Category: Italy

Europe, Italy

I want to ‘Go with Oh’ to Rome

Erin Smith

“You can’t have a favorite place until you have seen them all.”

There are so many wonderful places in this world and I feel if you go to the same place twice, you miss out on seeing someplace new. With such a long list of places I want to go, there are very few places that I would actually travel to more than once. Rome is at the top of this list.

If I had the chance to Go with Oh back to Rome, I would go in a heartbeat. Rome captured my exhausted, jet-lagged heart from the first time my handsome Italian driver dropped me off at my hotel in Trastevere, Rome. The sights, the food, and the amazing history helped me fall in love with Rome almost immediately. Even though I entered this contest once already, I couldn’t resist entering again in hopes of returning to beautiful Rome.

For this gluten-free foodie, Rome turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. I ate gluten-free pasta, pizza, breadsticks, and gelato. I drank lots of “water with gas,” wine, and even gluten-free beer. It really was a gluten-free dream come true. I found an updated list of gluten-free restaurants in Rome on the blog Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino and I am ready to book my return trip today. Thanks to TONS of walking, I didn’t gain any weight in Rome which is good considering I want to eat my way through this city on my next trip back to Rome.

I want to Go with Oh to Rome to…

  • Sip vino at a cafe on one of the windy streets of Trastevere while enjoying some  prosciutto and melon.
  • Eat thin crust pizza, pasta, and dessert at La Soffitta while gazing at the Vatican in the distance. This restaurant literally brought me to tears of joy while in Italy. Growing up, I could never have imagined that this gluten-free globetrotter would be eating pasta in Italy. But it happened here and it brought me to tears.
  • Stumble past the Pantheon late at night after dancing the night away with un bell’uomo in one hand and a hazelnut gelato in the other.
  • Picnic on the grounds of Villa Borghese with some Italian percorino and a box of Schar crackers. During my visit to Rome, I only entered the south end of the park one afternoon but I would love to explore the park on a bicycle with a stop for a picnic in the late afternoon.
  • Drink an espresso after tossing some coins over my shoulder at the Trevi Fountain in hopes of returning to Rome one day.
One of my favorite pictures from Italy:
Colosseum at Night; Rome, Italy

Do you want to enter the Go with Oh contest? You can! Click on http://www.gowithoh.com/ and win the pick of four fantastic prizes on their Facebook page.

Europe, Italy

Gluten-Free Apartment in Venice

Erin Smith
One of my favorite photos I took in Venice

I had an amazing trip to Italy in October 2009. My mom and I spent 10 busy days in Rome, Florence, and Venice. Although I loved Rome the best, Venice is one of those magical places that you just have to see for yourself. The canals, the gondolas, the dead-end alleyways. There is just something so mysterious about Venice. Although I ate very well in Rome and Florence, I couldn’t find as many gluten-free options in Venice. I was only there for about 2 days, so I didn’t go hungry and I brought treats with me from the other cities.

Just last week, a very interesting email came to me from a woman named Veronica in Italy. She has a 13-year-old daughter with Celiac Disease so Veronica understands the sometimes daunting task of traveling while maintaining a gluten-free diet. Veronica is the caretaker of an apartment with a gluten-free, non-contaminated kitchen in Lido, a short vaparetto ride away from Venice. The apartment is available for short-term rental and would be the perfect base for your Venetian vacation.

Here’s some additional information about the apartment in Lido from Veronica:

This apartment is furnished with elegance, praticality and taste. In all its details, note the constant attention of the owner had to create a welcoming and equipped with all amenities to make guests feel at home.

The apartment is on first floor of a typical 1900 villa. The apartment can accommodate up to 4 people and has a living room with small kitchen where you can find a comfortable sofa into a bed, a matrimonial bedroom, and a bathroom. This apartment is ideal for a family who want to spend a vacation in Venice or a group of friends who want to spend a weekend of fun at the beach.

It has: air-conditioning, heating, television , microwave, washing-machine, iron and hairdryer.

This apartment is located in the heart of Lido, 100 meters by foot from the vaporetto that take you to Venice and to the beautiful Piazza San Marco.

In Venice, there is one one restaurant especially gluten-free. Then you can eat at Hard Rock cafe and in any places you can have salad, meat, fish. On the Lido which is an isle in front of Venice, there is a fish restaurant where if you advise inn time they can make you pasta, risotto and also pizza.

The rates are all inclusive from 120 to 200 euro per day per apartment.

Now, since I have not been to this apartment I cannot vouch for it myself but I thought this would be an interesting option to explore when traveling to Italy. If you end up inquiring and traveling to this apartment in Lido , I would love your feedback!

For more information about this gluten-free apartment in Lido, Venice, Italy please contact Veronica directly at fabrisveronica@yahoo.it

Apartment living room
Kitchen
Dining Area