #allthefood
This year, my husband and I embarked on an epic thirteen day Eurotrip where we took just about every form of transportation to travel to an awesome array of amazing locations:
London, England
Amsterdam, Netherlands,
Rhine Valley, Germany
Munich, Germany
Venice, Italy
Rome, Italy
Lisbon, Portugal
After carefully researching (okay, obsessively reading) Pinterest travel articles, I discovered to my relief that navigating Europe while gluten intolerant isn't impossible. It actually might be, dare I say, easier than managing this allergy at home. Many countries are now helping food allergy sufferers by creating delicious options sans gluten and adding them to their standard menus. I know what you are thinking, because I thought it too. The one country that will be impossible to find anything to eat is Italy because of all the carb heavy heavenly options. You couldn't be more wrong. Italy had the MOST allergy friendly options and even gives its celiac residents stipends to help them with the additional costs of buying gluten free food. Bravo, Italy! America, take note! Our gluten free food is expensive.
I also noticed that some #GF items had fewer ingredients than the super processed foods with fillers that we have in the USA. Reading the packaging was an exciting experience because items had ingredients that you could recognize and even pronounce! Yes, part of the thrill could have been my "I'm on vacation and everything is magical" mindset, but wait until you check a nutritional label and discover that you know each and every component about to go into your body. Then, bite into a chocolate millionaire and try not to cry that they don't have them where you live.
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| My first All Butter Chocolate Millionaire from TESCO. I'll never forget you. Ingredients as per TESCO.com: Caramel (31%), Milk Chocolate (26%), Maize Polenta, Unsalted Butter (Milk) (10%), Ground Almonds, Caster Sugar, Belgian Dark Chocolate, Caramel contains: Glucose Syrup, Sugar, Palm Oil, Condensed Milk, Soft Brown Sugar, Water, Rapeseed Oil, Salt, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithins), Flavouring, Colour (Beta-Carotene), Milk Chocolate contains: Sugar, Dried Whole Milk, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Milk Fat, Emulsifier (SoyaLecithins), Caramelised Sugar, Belgian Dark Chocolate contains: Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithins), Flavouring" |
We stopped off to grab some bus snacks at M&S in London, and I obviously needed to pick up more Millionaires.
Salted Caramel Hazelnut? Are you kidding me with these?!
Out of all the days we traveled, only one restaurant was unable to tell us if they could accommodate a gluten free traveler, and it was mostly due to a language barrier. It was also the one stop where I didn't have my AWESOME CeliacTravel.com restaurant card ready to pull up on my phone. While I was eager and willing to learn how to say "gluten free allergy" in as many languages as possible, these cards took out the guess work for the possible follow up questions about what I actually can eat. (Plus, my German pronunciation could probably use some work.) One waiter at an Augustiner beer hall in Germany actually took my phone with the card on the screen across the restaurant (He was in eyesight, so it was fine!) to make sure the chef understood my allergies. He then took the time to bring my meal back to the table separately and explain how each ingredient was gluten free. I made sure to take the time to tell him how out of this world the meal was. Also, potato dumplings are a wonderful thing, people. Who knew?!
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| Celiactravel.com screenshot from my phone |
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| Pork shank, REAL German sauerkraut and that awesome potato dumpling |
Sometimes my husband and I lost track of time touring each gorgeous location and didn't plan out where we would eat next until we were absolutely famished. (Vacation problems, am I right?) If we felt unsure about whether or not we could quickly find a restaurant with a gluten free option for me, we would stop at a cafe with wifi and go onto TripAdvisor.com. Just googling "Gluten free restaurants in _______ Trip Advisor" was easy and saved time if we struggled with the language or were too tired to trek another 5 blocks to find dinner. (No judgement, readers. It was a long trip.) We were happily surprised by the multitude of options, including a top ten best list. The site was incredibly convenient and easy to access on the go.
I hope you enjoyed my first Eurotrip2k17 post of hopefully many! Don't forget to check out some excellent links below featuring some of the tips I mentioned above!
Talk soon!
-KB
*LINKS!*
Where I learned about Italy's wonderful approach to helping those with food allergies and how the country helps those with Coeliac/Celiac (including an 38 year association!):
Where to find those ESSENTIAL Gluten Free Restaurant cards explaining your gluten allergy with what you can and cannot eat in 54 different languages!
An awesome website to use to find gluten free restaurants (or hotels/trips!) in and out of Europe:
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