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    Dear List Members,

    My daughter and I  have just returned from a three week trip to
London and most of free Ireland.  The airplane meals were fantastic with
both Aer Lingus and British Airways.  I found the Dunne's stores to be
very good with cookies, biscuits and such.  Actually one of the better
places to go in London was Harrods Department Store, which had a nice,
relatively inexpensive selection of GF food stuffs downstairs.  Tesco's
was also good, and I was able to get some fine bread there.  The UK and
Ireland does use wheat starch, allowed by their Celiac Societies, but I
had no trouble with it at all.  Actually the bread was better because it
had a bit of wheat starch in it and it held together nicely.

    People in Ireland were very familiar with the celiac dietary
problems and were most helpful, especially west of the Shannon.  We were
headquartered in Galway and had made arrangements for a driver to take
us around for the 10 days we were there.  If anyone is going to Ireland
and they want to take advantage of an excellent chauffeur service
recommended by the Irish Tourist Board, I can very heartily recommend
the driver that I had.  His name is Dave Hogan, and he lives near
Galway.  His e-mail is [log in to unmask]  Actually, by the time
we figured out what it would cost us for a car, the price of gas, extra
insurance, and the nerve-wracking experience of trying to find where we
were going driving on the opposite side of the road, we probably paid no
more than what we would have done with a rental car.  We saw so much
more than we could have seen driving ourselves, and were totally
relaxed.  Dave has lived in Ireland all his life and put us on to what
was happening in the theatre and music industry and also told us
little-known facts about all the towns, churches, castles and such as we
were passing by.  And, the best part of all, is that his wife is a
celiac and he knows just where to go to get the food and all that we
need.

    It was such a pleasure to be in a country that understood the
problem of being gluten free.  I met up with my second cousin and was
told that her sister had just been diagnosed with the disease.  Now I
know where the strain is coming from in my family.  Previously only my
brother, my daughter, and myself were known to have contracted it.

Joy Ash, Silver City, NM USA