In this post, we welcome Katherine Tolley, a Celiac currently living in Barcelona, Spain... In the fall of 2013, after a year of reoccurring mononucleosis, an aggressive case of pneumonia, and a constant, unexplained fever and feeling of vertigo, I was diagnosed with Celiac disease. I was somewhere between my junior and senior year of college, living at home, and doing everything possible to help heal my body – especially my digestive system. A semester abroad studying the arts was a requirement for my design degree, and I was terrified after my diagnosis to even leave the house for fear of cross-contaminated food and more illnesses. I had been planning on studying in Barcelona, Spain, but as the time drew nearer and I read more about their cuisine (Tapas! Fried calamari! Churros! Toasted bread rubbed with fresh tomatoes and olive oil!), I become increasingly nervous. After months of research and printing gluten-free dining cards in various foreign languages, I packed my suitcase full of gluten-free oatmeal packets and set off for the unknown. And to my never-ending delight, what I found across the Atlantic was a country that understood my needs far better than almost every place I had been... Read more →
April 2016
Today, we are featuring a guest post from Zoë, who is currently living in Tel Aviv. She found out about five years ago that she is allergic to wheat, soy, and nuts (what she considers the worst combination of allergies for Israel!). Zoë started the Gluten Free Tel Aviv website when she realized that there was a big hole that needed to be filled. Although there are many Hebrew resources for the gluten free, information in English is much more difficult to find! So she created Gluten Free Tel Aviv to be the English language resource and community for travelers and residents alike. Here, she shares a very thorough list of Israeli specialties that are typically gluten free, along with some of her favorite dining spots where you can find them. Hello from Tel Aviv, Israel! I moved here only a few months ago and was overwhelmed with the whole new ALPHABET I had to learn! When I lived in Germany last year, at least it was easy to recognize “Gluten Frei” on the packaging, while here I had to memorize ללא גלוטן. To make things even more challenging, there are also two types of font here (kind of like... Read more →