Back From Croatia And Italy!

[jerseyangel]

That she won't share with total strangers.

I'll bet she'd let us in if we just happened to show up on her doorstep.....

[Jestgar]

I'll bet she'd let us in if we just happened to show up on her doorstep.....

Ok. You bring your squirrel and I'll bring my rooster. That way she'll recognize us.

[jerseyangel]

Ok. You bring your squirrel and I'll bring my rooster. That way she'll recognize us.

:lol:

[love2travel]

Ok. You bring your squirrel and I'll bring my rooster. That way she'll recognize us.

Oh, you two! Too funny. Actually, if you are extra nice we may even let you stay there! We do let my relatives from Germany vacation there (and I have only met them once). Maybe if you beg and plead and bring the squirrel and rooster...I am laughing out loud at your hilarity! That is just brilliant.

[jerseyangel]

Maybe if you beg and plead and bring the squirrel and rooster...

This cracked me up--but can you imagine ???

[rosetapper23]

Doesn't it make you feel "normal" and not like a second-class citizen to be able to eat anywhere and for people to understand what celiac and gluten are?? I just got back from Australia, and I literally ate my way through the continent: pizzas, hamburgers, sandwiches, Brazilian barbecue, etc. Some Australian friends came back with me, and when I took them winetasting on Friday in Napa, I couldn't join them for the chocolate pairings because the chocolate wasn't gluten free. They looked astonished by the blatant discrimination against a whole class of people. When I would explain to clerks and servers back in Australia that very few restaurants in the U.S. serve gluten-free meals, they would always shake their heads and say that that simply wasn't fair treatment.

I'm glad you had a fun time, my friend!

[love2travel]

This cracked me up--but can you imagine ???

I am imagining it right now! This is what would happen - you stand and ring the bell thingy and I would nonchalantly walk to the gate to see who it was. There I would see a rooster standing on the gate with a squirrel perched on top (to reach the bell thingy). Then I would be SURE to recognize you. But then maybe a snake or scorpion would come along and put an end to that idea...

The visual is too much.

[love2travel]

Doesn't it make you feel "normal" and not like a second-class citizen to be able to eat anywhere and for people to understand what celiac and gluten are?? I just got back from Australia, and I literally ate my way through the continent: pizzas, hamburgers, sandwiches, Brazilian barbecue, etc. Some Australian friends came back with me, and when I took them winetasting on Friday in Napa, I couldn't join them for the chocolate pairings because the chocolate wasn't gluten free. They looked astonished by the blatant discrimination against a whole class of people. When I would explain to clerks and servers back in Australia that very few restaurants in the U.S. serve gluten-free meals, they would always shake their heads and say that that simply wasn't fair treatment.

I'm glad you had a fun time, my friend!

So glad to hear from you! And extra glad that you had such a great time in Australia. Australia is far ahead of Croatia with celiac BUT Croatia is better than many. I did not get the eye-rolling-hands-on-the-hips thing there, nor did I get unwanted pity. My celiac card did not come as a surprise to anyone there. It was just so normal.

Wow - how amazing that you got to enjoy all that great food without fear! I am so pleased for you. When do you return??

[rosetapper23]

To be honest, I would really like to retire there....but because my breast cancer returned this past year (twice), there's no chance that they would accept me because my disease would "tax" their social medicine system. **sigh** I really do love the utopian lifestyle there, and my daughter is trying to become a permanent resident. If she's successful, I'll try to return there on an annual basis--I was really heartsick at having to leave Australia to return home. Life there is wonderful....

[BabsV]

So glad to hear that you had a wonderful trip -- and how lucky was it to get those plane seats!

Croatia is on my list of places to visit; not sure when but I'll get there someday.

[AVR1962]

Awesome! Glad your trip went well. You were really lucky with the extra seats, those flights are normally booked solid. We fly out of Frankfurt, live about an hour from the airport. Going stateside you can count on the trip being a 24 hour odeal by the time you land. What part of Croatia were you? I've been to Dubrovnik, very nice. Lived in Italy for 2 years before I was gluten-free what have heard it is a great place for people who are on a gluten-free diet. That was where we ate horse and donkey for the first time, back in '92, very good! Hard to beat a truely authentic Italian meal.

[navigator]

I'd been thinking about you this past week and wondering how you were. Delighted to hear you had such a wonderful time.

[love2travel]

To be honest, I would really like to retire there....but because my breast cancer returned this past year (twice), there's no chance that they would accept me because my disease would "tax" their social medicine system. **sigh** I really do love the utopian lifestyle there, and my daughter is trying to become a permanent resident. If she's successful, I'll try to return there on an annual basis--I was really heartsick at having to leave Australia to return home. Life there is wonderful....

Would there be any way of living there not as a permanent resident but for a few months of the year? Man, health care systems can be deplorable. You sound like me having a difficult time returning home. Actually, when I say "home" I mean Croatia so I usually say returning to Canada. Australia really sounds like an excellent place to be in so many ways!

[love2travel]

Awesome! Glad your trip went well. You were really lucky with the extra seats, those flights are normally booked solid. We fly out of Frankfurt, live about an hour from the airport. Going stateside you can count on the trip being a 24 hour odeal by the time you land. What part of Croatia were you? I've been to Dubrovnik, very nice. Lived in Italy for 2 years before I was gluten-free what have heard it is a great place for people who are on a gluten-free diet. That was where we ate horse and donkey for the first time, back in '92, very good! Hard to beat a truely authentic Italian meal.

Thank you! We were SO lucky getting those seats - I've flown a lot and have never seen that happen on long-haul flights.

We've been to Croatia many times but our house is in Istria (the north) but I have been all over the country. Dubrovnik is stunning, isn't it? Where did you live in Italy? I've been there probably at least ten times - my favourite area has to be Sicily as it is less commercial and more down to earth than some other areas. You are right - there is nothing quite like a truly authentic Italian meal. Whenever I can I cook authentically using the best ingredients BUT many of those ingredients are unavailable where I live. Thankfully there is a huge Italian specialty food store 3 hours away we go to regularly to pick up my buffalo milk mozzarella, pancetta, prosciutto, figs, smoked Maldon sea salt, and so on. It is incredible. I have not yet tried horse but I know it is eaten in several areas in Italy but I have tried donkey.

[love2travel]

So glad to hear that you had a wonderful trip -- and how lucky was it to get those plane seats!

Croatia is on my list of places to visit; not sure when but I'll get there someday.

When I saw those four seats in a row my heart was beating so rapidly - I had to wait until we were in the air until I moved. It was absolutely amazing. A miracle, really. Usually when I fly I am in so much pain from sitting that it takes several days of agony to get beyond it. Not this time!

Hopefully you can make it to Croatia some day. I realize I am biased but it is my favourite place to be in the world and I have been to about 20 countries. It is so varied and wonderful!