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Hi All,

I had several requests from people on this list to
share information about our trip to Italy.  We were
there from June 28 - July 20 this summer and I am
finally sitting down to try and share with all of you.
 I hope some of this is helpful........

First, we took British Airways, which was a nice
airline and did provide gluten free meals.  They had a
gluten free sandwhich which the flight attendant
assured me was on GF bread.  She knew because her
father had celiac disease.  However, the meals were
VERY bland and plain.  I would definately bring your
own food on the plane.

We travelled to Milan, Lake Como, Umbria, Rome, Lucca,
Venice and then back to Milan again to come home.

We stayed in 6 different places, three were nice
hotels and three were apartments.  My first comment on
this would be special diet or not, I would definately
stay in an apartment everywhere on our next trip to
Italy.
The apartments were roomier, had all of the
ammenities, including kitchen and all of the
idividuals we rented were so helpful in giving us
maps, restaurant recommendations, calling taxis etc.
etc.  There are many web-sites where you can find
rental apartments and see actual pictures and maps of
what you are getting and location.

I brought with us, a few days worth of bread, cereal,
and crackers so that if we did not find groceries
right away, we would have something for Allison.  That
worked well.

On about the second or third day we were there, I
headed out to the local village (Menaggio at Lake
Como) and decided to try and find GF food.  I read on
this list that the local "Farmacia" stores carried GF
foods.
I will tell you that in every little town, including
tiny walled ancient villages, there is a Farmacia on
almost every other block.  Just look for the lit up
green cross over the door.  I found everything I
needed there.  Depending on the store, there was
almost always a very large selection of GF items.  Dr.
Schar makes and unbelievable amount of things
including ritz-like crackers (my daughter's favorite),
pizza crust, baguettes, cakes, pasta, etc. (Dr. Schar
is made in Italy) Some stores even had a freezer with
frozen meals and pizzas etc.  Also, in every Farmacia
I went to, the Pharmacist spoke english.  If not, just
ask for "cibi senza glutine"  Food without gluten.
It's usually a display right out in front.

Regarding restaurants........I did not try and find
specific restaurants for gluten free food.  There are
many that are listed on the Italian celiac website but
I found that it was easier to eat where it was
convenient to us.  I took with me several laminated
cards with a description of what Allison could and
could not eat.  All of the waiters and restaurant
owners were helpful and all seemed to know exactly
what celiac disease was.  It is much more well known
over there, than here.  However, the meals for Allison
were not all that exiting.  For an adult, I think the
choices were very good, but for an 11 year old, we
made it work.  This is where, having an apartment made
it much nicer.  We could purchase foods at the
"Alimentari" and then prepare a quick meal at home.
Lunches were particularly difficult as most "bars"
which is where you eat lunch, had sandwiches and
pasta.
Some had salads, but again, for a 11 year old, not too
great.  I was also surprised that when we ate dinner
out at several different restaurants that there was
not a single rice or polenta dish on the menu.  Only
in Milan did we have "risotto alla Milanese" which was
very good.

Here is what I wrote with help from my Italian
teacher, on our restaurant card:

La mia figla ha celiaco.  Non puo mangiare
produtti che contengono glutine.
Se magia glutine, diventera' molto
ammalata.
Non puo mangiare cibo che contenente farina
di grano, orzo, segale e avena.
Puo mangiare cibi contenti riso, granturco,
e patate.
Mi puo' dire quali cbi che non contengomo gluine
che sono sul menu?

Tantissimi grazie per il vostro aiuto.

It says basically,

My daughter has celiac.  She cannot eat
products that contain gluten.
If she eats gluten she will get very
sick.
She cannot eat foods that contain, wheat,
oats, barley and rye.
She can eat foods that contain rice, corn
and potatoes.
Can you tell me which items are on the
menu that do not contain gluten?

Thank you very much for your help.

In wrapping things up I would say that we had a
fabulous trip and the "food" thing did not at all put
a
dent in our fun and exitement.
Allison ate Gelato every single day that we were there
and it was soooo good.
Also, although I do speak some Italian, it was not
really necessary most everywhere we went.  Italians
for the most part speak some english.

If you have any specific questions to ask, please feel
free to e-mail me any time in the future.

We definately will be going back to Italy.


Beth Kassis

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