Füssen

In Füssen, a lovely little town in south Germany, there is a cute crêperie which has gluten free buckwheat crêpes :) It's across the street from the Rathaus, and easy to find.

Füssen is very close to Schloss Neuschwanstein (the castle which looks like an inspiration for Walt Disney's castle) and if you are in the area take a tour to the castle and take a walk around Füssen and stop for a crêpe by the Rathaus.

Read about the castle here: http://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/tourist/index.htm

Love Erika

More from my travels last year - Prague

After leaving Berlin I decided to make a two-day-stop in Prague, just because I basically was so close to the Czech capital on my way from Berlin to München (Munich). I arrived in the evening so I wen directly to a hostel I had looked up online - Traveller's Hostel Dlouhá. I hadn't booked anything but I was lucky and got the last place in a 4-bed-room for 20 euro per night, breakfast included (if I could eat anything I knew I would be lucky...)

I left my things in the room, lucky for me there was a locker for each person, and I went out to find someplace where I could buy something to eat. I had passed a shopping mall on my way to the hostel, so I decided to try there first. There was a food hall in the mall, and there i bought yogurt, cheese and rice cakes (which had the gluten free symbol on - the crossed-out wheat) I also went to a Starbucks and bought myself a large latte before heading back to the hostel, where I had a picnic in my bed.

The following morning I was happily surprised. I was one of the first to get to the breakfast room and there the ladies who worked in kitchen had prepared everything. There were bowls with different kinds of cereal in (no gluten free ones), there were plates with two or three pieces of ham and cheese, there were small pots of yogurt, there were a big basket of bred (not gluten free) and two large bowls one with butter and one with strawberry jam, there were tea, coffee, juice and milk. I had brought my own breakfast cereal and bread (just to be on the safe side and so I would have anything to eat for breakfast). So what I did was just ask for an empty bowl (these ladies didn't speak English, but they understood what I meant) I took a plate with ham and cheese and a pot of yogurt, then I moved to the butter where I found a nice and "clean" corner and the same with the jam. So in the end I had a really nice breakfast!

After such a good star on my day I walked to the old town square where I joined Sandeman's free guided tour at 11 o'clock. It was three and a half hours of a very energetic guided tour of the city. I can highly recommend doing one of these tours, but bring a sandwich and a snack... in the middle of the tour there's a 25-minute-lunch break at a bagels cafe, and nothing there is gluten free, apart from things to drink. It was a great tour and if you're in Prague - do it!

(Sandeman's has these free tours in several European cities check it out here: http://www.neweuropetours.eu/ )

Directly after that I went on Sandeman's Castle tour which also is very good value for your money (250 czk for students). However, if I were you I would do this tour on another day, and not the same as the free tour... To walk around Prague for more then six hours can be quite challenging, and in my case I was starving (!) by then. Lucky for me I had my small rucksack with water, snacks and fruit, otherwise I wouldn't have survived.

The Castle tour finished at the Strahov Monastery and from there I searched my way to my next goal, the restaurant for the evening - Na Zlaté krizovatce.

It took me almost an hour’s walk to get there from where the tour ended. We got a bus ticket from our guide, but i was unsure which bus to take, so I thought a walk was a better option. It was a little difficult to find, but if you're good with a map and read the signs carefully (or use a GPS) it's no problem, and trust me it's worth the effort!

I got a warm welcome by an English speaking waitress. I was there early for dinner so it was no problem in getting a table. In the menu it says that EVERYTHING which is cooked and prepared in this restaurant is gluten free! The waitress puts bread (that they baked at the restaurant), butter with herbs and tapenade on my table. I turn to the menu, so many (ALL) things to choose from... This is not a luxury I have ever experienced in a restaurant in my gluten free life! Eventually I manage to decide to have a Pâté for starter. Then I have a Schnitzel for the main course and it is served with a potato cake rolled in puff pastry. I'm stuffed, but I know this is my chance to try as much as I possibly can so I have an Apfelstrudel for dessert - thinking this might be my only opportunity to try it. And I don't regret my decision, it really is divine!

Completely stuffed and very pleased with my day I took a bus back to my hostel...

If you're in Prague don't miss to have dinner at Na Zlaté krizovatce!
Check it out here: http://www.nazlatekrizovatce.cz/en/index.php

Love Erika

 

Long time no see...

I might be the worst blogger ever, but I blame it all on my busy life and the fact that I haven't had that many extraordinary gluten free experiences in a while.

Never mind, I'm now living in Norway, about as far north you can come on the European main land. You might ask  "Why?!" and to be honest I would like someone to tell me that myself. Ha ha, no but seriously, I'm up here because of a new job. This autumn I'm working in an abattoir. Again you might ask "Why!?!!"... If you're Swedish you probably know why, perhaps not about the choice of work place, but about why go to Norway. For all the rest of you, I can tell you that the salaries are much better in Norway, and a lot of young (and old) Swedes go to Norway. I can also say that for people who doesn't have an education it's much easier to find a job in Norway than in Sweden. But you need to know Norwegian to be able to work here! (Swedish and Norwegian are very much alike.)

I don't think this is the most glamours job in history, but I'm trying to save up enough money to be able to go on a long vacation this upcoming spring. Hopefully I'll be able to get some nice stories to this blog (and post them while they're still fresh)!

I have however one really good gluten free tips for you :) - Peppes Pizza! This is an Norwegian pizza chain, and listen to this - they make one of the best gluten free pizza bases I've ever tasted! They have a notice on their menus that you can order almost all of their pizzas with a gluten free base. But they only make them medium sized (which I thought was more then enough for one person... more than a foot across)

I was at Peppes Pizza in Alta last Saturday, and the staff was really helpful and when I asked about a certain topping, they went and checked that it was okay - I picked a delicious Stars and Stripes pizza, half with salami and half with ham. One thing which I thought was very good is that they had a sticker on the paper, which the pizza was on, saying "this is a gluten free pizza". I should also say that this is the place for you if you like the pizza base thick, like I do, and if you're in the mood for a freshly baked pizza!

Check out their website so you can plan a visit! www.peppes.no

 

Love Erika

A little update on this post after my second visit to Peppes.
Again I had a Stars and Stripes Pizza - I love that pepperoni - but I had the topping mixed over the whole pizza this time.

  

On the sticker it says "This Pizza is baked according to our strict routines for gluten free food."

(Sorry about the bad quality of the pictures, I so need a new phone!)

I Love Lemon Curd

Today I found a recipe I really like.

4 Eggs

170 g Sugar

2 Organic Lemons (juice from both + zest from one of them)

50-75 g Unsalted Butter

1 Gelatin Leaf

Place some water in a saucepan and warm until it's simmering.

Mix eggs, sugar, lemon juice and zest together in a heat proof mixing bowl and place the bowl over the water. Keep stirring the mixture until thickened.

When the mixture is thick remove the bowl from the water and add the butter. Mix it until the butter is completely melted. Add the gelatin leaf, which has been laying in cold water for a few minutes, and mix thoroughly.

Pour the lemon curd in jars and put the lids on before leaving it to cool.





Enjoy!

Love Erika

Back in Berlin

After a couple of terrific days spent with Pauline I headed back to Berlin to see another friend Annegret, who is living and working in Berlin. We did some more sightseeing (there's so much to see!) and were just browsing around.

We went to a Thai take away restaurant and had dinner - I love Asian food and they are always so good at making gluten free alternatives! After that we wanted to go see a movie (in English) so we went to the biggest cinema in Berlin. Unfortunately the cinema was closed to the public because of a big premiere of "Männer Herzen", and all we got to see that evening was a big bunch of German movie stars on the red carpet - bummer.

My Berlin stay was ended in the best of ways, at a cafe - Eis voh! This is an ice cream cafe, but for all you gluten free people out there (and the rest of you as well of course) this place is not to be missed if you're in Berlin! I went there in hope of having maybe one or two gluten free cakes to choose from, Never I said NEVER had I expected to find what I did - a gluten free HEAVEN with.... wait for it.... 12 (!!!!) different kinds of cake all gluten free and organic. The slices were big and the price very good. The owners, an older couple, were very sweet and spoke English very well and they told me a lot about their cafe and I got to write in their guest book and all :) I will definitely go back here next time I'm in Berlin!!!

Check out their website, it's all in German, but you don't need to know the language to read the pictures :P http://www.bioeis-berlin.de/index.html

  

(The pictures are borrowed from Eis Voh's website.)

EisVoh
Bundesallee118
12161 Berlin

It's not exactly in the city centre, but the underground station is only a block or so away, and I've said it before - GO THERE!

Love Erika

Arriving in Germany

Last autumn I decided to go on a trip to visit some of the friends I made when I was an au pair in England. And as I promised before, here are some of my experienses from when I was travelling around in Germany and the Czech Republic. My trip lasted for more then three weeks, and altough I did all the travelling on my own I spent most days with my lovely friends!

Berlin was my first stop and I got there really early in the morning. Nothing really was open yet, so I sat down on a bench and ate my breakfast sandwiches that I had brought with me from home. After a while a coffee shop opened and I bought myself a cup of tea to go with my breakfast.

After 9 my dear friend Pauline came and we went around in Berlin doing some sightseeing, before we went to Bernau - a lovely little town outside Berlin - I loved it! Paulie had to go to work, but I stayed in Bernau to run some errands, important things like buying a German Sim-card and checking out the range of gluten free products.

I went to a supermarket EDEKA center close to a shopping mall. At first I had some difficulties in finding were in this big supermarket I could find what I was looking for. But then, a BIG shelf full of gluten free goodies! I filled my basket. Then I continued to look around in the shop and after a while I realised something that made me very happy, as a coeliac person, on the price tags there was a gluten free symbol on the products not containing gluten!!! VERY helpful to me who doesn't speak any German at all, especially when it came to sausages, yoghurts and other things where they might hide gluten. Why can't supermarkets have that everywhere?!??

Happy with my gluten free findings, I went to a cafe and had a coffee before I took the bus to Lobetal where Paulie and her family lives. I was shown to where I was staying, in an overnight apartment close to the church where Pauline's parents work, I was so tired I had to take a little nap.

I had a lovely home cooked gluten free dinner with Paulie and her family. When I went to bed that night I was dead tired, but very pleased with my trip so far!

To be continued...

Love Erika

Back in my home town...

Hi everybody!
I'm very sorry I haven't written anything lately, but there is not much going on at the moment... I've left Brighton an England and are now back in my home town in Sweden - where there is a lack of gluten free experiences. Sad, but true.


To make up for this I will try to give you some of my goodies that I've saved from before I started this blog, what do you say about hearing something about the time I spent in Ireland, the trip I took to Germany, or what I found in Prague? I might also tell you a bit about the cafe I've been in charge of during my home town's festival week :)


Love Erika