Il viaggio verso l'Italia (The Voyage To Italy)
Hello there, one and all. Welcome to my new blog. In the future, this place will most likely host the often nerdy, sometimes insightful and occasionally personal thoughts that I have. For the next few posts, however, I will be covering the time that Kara and I have spent in Italy this last fortnight. As much as this is a personal project for me, to help me keep my writing up to scratch, I also aim to inform any of my friends or family who are travelling to Italy with someone who is unable (or unwilling) to eat many different types of food. Perhaps it will be useful for any readers who are coeliacs, as well as people who have somewhat inhibitive tastes.
Our trip to Italy has been on the books for some months now, and we were both very excited to travel. This would be my first trip out of the U.K since I was 11 and it would be Kara's first time on a plane, never mind outside of the country. One of the aspects of Italy that I was most excited about was the food. (I'm sure you'll all be surprised to discover) So, while I was considering how excited I was to try proper Italian food, I couldn't help but worry about Kara and her gluten intolerance. We researched it quite a bit, and found that because much of Italy's diet (pizza/pasta) was made from wheat, Italy actually screen their children for gluten-intolerance and have a better cultural awareness of the illness. This did buoy our hopes for feeding Kara out there. My dream of eating like a pig wasn't quite so far away! (It's difficult to gorge with a pair of big blue eyes staring at you, quietly judging) Having spoken to my coeliac Aunt about going to Rome, we were in good spirits about the chances of being able to eat a good meal.
What we hadn't accounted for was the culture of eating in Italy and how it meshes with Kara's eating habits. Kara doesn't do "cold savoury" for the most part. Before anyone says "What? Even..." Yes. Even that. Sandwiches, cold meats and most cheeses are straight off the menu. This can make Italy hella difficult when it comes to feeding anyone never mind someone who can't eat wheat without feeling very ill. We discovered this on day 1.
As well as a culinary journey, we were also super excited to travel to a country with such amazing culture and ancient history. Our trip to Maranello was inspired by something less ancient, but still very impressive.
I will break down my travels in the next couple of posts, covering our travels from Edinburgh to Milan first, then our voyage through northern Italy. First Modena, then Maranello, onto Florence and ending in Rome. I'll post my journal entries from during the day, then add more comments afterwards, including any pertinent notes for trying to survive gluten-free in Italy.
If you've made it down to here, thank you for humouring me.
-Ross