Gluten Free in Italy!

Hello from Italy!

After saying "goodbye" to Emily and Laura (we'll see you again in Rome!), we arrived in Verona. We had directions to take the bus to Malcesine ("Mal-chez-ih-neh" we were corrected) to our gluten free bed and breakfast Domus Alessandra. Little did we know the bus ride would take close to two hours, stop rarely at unmarked stops, and be driven by a driver who didn't want to be interrupted during his cell phone conversation :o). It was a bit nerve-racking, but after a while, I just kept asking, "this stop?" until he nodded affirmatively. We then got directions to walk in the wrong direction, but we knew better, so we didn't listen and got to Domus Alessandra just fine!

Fabio is our host at Domus Alessandra. He has celiac disease just like I do and rents out a room in his house for people like me! Even though we got there late (8:30 pm), he whipped us up a delicious pile of spaghetti with homemade egg noodles--yum! When we had finished, he asked, "Afterwards, would you like to have a fish?" which we both took to mean "go fishing"...you know, "have a fish." We thought that sounded like fun, so we both said, "that sounds good!" A few minutes later, we each had a lovely piece of fried cod and some steamed eggplant. Rusty thought it was so good that he didn't chew very thoroughly and got a bone stuck in his throat! That was a bit scary, but after a little alone-time in the bathroom, he came back and chewed more carefully for the rest of the meal. Breakfast included the first croissant I've had in at least six years! It was greasy, flaky, and delicious!

The house is separated from Lake Garda by beach and a garden. We walk through the private garden to get to the beach. It's fantastic! We leave the window open at night so that we can hear the waves. The weather has been fantastic--sunny and in the 70s.

Tomorrow, we'll head over to Venice for a few hours, then on to Florence.