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Listmates:
Several weeks ago I requested help in keeping my 19 yr. old daughter,
Martha, GF as she travels through France & Italy this winter.  Yesterday
we bid her bon voyage and felt pretty secure that she was well-armed
with good information provided by many of you.  Messages were filled
with encouragement and tips from well-travelled people whose own
experiences abroad were positive.  The undaunted spirit that came
through in those messages was terrific and very much appreciated. We
also heard from some of you planning similar trips eager yourselves for
GF travel tips.  Here is a summary of the 16 responses.  I've saved
them, so anyone wishing "to hear it from the horses mouth" can ask me to
forward any/all responses.  I will gladly oblige.

* I received a contact list of local support groups taken from the
GROUPSIN and GROUPSOUT reference files (a resource new to me) with
numerous names, addresses & phone numbers of contacts throughout Italy.
There is likely to be extensive help available through these channels if
you have time--which we did not--to make contact in ways other than
e-mail.  (For example, the Celiac Association in Stuttgart had provided
enormous assistance with health food stores to one traveller who started
early enough to write them for help).  The National Italian Coeliac
Association does have an e-mail address
http://www.cibernet.it/aic/aic.htm and also at
http://www.nettuno.it/fiera/aic/ which I tried but I've received no
response so far (remember that much of my research was happening
simultaneous to holiday vacations).  Information for travelling celiacs
is also available through http://members.aol.com/zoeliak.  Also included
was phone & address of the national support group for France (again, we
had no time to pursue).

* In Italy GF products are readily available in "farmacia" which are
equivalent to our pharmacies. One company mentioned, Dr. Schaer, has a
wide selection of GF products available throughout Europe.  Health Food
Stores (names & addresses) that carry these products in Paris, Milan,
and Florence were provided to us.  We immediately checked the map of
Paris (Martha's first destination) and located the stores nearest her
hotel so she could hit the ground running in France.  I was also
contacted directly by a staff member from Dr. Schaer and tried to answer
his e-mail at [log in to unmask] but ran into transmission problems.  At
any rate, I know that company is eager to be of service and also has its
own web site at http://www.schaer.com. Another company mentioned was
Bi-aglut.

* Take along emergency rations packed from home.  Carry enough for 24
hours because shopping might not be possible immediately. Martha left
for France with two loaves of homebaked Bette Hagman's GF French Bread
(ersatz coals to Newcastle?) with half of another loaf packed in her
carry-on along with fruit and a hunk of cheese (no GF meals provided on
Air France); four varieties of crackers; dried fruit, and about 30
packets of Quaker Instant Grits (just add boiling water, no cooking
required) so the question of breakfast--probably the hardest meal--would
be solved for much of the trip.  We had ordered Breakfast Bars from G!
Foods in San Francisco--very tasty, good in the morning and easy to
pack, but unfortunately the order didn't make it to our door in time.
That's a pity, because it would have provided another good alternative
for breakfast.  We recommend them to others, but give yourself plenty of
lead time.

* A very tiny mountain climber's stove made by GAZ fueled by propane
cannisters available in the States and in Europe was suggested along
with a quite wonderful description of how, when, and why to use it.
Martha immediately balked at this suggestion.  Her thinking: "It's one
thing to load my suitcase with my own crackers and bread and pass
notes to waiters and ask for special consideration from the chef, but
firing up a stove and cooking my own lentils in a shared hotel room is
more different than I'm willing to be with this group."  Martha's
attitude and coping skills have truly been excellent throughout this
past year (just completed 12 months on the diet and also just received
official biopsy results from early December endoscopy that show villi
beginning to regenerate--finally a diagnosis!).  I didn't push the stove
issue, but I bet that somewhere down the road, when she isn't travelling
with a school group, if she's venturing farther away than Western Europe
or perhaps if she runs into trouble finding satisfying, nutritious
things to eat on even simple trips and wants greater control, she will
follow through on the GAZ advice.  I think it was a great suggestion.
Martha also balked at the idea of carrying a small cooler, another good
suggestion that would undoubtedly come in handy. She also did not opt
for a drop in heater, but others might (be sure to take appropriate
adaptors).

*Several people made mention of the usefulness of the restaurant cards
in the back of AGAINST THE GRAIN.  It's good to make numerous copies of
those because sometimes you don't get them back from the kitchen.  We
were also advised to have the paragraphs checked by a native speaker
before departure because there may be errors in grammar, spelling &
syntax that might further confuse an already confusing issue. This is
apparently true of the Hebrew version and may well be true for others.
We copied the French version as written, but Martha ended up taking
copies of another Italian statement composed by another listmember and
respondent.  It seemed more thorough and gave us greater confidence.
Let me know if you want a copy.

Other restaurant tips and what to expect:
* Ask if there is an English menu;
* Polenta ("taragna" made with "grano saraceno") and riso or risotto
should be good choices in Italy (but always double check on ingredients
because with risotto cubed boullion with small amounts of gluten may
have been used; food served with polenta, for instance a "fonduta," may
not be GF);
* Stick with cheese (if it's a possibility) and fresh fruits and
vegetables;
* In Italy ask for "carne ai ferri" to have meat cooked simply in the
pan;
* Many restaurants offer a simple grilled veg dish of some sort;
* When in restaurants where good GF food has been successfully found,
order more as your own "take out" for snacks or meals later. Take lots
of zip-lock bags for this purpose;
* It sounds as if Italian restaurants are willing to accommodate to a
surprising degree (when they are not crowded).  For instance one
traveller was never refused when she asked to have her own GF pasta
cooked in a separate pot.  And, a GF pizza base purchased at the
"farmacia"--could be the Dr. Schaer brand which comes with its own
disposable pan--might even be offered to the owner of a pizzeria to be
prepared there.  But always explain the need to avoid "contamination"
from wheat flour.

Again thank you for your many wonderful suggestions and good wishes for
an enjoyable trip.  If other info comes in I will pass it along.  Also,
if Martha has relevant tales to tell when she gets back we'll let you
know.

With apprection,
Judith Beckman